Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson (October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles-based evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church. McPherson has been noted as a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio, and was the second woman to be granted a broadcast license. She used radio to draw on the growing appeal of popular entertainment in North America and incorporated other forms into her weekly sermons at Angelus Temple.

Biography

Early life

McPherson was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy on a farm in Salford, Ontario, Canada. Her father, James Kennedy, was a farmer. Young Aimee got her early exposure to religion through her mother, Mildred – known as Minnie. McPherson's later work in spreading the Gospel was a result of watching her mother work with the poor in Salvation Army soup kitchens.

As a child she would play "Salvation Army" with her classmates, and at home she would gather a congregation with her dolls, giving them a sermon. As a teenager, McPherson strayed from her mother's teachings by reading novels and going to movies and dances, activities which were strongly disapproved of by both the Salvation Army and the faith of her father, the Methodists. Novels, though, made their way into the Methodist Church library and with guilty delight, McPherson would read them. At the movies, she recognized some of her fellow Methodist church members. She learned too, at a local dance she attended, her partner was a Presbyterian minister. In high school, she was taught Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. She began to quiz visiting preachers and local pastors about faith and science, but was unhappy with the answers she received.She stunned her father, who almost fell backwards while carrying a pan of milk up the basement stairs by asking him, "How do you know there is a God?" She wrote to the Canadian newspaper, Family Herald and Weekly Star, questioning why taxpayers funded public schools that had courses, such as evolution, which undermined Christianity. While still in high school, after her Pentecostal conversion, McPherson began a crusade against the concept of evolution, beginning a lifelong passion.

Marriage and family

Robert and Aimee Semple (1910)

While attending a revival meeting in December 1907, Aimee met Robert James Semple, a Pentecostal missionary from Ireland. After a short courtship, they were married on August 12, 1908.

The two embarked on an evangelical tour, first to Europe and then to China, where they arrived in June 1910, with Aimee about six months pregnant. Shortly after disembarking in Hong Kong, both contracted malaria. Robert Semple died of the disease on August 19, 1910, and was buried in Hong Kong Cemetery. Aimee Semple recovered and gave birth to their daughter, Roberta Star Semple, on September 17, 1910. Semple and her infant returned to the United States.

Shortly after her recuperation in the United States, Semple joined her mother Minnie working with the Salvation Army. While in New York City, she met Harold Stewart McPherson, an accountant. They were married on May 5, 1912, and had a son, Rolf Potter Kennedy McPherson in March 1913.

Career

In 1913 Aimee Semple McPherson embarked upon a preaching career. Touring Canada and the United States, she began evangelizing and holding tent revivals in June 1915. She first traveled up and down the eastern United States, then went to other parts of the country. Her revivals were often standing-room only. One such revival was held in a boxing ring, with the meeting before and after the match. Throughout the boxing event, she walked about with a sign reading "knock out the Devil". In San Diego, California, the city called in the National Guard to control a revival crowd of over 30,000 people.

McPherson practiced speaking in tongues but rarely emphasized it. She was known as a faith healer and there were claims of physical healing occurring during her meetings. Such claims became less important as her fame increased.

In 1916 McPherson embarked on a tour of the Southern United States in her "Gospel Car", first with her husband Harold and later, in 1918, with her mother, Mildred Kennedy. She was an important addition to McPherson's ministry and managed everything, including the money, which gave them an unprecedented degree of financial security. Their vehicle was a 1912 Packard touring car emblazoned with religious slogans. Standing on the back seat of the convertible, McPherson preached sermons over a megaphone. On the road between sermons, she would sit in the back seat typing sermons and other religious materials.

By 1917 she had started her own magazine, The Bridal Call, for which she wrote many articles about women’s roles in religion; she portrayed the link between Christians and Jesus as a marriage bond. By taking seriously the religious role of women, the magazine contributed to the rising women’s movement.Vorlage:Citation needed

Her husband made efforts to join McPherson on her religious travels, but by 1918 he had filed for separation. His petition for divorce, citing abandonment, was granted in 1921.

The battle between fundamentalists and modernists escalated after World War I, with many modernists seeking less conservative religious faiths.Vorlage:Citation needed Fundamentalists generally believed their religious faith should influence every aspect of their lives. McPherson sought to eradicate modernism and secularism in homes, churches, schools, and communities. She developed a strong following in what McPherson termed "the Foursquare Gospel" by blending contemporary culture with religious teachings.

