Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) was one of the most remarkable and influential women of the early twentieth century. She built the famous Angelus Temple in Los Angeles and pastored it from 1923 until her death. She founded and presided over the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, today one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the world.

Her Early Years

Aimee was born in western Canada to Salvation Army parents. As a young girl, she read Darwin and became an atheist, convinced that his theories disproved the Bible. When the Pentecostal evangelist, Robert Semple came to her town in 1907, she went to the meetings to mock the preacher and the gullible townsfolk. However, Aimee received Christ that night and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. She also fell deeply in love with the preacher and married him six months later.

After two years of marriage, Robert and Aimee went to China as missionaries. But within two months of their arrival, Robert died of malaria. One month later, Aimee gave birth to her first child, Roberta Star. The new mother and child returned to America, and not long after, Aimee met and married her second husband, Harold McPherson.

A year later in the spring of 1913, Aimee was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis, her life hanging in the balance. She overheard a hospital attendant say, “She’s going.” At that moment, God said to her, “Now will you go?” She said “Yes” to God, and after fully recovering, was on the road preaching the Gospel. Harold tried to minister with her for a time, but eventually the strain was too much, and he quietly divorced her.

Ministry Accomplishments

Aimee purchased the land for Angelus Temple in 1919 and then began a non-stop series of evangelistic crusades to raise money for the project. Within three years, the 5,300 seat Angelus Temple was built and debt-free, constructed at a total cost of $1.5 million.

In 1924, she pioneered the field of religious radio with her station KFSG.

In 1927, she started the Angelus Temple Commissary, to provide food, clothing, and services to needy people. During the Depression, her Dining Hall kept thousands alive, serving over 80,000 meals in the first two months of operation.

During the 1920s, her name appeared on the front page of America's leading newspapers three times a week.

Kidnapped

On May 26, 1926, Aimee’s mother announced to the congregation that Aimee had gone for a swim and had not returned. “Aimee is gone; we know she is with Jesus.” For the next days, thousands combed the beach where she was reported missing, while the police devised contingency plans for crowd control. On June 20, a lavish memorial service was held for her at Angelus Temple.

Three days later, Aimee staggered into the police station at Agua Prieta, Mexico. She claimed to have been abducted by mobsters who were threatened by her preaching and the reforms she was instituting in the city.

On June 26, 150,000 fans lined up along the train route to welcome Aimee home to Los Angeles.

But law enforcement officials challenged her kidnapping story, and a lengthy trial ensued. The charges were eventually dropped and no one to this day is sure exactly what transpired during her four-week absence.

Her Influence

Her Sunday night Illustrated Sermons were often the most difficult tickets to get in all of Hollywood.

She staged gospel presentations that attracted some of Hollywood’s elite, including Charley Chaplin who used to attend her services incognito. Anthony Quinn played saxophone in her band, she baptized Marilyn Monroe, and Jean Harlow, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford became her friends.

Today historians consider her, along with Billy Sunday, the most significant revivalist in the early twentieth century. When she died in 1944, 50,000 people came to her funeral.

“You may believe Aimee Semple McPherson to be a messenger direct from God Almighty to save His erring world. Or you may believe her to be the most unblushing fraud in the public eye today. But the one fact that stands out is that her influence is incredible, that she is today one of the most amazing phenomena of power in this feverish, power-insane United States.”