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On September 27, 1944, Aimee Semple McPherson died. She was one of the most remarkable and influential women of the early twentieth century.
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| Angelus Temple in the 20's |
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. She pastored the church from 1923 until her death.
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; Jean Harlow, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford all became her friends.
During the 1920s, her name appeared on the front page of America's leading newspapers three times a week. 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.”
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| Angelus Temple 2007 |
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