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 Aimee
Semple McPherson has been described
as a woman born before her time. Defying all
odds, her life story portrays a woman who
knew no boundaries. To her, a challenge was
fair game to be taken and conquered. If
publicity seemed bad, she hyped it further,
smiling all the way. If everyone warned her
against doing something, she was apt to do
the opposite, refusing to bow to fear.
Whatever it took to get the people turned to
Jesus Christ, Aimee did it. She sat with the
“publicans and prostitutes,” showing up in
places where the average Christian was
afraid to go. The poor, the common, and the
rich all loved her for it, and they showed
up at her meetings by the thousands. But the
“religious” hated her. When denominational
politics hindered and wounded so many, Aimee
rarely gave them a thought. Instead, she
started her own denomination, and set about
building a ministry so vast that even
Hollywood came to take notes.
Born in 1890 in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada,
Aimee was reared in a Christian home. Her
mother was a stout member of the Salvation
Army, and attempted to rule Aimee with a
strict hand. But being a free thinker, the
average Christian mentality troubled Aimee.
Having questions that no one could answer,
Aimee turned to the humanistic reasoning's
of Darwin. Unsettled and searching, she
longed to know who made the stars and the
heavens, so she asked God to reveal Himself
to her.
 In
1908, Aimee went to hear the Irish
evangelist, Robert Semple. After his
messages, two days later Aimee realized the
uncompromising truths of God, and cried for
His mercy. She committed her life to Him. In
August, Aimee married Semple in a Salvation
Army ceremony. A year later, the couple
moved as missionaries to China. When Aimee
was 8 months pregnant, tragically, Semple
died of malaria.
After
giving birth to a daughter, Aimee's mother paid for them to
return to America.
After staying with her mother for a year,
Aimee moved to New York. There she met Harold McPherson and
married him in 1912. By the summer, the McPherson's had
settled into a normal life and Aimee gave birth to a son in
1913. Not long after the birth, Aimee began to feel the tug of
God upon her life. She taught Sunday School, but was removed
from the plan of God for her life. Refusing to respond, she
became very ill in 1914 and the family was given no hope for
her recovery. Slipping into a coma, Aimee heard the voice of
the Lord asking, “Will you go?” She found herself calling
people to repentance, and mustered up the energy to answer
“yes.” Suddenly she opened her eyes and all pain was gone.
Within in 2 weeks, Aimee was totally whole.
Realizing the call upon her life, Aimee
tried to persuade her husband, but he was
uninterested. As he left for work in the
Spring of 1915, Aimee took the children and
left for Canada. Beginning an itinerant
ministry, McPherson soon joined
Aimee and for awhile, the two ministered
together. He was the advance man, setting up
permits for her tent sites and supervising
the meetings. Being a woman in the ministry,
she drew large crowds simply from curiosity.
Her natural empathy accented her ministry
mannerisms, and the people loved it. Soon
every walk of life came to her meetings. The
offerings were large enough that Aimee
bought a 1912 Packard touring car. She now
referred to her ministry as the “rolling
church.” She stood in the back seat and
preached eight to ten meetings a day. Her
innovative ministry brought people into the
tent by the droves.
In 1917 Aimee began to print her famous
publication entitled, “The Bridal Call.”
Soon she was very well-known throughout the
east coast. But the ministry was a strain
upon the marriage of the McPherson's, as her
husband didn't like the publicity and the
constant work. He filed for divorce and
Aimee consented.
Aimee's mother, Minnie, took up where
McPherson left off. Her organizational
skills eventually took Aimee from tents to
coliseums. Moving to Los Angeles,
California, Aimee was met by a crowd of over
700 people. By early 1919, every inch of the
Philharmonic Auditorium was packed with
people to hear her. Aimee searched for a
permanent place to preach - and decided to
build her own. Between 1919-1923, she
traveled across America 9 times, preaching
and raising money to build the church she
called, “Angelus Temple.” Great healing
miracles had begun in her ministry, and
everywhere she went to preach, local
headlines screamed the results. As Aimee
would enter the halls before a meeting,
throngs of desperately ill people would be
waiting, all hoping just to touch her.
During this time she held a three week
meeting that packed 16,000 people twice a
day. One night, 8,000 were turned away for
lack of space.
 In
1922, Aimee's 5,000 seat temple was
completed. She named it “The Church of the
Foursquare Gospel” because of a vision she
had received while preaching. It eventually
became the Foursquare denomination and the
first signing day for membership produced
1,000 pastors. Aimee presented the gospel
through drama and plays, as she believed the
Bible was a sacred drama that was meant to
be preached and illustrated. Many Hollywood
celebrities attended her services, and she
became close friends to many of them. In
1923, Aimee opened a school of ministry
known as LIFE Bible College where she was an
avid instructor. In 1924, she opened Radio
KFSG with the first FCC license ever issued
to a woman - and it was also the first
Christian radio to ever operate.
 In
1926 she became a publicized international
figure when she suddenly disappeared from
Venice Beach. A funeral was even held for
her as she was believed to have drowned. A
month later, she appeared dazed and
dehydrated in Arizona, with the story of
being kidnapped. Rumors surfaced that
instead, Aimee had been involved in an
affair with a former employee. A district
attorney charged her with obstruction of
justice. Ridiculed daily by the media, Aimee
stood trial. The charges were eventually
dropped due to lack of evidence, but the
event took a toll upon Aimee emotionally.
Despite the trouble, in 1927 she opened a
commissary which met the needs of 1.5
million people during the Depression,
regardless of race, creed, or color. She
fought for the rights and raises of
policemen and city officials, and was a
primary source of help and relief during a
California earthquake.
In 1930 Aimee suffered a nervous breakdown,
and in 1931, entered the ill-fated marriage
to David Hutton. Resigning as pastor of
Angelus Temple, and under doctor's orders to
rest, Hutton filed for divorce while Aimee
set sail for Europe.
 The
years of 1938-1944 were quiet ones for
Aimee. She was instrumental in the selling
of war bonds and was awarded a special
citation by the U. S. Treasury and President
Roosevelt.
By 1944, Aimee's health was very poor.
Traveling to Oakland, California, Aimee
preached a message the evening of September
26. The following morning, her son found her
dead from what was described as “shock and
respiratory failure.”
Aimee's body laid in Angelus Temple for
three days and nights as over 60,000 people
paid their respects. The Temple was so
filled with flowers that five car loads of
them were turned away.
Aimee Semple McPherson was the spiritual
pioneer who paved our way and should be
considered largely responsible for the way
we demonstrate Christianity today. Her
spiritual strength to remain in “the middle
of the road” despite the odds, despite the
persecution and conflict, and despite the
disappointments, still speaks today. Aimee
showed us that the Christian faith is not a
mood or a vapor - it is a way of life.
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