Reborn in Christ Church (Portuguese: ''Igreja Renascer em Cristo'') is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

headquartered in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The church was founded in 1986 by the couple Apostle Estevam Hernandes and Bishop Sônia Hernandes.

History

It was founded in

in 1986 by Estevam Hernandes and

Sônia Hernandes Reborn in Christ Church (Portuguese: ''Igreja Renascer em Cristo'') is an Evangelical Christian denomination headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. The church was founded in 1986 by the couple Apostle Estevam Hernandes and Bishop Sônia Hernandes. ...

. As of 2007, the church has over 2,000,000 members and more than 1,500 temples in

and around the world. As of 2011, the number of church temples dropped to 315, the vast majority in the Brazilian state of

, in addition to a tiny presence in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. Despite not being among the largest Protestant denominations in Brazil, the church attracts a large evangelical audience of large denominations at major events such as the

March for Jesus March for Jesus is an annual interdenominational event in which Christians march through towns and cities. History The March for Jesus began as a ''City March'' in London, United Kingdom, in 1987.William K. Kay, ''Apostolic Networks in Brita ...

, which has been held annually in São Paulo since 1993. The Church Renascer em Cristo also has several media outlets, such as the television network

Rede Gospel Rede is an archaic word meaning, among other things, "counsel" and " advice". It is cognate with Dutch "raad", Luxembourgish "Rot", Common Scandinavian "råd", Icelandic "ráð" and German "Rat". Rede may refer to: People * Edward Rede (by 14 ...

, the radio network Gospel FM, the publisher Editora Gospel, the clothing brand Gospel Wear and the record label Gospel Records. The founding couple, Estevam Hernandes and Sônia Hernandes, and their organization are under investigation on the basis of money laundering, perjury, libel, exploitation of non-profit status, tax evasion and a number of other criminal actions. In January 2007, both founders were arrested at

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...

by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

for failure to declare over $56,000 in cash brought into the United States. The couple were sentenced to five months in prison. Sonia and Estevam Hernandes lived temporarily under court order in their own house in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. After leaving the American prison, the couple returned to

. On January 18, 2009, the main temple of Reborn in Christ Church, in

Cambuci Cambuci (, ''Cambuci Berry'') is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 15,514 (2020) and its area is 562 km². The calculated population for 2009 was 18,256. It is a popular destination for touri ...

, collapsed. The

roof A roof (: roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of tempera ...

fell down, killing 9 people and injuring over 115.

Donation by Kaká

In September 2007, prosecutor

Marcelo Mendroni Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. Marcelo may refer to: Given name * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapist, and necrophile * Marcelo Arriagada (born 1973), Chilean road cyclist ...

announced that he was investigating Brazilian football star

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

's relationship with the imprisoned founding couple. On January 3, 2008, Kaká announced that his 2007

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representative ...

trophy would be held for display in the church's main temple in Cambuci,

. On January 14, 2008, the church released a statement expressing its intent to sue prosecutor

for "persecution" in relation to his attempts to question Kaká. Kaká, a member of the church, has allegedly made

donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

s of 2 million

reais The Brazilian real ( pl. '; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994. ...

to the church. In December 2010 Kaká and his wife left the Renascer Church because of the leadership mishandling of money.Kaka and wife leave Renascer
/ref>

References

External links

Official page
(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Igreja Renascer Em Cristo Protestantism in Brazil Christian new religious movements Evangelical megachurches in Brazil Christian organizations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Brazil Pentecostal denominations

History

Donation by Kaká

See also

References

External links