At this time, Los Angeles had become a popular vacation spot. Rather than touring the United States to preach her sermons, McPherson stayed in Los Angeles, drawing audiences from a population which had soared from 100,000 in 1900 to 575,000 people in 1920, and often included many visitors.

McPherson preached a conservative gospel but used progressive methods, taking advantage of radio, movies, and stage acts. Advocacy for women's rights was on the rise, including women's suffrage through the 19th Amendment. She attracted some women associated with modernism, but others were put off by the contrast between her different theories. By accepting and using such new media outlets, McPherson helped integrate them into people’s daily lives.

Mounting revivals from mid-1919 to 1922, McPherson created a stir in cities such as Baltimore; her revivals sometimes lasted as long as four weeks. In December 1919, she went to Baltimore’s Lyric Opera House to conduct seventeen days of meetings. The Baltimore Sun ran a thousand-word interview with her in the December 6, 1919, issue. During the interview, the Sun reporter asked McPherson how she had decided on Baltimore as the site for a revival.

“As soon as I entered the city I saw the need. Women were sitting in the dining room smoking with the men,” McPherson replied. “I took up the newspapers and I saw card parties and dances advertised in connection with the churches. There was a coldness. Card parties, dances, theaters, all represent agencies of the devil to distract the attention of men and women away from spirituality . . .”

While Aimee Semple Macpherson had traveled extensively in her evangelical work prior to arriving in Baltimore, she was first “discovered” by the newspapers while sitting with her mother in the red plush parlor of the Belvedere Hotel on December 5, 1919, a day after conducting evangelistic services at the Lyric Opera House.

Her faith-healing demonstrations gained her unexpected allies. When a Romani tribe king and his mother stated they were faith-healed by McPherson, thousands of others came to her as well in caravans from all over the country and were converted. The infusion of crosses and other symbols of Christianity alongside Romani astrology charts and crystal balls was the result of McPherson's influence. Prizing gold and loyalty, the Romani repaid her in part, with heavy bags of gold coin and jewels, which helped fund the construction of the new Angelus Temple. In Wichita, Kansas, in May 29, 1922, where heavy perennial thunderstorms threatened to rain out the thousands who gathered there, McPherson interrupted the speaker, raised her hand to the sky and prayed, "let it fall (the rain) after the message has been delivered to these hungry souls". The rain immediately stopped, an event reported the following day by the Wichita Eagle on May 30: Evangelist's Prayers Hold Big Rain Back", For the gathered Romani, it was a further acknowledgement "of the woman's power".

Faith healing ministry

Aimee Semple McPherson's faith healing demonstrations were extensively written about in the news media and were a large part of her early career legacy. No one has ever been credited by secular witnesses with anywhere near the numbers of faith healings attributed to McPherson, especially during the years 1919 to 1922. Over time though, she almost withdrew from the faith healing aspect of her services, since it was overwhelming other areas of her ministry. Scheduled healing sessions nevertheless remained highly popular with the public until her death in 1944.

Alleged incidents of "miraculous" faith healing are sometimes clinically explained as a result of hysteria or a form of hypnosis. Strong emotions and the mind's ability to trigger the production of opiates, endorphins, and enkephalins; have also been offered as explanations as well as the healings are simply faked. In the case of McPherson, there was no evidence of fraud found. In August 1921, doctors from the American Medical Association in San Francisco secretly investigated some of McPherson's local revival meetings. The subsequent AMA report stated Aimee Semple McPherson's healing was "genuine, beneficial and wonderful".

McPherson claims to have experienced several of her own personal faith healing incidents, among them one in 1909, when her broken foot was mended, an event which first served to introduce her to the possibilities of the healing power. Another was an unexpected recovery from an operation in 1914 where hospital staff expected her to die, and in 1916, before a gathered revival tent crowd, swift rejuvenation of blistered skin from a serious flash burn caused by a lamp exploding in her face.

Her apparently successful first public faith healing session of another person was professedly demonstrated in Corona, Long Island, New York, 1916. A young woman in the painful, advanced stages of rheumatoid arthritis was brought to the altar by friends just as McPherson preached "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever", meaning, in part, Jesus had the same power to heal now as in ancient times. McPherson, laid hands upon the crippled woman's head and she allegedly walked out of the church that same night without crutches. Sick and injured people came to her by the tens of thousands. Press clippings, and testimonials became mountainous. To people who traveled with her, the numerous faith healings were routine. Lubricating her hands with spiced oil, McPherson touched and prayed over the infirm and reporters wrote extensively of what they saw. When asked by a journalist about these demonstrations, McPherson indicated, "the saving of souls is the most important part of my ministry".

Not all healings were successful and McPherson had occasional well-publicized failures. But these were apparently few and people in ever increasing numbers came to her. She was invited back again and again to cities that she previously visited. Perhaps one of the more dramatic public faith healing demonstrations of her career occurred starting in late January 1921 at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The Spreckles Organ Pavilion in the park, was site of several earlier revival meetings by many of her predecessors, and there, McPherson preached to a huge crowd of 30,000. She had to move to the outdoor site since the 3,000 seat Dreamland Boxing Arena could not hold the thousands who went to see her. To assist the San Diego Police in maintaining order, the Marines and Army had to be called in.

During the engagement, a woman paralyzed from the waist down from childhood, was presented for faith healing. Concerned because numerous, previous demonstrations had been before much smaller assemblages, McPherson feared she would be run out of town if this healing did not manifest. Believing in the reality of the living Christ, filled with sincere passion beyond love for humanity, McPherson prayed, and laid hands on her. Before 30,000 people — and captured for all time by photography — the woman supposedly got up out of her wheelchair and walked. The large gathering responded with thunderous applause. Other hopefuls presented themselves to the platform McPherson occupied, and though not all were cured, the sick, injured and invalid continued to flood forth for healing. Before witnesses and reporters, a goiter allegedly shrank, crutches abandoned, an abscessed arm purportedly returned to normal. Many hundreds of people wanted her help, more than she could handle and her stay was extended. As with many of her other meetings, McPherson labored and prayed feverishly for hours over the infirm, often without food or stopping for a break. At the day's end, she would eventually be taken away by her staff, dehydrated and unsteady with fatigue; her distinct, booming voice reduced to a whisper. Originally planned for two weeks in the evenings, McPherson's Balboa Park revival meetings lasted over five weeks and went from dawn until dusk.

Later in 1921, investigating McPherson's healing services, a survey was sent out by First Baptist Church Pastor William Keeney Towner in San Jose, California, to 3,300 people. 2500 persons responded. 6% indicated they were immediately and completely healed while 85% indicated they were partially healed and continued to improve ever since. Fewer than half of 1% did not feel they were at least spiritually uplifted and had their faith strengthened.

Denver Post reporter Frances Wayne writes while McPherson's "attack" on sin "uncultured,...the deaf heard, the blind saw, the paralytic walked, the palsied became calm, before the eyes of as many people that could be packed into the largest church auditorium in Denver". In 1922, McPherson returned for a second tour in the Great Revival of Denver and asked about people who have claimed healings from the previous visit. Seventeen people, some well known members of the community, testified, giving credence to McPherson's claim "healing still occurred among modern Christians".

Actor Anthony Quinn, who for a time played in the church's band and was an apprentice preacher, in this partial quote, recalls a service:

"I sat in the orchestra pit of the huge auditorium at the Angelus Temple. Every seat was filled, with the crowd spilling into the aisles. Many were on crutches or in wheelchairs. Suddenly a figure with bright red hair and a flowing white gown walked out to the center of the stage. In a soft voice, almost a whisper, she said, 'Brothers and sisters, is there anyone here who wants to be cured tonight?' Long lines formed to reach her. She stood center stage and greeted each one. One man said, 'I can't see out of one eye.' She asked. 'Do you believe, brother?' And suddenly, the man cried, 'Yes, sister, I can see, I can see!' And the audience went crazy. "To a woman dragging herself across the stage on crutches she said, 'Throw away that crutch!' Suddenly, the woman threw away her crutch and ran into Aimee's open arms. I left that service exhilarated, renewed".

Ironically, when McPherson retired for much needed rest after a long and exhausting faith healing service, she would sometimes suffer from insomnia, a problem she would contend with for the rest of her life.

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel

Datei:Postcard-los-angeles-angelus-temple.png

Angelus Temple in Echo Park, Los Angeles, with radio towers.

