Bishop Goncalves of Rio de Janeiro and Pastor David Higginbotham (now known as Bishop David) arrived in Johannesburg in early September 1992 to establish the first Church in South Africa.

They found a building in the Bezuidenhout Valley that could be used as a Church and Bishop Goncalves began to give Portuguese services, while Bishop David gave the English services in the afternoons.

 After some months, Bishop David began looking for a more suitable building in the centre of Johannesburg and, after facing many obstacles and closed doors, he finally found one - it was the former Score Supermarket in the basement of the Hekro building in Hoek Street. This became the basement parking lot of what we now know as the Cathedral of Faith. The grand opening of Park Station Church was held on January 3rd, 1993 and took in 200 people.

By the following Sunday , their number had doubled to 400, then 800, at which point they could no longer keep track of the numbers as the basement, which could only accommodate 600 chairs, was packed beyond its limit every single week. Again, Bishop David found a former warehouse for their Church, the Blackchain shopping centre across the road from Baragwaneth Hospital in Soweto.

This Church was opened in August 1993 and, three weeks later, over 4000 people were packed into the building. They were so many that the Bishops were afraid that the floor might cave in. As the Word of God grew throughout the country, many Churches were opened to change the lives of the people.

It came to a point where Servants of God saw that there was a need to build the biggest cathedral of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and that this could be done in Soweto.

Soweto is the one of the biggest townships in South Africa and it is also where most of the country's history was made. After many struggles in trying to buy the land, the Universal Church finally began to construct one of the biggest cathedrals in the country.

It was not easy to secure such a big area in Soweto to build this dream cathedral, and neither was it easy to begin laying the foundations – there were so many complications while the cathedral was being built.

Yet the architects took every precaution to ensure that all possible facets of the construction were considered. By 2006 the structure of the building had already been put up and it was clear to all what form the future cathedral would take. Besides from the problems the construction was moving quickly.

Through faithful tithes and those who generously gave, today the biggest cathedral of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God stands in Soweto as one of the central tourist attractions - it was made in the same form of our cathedral in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

It has been more than ten years since that UCKG church opened in Soweto and there have been countless special events held there. These events include the march against HIV/ AIDS, which was held in March 2006, where more than 3000 people came along to join together in faith to fight against the biggest killer disease of this millennium.


THE LAYING OF THE FIRST STONE

From the beginning of the earth the reason why God created man was for him to inherit eternal life. This matter is so important that the word of God tells us that when one’s soul is saved, and his name is written in heaven the angels assemble in joy.

For this very reason in October 2004, Bishop Bira together with the pastors, assistants and members of the Universal Church; gathered at the construction site of the cathedral in Soweto to lay the first stone of the foundation the church.

Together with that stone, the bible was also laid as part of the foundation.  That was to symbolize that the Word of God is the foundation of the work of the Universal Church. “…Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”   Ephesians 2:20.  
The bible represents the Word of God, and Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, He sustains those who trust in Him, as apart from Him we cannot do anything.  

THE FIRST BISHOP TO OPEN THE DOORS OF THE UCKG IN SOUTH AFRICA

Bishop Goncalves was present to witness the grand opening of this beautiful cathedral in Soweto. Although he did not mention anything about his struggle when he came to South Africa to begin Universal Church, he did pray for all the people who were present:

My God and my Father manifest Your power in the life of this person, lift up the fallen, restore the inner of this person who was victim of witchcraft. There are people here, who have been living a tied-up life, sad. But You, oh Lord, are a God of joy, peace and life. Then come with this life here now in this place.

Through this prayer we can clearly see that His desire is to see the lives of many people transformed and for them to have the privilege to know the Lord Jesus in their lives. As he continued to pray, he told God that the reason for this cathedral being opened: In the same way the doors of this Church are open, this person is open to receive you, to give way for Your Spirit and power. Then make a restoration, make it my God.

As this cathedral was built, build a new life from the inner of this person. He added that the cathedral was opened to save the lives of many people and to bring glory to the Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ.