1 of 2

In 1913, a 23-year-old Salvation Army worker was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening appendicitis. But physical health wasn't her greatest concern. She felt her spiritual life was also in peril.

Struggling to breathe, she heard a nurse say, "She's going."

Then she heard another voice: "Now will you go?" She believed she was being given a choice to enter eternity right then, or go into ministry. She yielded to ministry. Instantly, she said, the pain was gone, her breathing eased, and she regained her strength.

Within a decade, the young woman would become an American phenomenon. During the 1920s her name, Aimee Semple McPherson, appeared on the front page of America's leading newspapers three times a week. Today, as her International Church of the Foursquare Gospel carries on her legacy, historians consider her (along with Billy Sunday) the most significant revivalist in the early twentieth century.

Aimee was born in 1890, to James and Minnie Kennedy, a Methodist and a Salvation Army devotee respectively, in Ontario, Canada. As a teenager, Aimee was introduced to Pentecostalism through the preaching of Robert Semple, whom she eventually married. When he died two years later, she married young businessman Harold McPherson.

For a few years, they shared a hand-to-mouth existence. They lived in a "gospel" car plastered with Bible verses and slogans and loaded with religious tracts.

From Los Angeles in 1919, McPherson launched a series of meetings that catapulted her to national fame. Within a year, America's largest auditoriums could not hold the crowds.

Reporters marveled at her oratorical skills: "Never did I hear such language from a human being. Without intermission, she would talk from an hour to an hour and a half, holding her audience spellbound."

On January 1, 1923, "Sister" (as she was known) dedicated Angelus Temple, which held up to 5,300 worshipers. A church-owned radio station was launched in 1924.

While she continued to preach "the four-square Gospel" (Jesus as the Only Savior, the Great Physician, the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and the Coming Bridegroom), she become one of Los Angeles' best known citizens. Angelus Temple floats won prizes in Rose Bowl parades, and the Temple itself became a tourist attraction.

Her motherly qualities were winsome. During midnight forays into Denver's red light districts, she promised the outcasts that there was hope for them in Christ. In San Francisco, she walked into a "dive," sat down at the piano, and got the crowd's attention by playing "Jesus, Lover of My Soul."

Then in May 1926 she mysteriously disappeared. Angelus Temple announced that Sister had gone for a swim, failed to return, and was presumed drowned. An elaborate memorial service was held for her.

next page... |  1 of 2

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless. Give Christianity Today as a gift Order a gift subscription!