Wearied by constant traveling and having nowhere to raise a family, McPherson had settled in Los Angeles, where she maintained both a home and a church. McPherson believed that by creating a church in Los Angeles, her audience would come to her from all over the country. This, she felt, would allow her to plant seeds of the Gospel and tourists would take it home to their communities, still reaching the masses. For several years she continued to travel and raise money for the construction of a large, domed church building at 1100 Glendale Blvd. in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. The church would be named Angelus Temple, reflecting the Roman Catholic tradition of the Angelus bell, calling the faithful to prayer and as well its reference to the angels. Not wanting to take on debt, McPherson located a construction firm which would work with her as funds were raised "by faith". She started with $5,000. The firm indicated it would be enough to carve out a hole for the foundation.

McPherson began a campaign in earnest and was able to mobilize diverse groups of people to help fund and build the new church. Various fundraising methods were used such as selling chairs for Temple seating at US $25 apiece. In exchange, "chairholders" got a miniature chair and encouragement to pray daily for the person who would eventually sit in that chair. Her approach worked to generate enthusiastic giving and to create a sense of ownership and family among the contributors.

Raising more money than she had hoped, McPherson altered the original plans, and built a "megachurch" that would draw many followers throughout the years. The endeavor cost contributors around $250,000 in actual money spent. Comparable structures were priced at far more, a nearby smaller auditorium, for example, cost US$ 1 million. Costs were kept down by donations of building materials and volunteer labor. McPherson sometimes quipped when she first got to California, all she has was a car, ten dollars and a tambourine.

The Class "A" fireproof building was constructed of concrete and steel and designed by Brook Hawkins. The main architectural feature of the structure is its large, unsupported concrete dome coated with a mixture of ground abalone shells. The dome, at the time, was by some reports, the largest in North America, and rises 125 feet from the main floor. The dome's interior was painted azure blue, with fleecy clouds, a reminder to "work while its day" and "to look for His coming". McPherson insisted on a bright joyous setting, avoiding any reminder of sin from either artwork or motto. In back of the pulpit was her theme verse from Hebrews 13:18 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever." She later conveyed she loved "every stone in Angelus Temple,...I love to touch its walls, its altar,...I look to its high vaulted dome...." but no part of the church pleased her more the magnificent Kimball pipe organ which always soothed and brought her peace of mind. The church was dedicated on January 1, 1923. The auditorium had a seating capacity of 5,300 people and was filled three times each day, seven days a week. According to church records, Angelus Temple received 40 million visitors within the first seven years At first, McPherson preached every service, often in a dramatic scene she put together to attract audiences.

Eventually, the church evolved into its own denomination and became known as the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. The new denomination focused on the nature of Christ's character: that he was Savior, baptizer with the Holy Spirit, healer, and coming King. There were four main beliefs: the first being Christ's ability to transform individuals' lives through the act of salvation; the second focused on a holy baptism which includes receiving power to glorify and exalt Christ in a practical way; the third was divine healing, newness of life for both body and spirit; and the fourth was gospel-oriented heed to the pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ.

In August 1925 and away from Los Angeles, McPherson decided to charter a plane so she would not miss giving her Sunday sermon. Aware of the opportunity for publicity, she arranged for at least two thousand followers and members of the press to be present at the airport. The plane failed after takeoff and the landing gear collapsed, sending the nose of the plane into the ground. McPherson boarded another plane and used the experience as the narrative of an illustrated Sunday sermon called "The Heavenly Airplane".Vorlage:Citation needed The stage in Angelus Temple was set up with two miniature planes and a skyline that looked like Los Angeles. In this sermon, McPherson described how the first plane had the devil for the pilot, sin for the engine, and temptation as the propeller. The other plane, however, was piloted by Jesus and would lead one to the Holy City (the skyline shown on stage). The temple was filled beyond capacity.

On one occasion, she described being pulled over by a police officer, calling the sermon "Arrested for Speeding". McPherson employed a small group of artists, electricians, decorators, and carpenters who built the sets for each Sunday's service. Religious music was played by an orchestra. McPherson also worked on elaborate sacred operas. One production, The Iron Furnace, based on the book of Exodus, told of God’s deliverance as the Israelites fled slavery in Egypt. Some Hollywood movie stars even assisted with obtaining costumes from local studios. The cast was large, perhaps as many as 450 people but so elaborate and expensive, it was presented only one time. Rehearsals for the various productions were time consuming and McPherson "did not tolerate any nonsense." Though described as "always kind and loving," McPherson demanded respect regarding the divine message the sacred operas and her other works were designed to convey.

The biographer Matthew Avery Sutton wrote, "McPherson found no contradiction between her rejection of Hollywood values or her use of show business techniques. She would not hesitate to use the devil's tools to tear down the devil's house."Vorlage:Citation needed Collections were taken at every meeting, often with the admonishment, "no coins, please".

Because Pentecostalism was not popular in the U.S. during the 1920s, McPherson avoided the label. She did demonstrate speaking-in-tongues and faith healing in sermons. She kept a museum of crutches, wheelchairs, and other paraphernalia. As evidence of her early influence by the Salvation Army, McPherson adopted a theme of "lighthouses" for the satellite churches, referring to the parent church as the "Salvation Navy." This was the beginning of McPherson working to plant Foursquare Gospel churches around the country.

McPherson published the weekly Foursquare Crusader, along with her monthly magazine, Bridal Call. She began broadcasting on radio in the early 1920s. McPherson was one of the first women to preach a radio sermon. With the opening of Foursquare Gospel-owned KFSG on February 6, 1924, she became the second woman granted a broadcast license by the Department of Commerce, the federal agency that supervised broadcasting in the early 1920s.)

McPherson racially integrated her tent meetings and church services. On one occasion, as a response to McPherson's ministry and Angelus Temple being integrated, Ku Klux Klan members were in attendance, but after the service hoods and robes were found on the ground in nearby Echo Park. She is also credited with helping many Hispanic ministries in Los Angeles.

In 1925 McPherson received several death threats. An alleged plot to kidnap her was foiled in September of that year.

Politics and education

By early 1926, McPherson had become one of the most charismatic and influential women and ministers of her time. Her fame equaled, to name a few, Charles Lindbergh, Johnny Weissmuller, Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Knute Rockne, Bobby Jones, Louise Brooks, and Rudolph Valentino. She was major American phenomenon, who along with some other high profile preachers of the time, unlike Hollywood celebrities, could be admired by their adoring public, "without apparently compromising their souls."

According to Carey McWilliams, she had become "more than just a household word: she was a folk hero and a civic institution; an honorary member of the fire and police departments; a patron saint of the service clubs; an official spokesman for the community on problems grave and frivolous". She was influential in many social, educational and political areas. McPherson made personal crusades against anything that she felt threatened her Christian ideals, including the drinking of alcohol and teaching evolution in schools.

McPherson became a strong supporter of William Jennings Bryan during the 1925 Scopes Trial, in which John Scopes was tried for illegally teaching evolution at a Dayton, Tennessee school. Bryan and McPherson had worked together in the Angelus Temple and they believed Darwinism had undermined students' morality. According to McPherson, evolution "is the greatest triumph of Satanic intelligence in 5,931 years of devilish warfare, against the Hosts of Heaven. It is poisoning the minds of the children of the nation." She sent Bryan a telegram saying, "Ten thousand members of Angelus Temple with her millions of radio church membership send grateful appreciation of your lion-hearted championship of the Bible against evolution and throw our hats in the ring with you". She organized "an all-night prayer service, a massive church meeting preceded by a Bible parade through Los Angeles".

Reported kidnapping

On May 18, 1926, McPherson went with her secretary to Ocean Park Beach north of Venice Beach to swim. Soon after arriving, McPherson was nowhere to be found. It was thought she had drowned.

McPherson was scheduled to hold a service that day; her mother Minnie Kennedy preached the sermon instead, saying at the end, "Sister is with Jesus", sending parishioners into a tearful frenzy. Mourners crowded Venice Beach and the commotion sparked days-long media coverage fueled in part by William Randolph Hearst's Los Angeles Examiner and a stirring poem by Upton Sinclair to commemorate the tragedy. Daily updates appeared in newspapers across the country and parishioners held day-and-night seaside vigils. One parishioner drowned while searching for the body, and a diver died of exposure.

Kenneth G. Ormiston, the engineer for KFSG, had taken other assignments around late December 1925 and left his job at the Temple. Newspapers later linked McPherson and Ormiston, the latter seen driving up the coast with an unidentified woman. Some believed McPherson and Ormiston, who was married, had become romantically involved and had run off together. Several ransom notes and other communications were sent to the Temple, some were relayed to the police, who thought they were hoaxes and others dismissed as fraudulent. McPherson "sightings" were abundant, as many as 16 in different cities and other locations on the same day. For a time, Mildred Kennedy, McPherson's mother, offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the return of her daughter.

The ransom demands sent included a note by the "Revengers" who wanted $500,000 and another for $25,000 conveyed by a lawyer who claimed contact with the kidnappers. The "Revengers" note later disappeared from the LA Police evidence locker and the lawyer was found dead in a possibly suspicious accident before his claim could be adequately investigated. A lengthy ransom letter from the "Avengers," arrived around June 19, 1926, also forwarded to the police, demanded $500,000 or else kidnappers would sell McPherson into "white slavery." Relating that McPherson was a nuisance because she was incessantly preaching, the lengthy, two page poorly typewritten letter indicated the kidnappers worked hard to spread the word McPherson was held captive, and not drowned. Kennedy regarded the notes hoaxes, believing her daughter dead.

Shortly thereafter, on June 23, McPherson stumbled out of the desert in Agua Prieta, Sonora, a Mexican town across the border from Douglas, Arizona. The Mexican couple she approached there thought she died when McPherson collapsed in front of them. An hour later she stirred and the couple covered her with blankets. She claimed she had been kidnapped, drugged, tortured, and held for ransom in a shack by a man and a woman, "Steve" and "Mexicali Rose". Her story also claimed she had escaped from her captors and walked through the desert for about 13 hours to freedom.

Following her return from Douglas, Arizona, McPherson was greeted at the train station by 30,000-50,000 people, more than for almost any other person including movie stars and presidents. The parade back to the temple even elicited a greater turnout than President Woodrow Wilson's visit to Los Angeles in 1919, attesting to her popularity and the growing influence of mass media entertainment. Aircraft flew low overhead, dropping roses, which drifted around McPherson as she stood surrounded by white-robed flower girls from Angelus Temple

The fire department was out in their parade uniforms and high ranking Los Angeles officials formally greeted her return. Already incensed over McPherson's influential public stance on evolution and the Bible, The Chamber of Commerce, however, saw the event as gaudy display, nationally embarrassing to the city. Many Los Angeles area churches, were also annoyed. The divorcee McPherson had settled in their town and many of their parishioners were now attending her church; with its elaborate sermons that, in their view, diminished the dignity of the Gospel. The Chamber of Commerce together with Reverend Robert P. Shuler leading the Los Angeles Church Federation and assisted by the press and others, became an informal alliance to determine if her disappearance was caused by other than a kidnapping.

McPherson had the option to forgive the alleged kidnappers and let the matter drop, but presented herself in court as a victim of a crime seeking redress. Earlier, Prosecutor District Attorney Asa Keyes and Deputy District Attorney Joseph Ryan seemed empathetic to the story, with Ryan saying he could make the desert trip without scuffing or marking his commissary shoes. Compelled by the various interests, Keyes and Ryan instead considered McPherson and her mother involved in a deception and the inquiry was opened with insinuating questions.

Some were skeptical of her story since McPherson seemed in unusually good health for her alleged ordeal; her clothing showing no signs of what they expected of a long walk through the desert. This was disputed by most Douglas, Arizona, residents, the town where McPherson was taken to convalesce, including expert tracker CE Cross, who testified that McPherson's physical condition, shoes, and clothing were all consistent with an ordeal such as she described. A grand jury convened on July 8, 1926, but adjourned 12 days later citing lack of evidence to proceed with any charges against either alleged kidnappers or perjury by McPherson. McPherson was told they would be open to receive any evidence submitted by her should she desire to further substantiate her kidnapping story.

The prosecution collected five witnesses who asserted to have seen McPherson at a seaside cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea, with the cottage being rented by Ormiston under an assumed name. It was pointed out that even though most of these witnesses knew of the $25,000 reward for McPherson's return, with her pictures prominently appearing in the newspapers, none of the five stepped forward at the time they allegedly saw McPherson to claim it. Moreover, several other witnesses, including two the prosecution erroneously thought would testify for them, stated the woman was not McPherson. Ormiston admitted to having rented the cottage but claimed that the woman who had been there with him – known in the press as Mrs. X – was not McPherson but another woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

The grand jury reconvened on August 3 and took further testimony along with documents from hotels, all said by various newspapers to be in McPherson's handwriting. These, though, were later revealed to be Elizabeth Tovey's, a woman traveling with Ormiston, whose handwriting did not at all resemble McPherson's. McPherson steadfastly stuck to her story, that she was approached by a young couple at the beach who had asked her to come over and pray for their sick child, and that she was then shoved into a car and drugged with chloroform. When he was not satisfied with answers regarding her relationship with Ormiston (by then estranged from his wife), the judge charged McPherson and her mother with obstruction of justice. To combat the bad newspaper publicity, McPherson spoke freely about the court trials on the air during her radio broadcasts.

The Carmel cottage was further checked for fingerprints but none belonging to McPherson were recovered. Two grocery slips found in the yard of the cottage were studied by a police hand writing expert and determined to be McPherson's penmanship. While the original slips later mysteriously disappeared from the courtroom, photo-stat copies were available. The defense had a handwriting expert of their own who demonstrated the grocery slips were not McPherson's but doctored to look like hers. It was also noted the original slips would have been in the yard for two months, surviving dew, fog, and lawn maintenance before their discovery.

The prosecution of McPherson generated support for her among surprising sources. Local flappers attended the trial in support of McPherson, whom they regarded as a modern woman similar to themselves, and whose prosecution they believed was motivated by issues of gender. The journalist H. L. Mencken, previously a vocal critic of McPherson's, had been sent to cover the trial and came away impressed with McPherson and disdainful of the unseemly nature of the prosecution. Mencken later wrote: "The trial, indeed, was an orgy typical of the half-fabulous California courts. The very officers of justice denounced her riotously in the Hearst papers while it was in progress".

Theories and innuendo were rampant: that she had run off with a lover, had gone off to have an abortion, was taking time to heal from plastic surgery, or had staged a publicity stunt. Two inch headlines called her a tart, a conspirator and home-wrecker. McPherson learned that in a celebrity crazed-culture fueled by mass media, a leading lady could become a villainess in the blink of an eye.

The chief witness against McPherson was now Lorraine Wiseman-Sielaff. She first stated she was in Carmel as a nurse for Ormiston's mistress; and because she somewhat physically resembled McPherson, it was her that people were misidentifying as the evangelist. Later, after the Angelus Temple refused to post her bail when she was arrested for passing a bad check, Wiseman-Sielaff said McPherson paid her to tell that story. Her testimony was fluidly inconsistent, and it changed significantly yet again in late December 1926. Prosecutor Asa Keyes eventually concluded Wiseman-Sielaff's story was not true and a "grievous wrong had been done". The Examiner newspaper reported that Los Angeles district attorney Asa Keyes had dropped all charges on January 10, 1927.

In 1929 the California state senate conducted an impeachment trial of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carlos. S Hardly for providing legal aid to McPherson, violating the rules of office. McPherson was called to testify, but little interest was shown in prosecuting Hardy. The same witnesses and other persons from the earlier 1926 grand jury trial appeared; and McPherson was again in the headlines, being investigated. Charges against Hardy were dropped and the state assembly instead called for Los Angeles prosecutors to reopen the case to criminally charge McPherson. The Los Angeles offices declined.

The earlier 1926 grand jury case, the largest of its kind in California, had hundreds of reporters looking for discrediting evidence against McPherson. Almost $500,000 was spent (most by newspapers assisting in the investigation), 36,000 pages of transcripts generated, and agencies, officials and others continued to investigate, even years later, but were unable to prove her kidnapping story false. The impeachment trial cost another $50,000, presumably borne largely by the Los Angeles Times, with the exception of the $25,000 taxpayer money it cost to print the 1,300 page trial transcript. McPherson had to endure the same humiliation she had endured in the 1926 trial, when the discussion was primarily about her hair, legs, and morals. Journalist Morrow Mayo noted the State Senate request to reopen the older case after the 1929 impeachment trial was the last chance in California to "ruin that red-headed sorceress", and "she is free to serve the Lord until the Marines are called out".

The tale was later satirized by Pete Seeger in a song called "The Ballad of Aimee McPherson", with lyrics claiming the kidnapping had been unlikely because a hotel love nest revealed "the dents in the mattress fit Aimee's caboose".

The Court of Historical Review and Appeal in San Francisco, which holds no legal authority, is made up of members of the bench who examine and retry historical cases and controversies. In April 1990, a decision was handed down regarding the matter of McPherson's kidnapping story. George T. Choppelas, the then presiding judge of the San Francisco Municipal Court, ruling for the Court of Historical Review, found the issues involved both serious and fascinating. He concluded that "there was never any substantial evidence to show that her story was untrue. She may not have been a saint, but she certainly was no sinner, either".

Claims of extramarital affairs

Numerous allegations of illicit love affairs were often directed against McPherson. Suspected lovers generally denied involvement.For example, Kenneth Ormiston, a married man with a small son, could have profited immensely from an expose' about himself and McPherson. It was not disputed the two had a good working relationship and were friendly with each other. During the 1926 kidnapping grand jury trial, his privacy in every way was invaded as reporters and investigators tried to link him amorously to McPherson. Ormiston told newspapers his name connected in such a way to the evangelist "was a gross insult to a noble and sincere woman."

Alarmed by her rapidly changing style of dress and involvement with Hollywood and its "worldly" lifestyle, in 1929, an Angeleus Temple official hired detectives to shadow McPherson. Through her windows, the detectives frequently saw McPherson staying up until the early morning hours composing songs, drafting sacred operas and scribbling diagrams of her illustrated sermons. They were looking for evidence of her indiscretions, but found nothing. No confirmation of adulterous misconduct, with perhaps exception of her third marriage as a violation of Church tenants, was ever presented. McPherson herself, aware of numerous accusations leveled at her throughout her career, responded only to a small fraction of them, conveying the only thing she had time for was "preaching Jesus."

Posthumously, unsubstantiated allegations of extramarital affairs continued to emerge, this time by those who stated to have been her partner; claims not mentioned by them or others while she was still alive. Canadian journalist, Gordon Sinclair, implied such a claim in his 1966 autobiography, Will the Real Gordon Sinclair Please Stand Up. Sinclair stated he worked on a story with McPherson and it was during one of those times in 1934, the incident purportedly occurred. Sinclair alludes to a sexual dalliance with McPherson one afternoon along with some gin and ginger.

30 years after her death, another claim by comedian Milton Berle, in a 1974 autobiography, alleges a brief affair with the evangelist. In his book, entitled Milton Berle: An Autobiography, Berle asserts he met McPherson at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles where both were doing a charity show. Upon seeing her for the first time, Berle recalled,

"I was both impressed and very curious ... She was all dignity and class when it came her turn. The house went wild when she walked out into the lights." Backstage, she invited him to see Angelus Temple. Instead, Berle wrote, the two of them went to lunch in Santa Monica, then to an apartment of hers where McPherson changed into something "cooler [...] a very thin, pale blue negligee." Berle said he could see she was wearing nothing underneath. She just said, "Come in." Berle said they met for the second and last time at the same apartment a few days later, writing, "This time, she just sent the chauffeur for me to bring me straight to the apartment. We didn't even bother with lunch. When I was dressing to leave, she stuck out her hand. 'Good luck with your show, Milton.' What the hell. I couldn't resist it. 'Good luck with yours, Aimee.' I never saw or heard from Aimee Semple McPherson again. But whenever I hear 'Yes, Sir, That's My Baby', I remember her."

Biographer Matthew Avery Sutton commented, "Berle, a notorious womanizer whose many tales of scandalous affairs were not always true, claimed to have had sex with McPherson on this and one other occasion", both during a year when McPherson was often ill and bedridden. Sutton noted that Berle's story of a crucifix in McPherson's bedroom was not consistent with the coolness of Pentecostal-Catholic relations during that era. Another book by Milton Berle, Laughingly Yours, which had autobiographical content that was published in 1939 while McPherson was still alive, did not have this claim.

Author Raymond L. Cox states: "Mrs. McPherson's daughter, Roberta Salter of New York, told me, 'Mother never had an apartment in her life.' By 1931 she kept herself securely chaperoned to guard against such allegations." During 1930 the evangelist's appearances and whereabouts can be traced almost every day. She was incapacitated with illness a full five months of that year, and there is no place on her schedule as reported in her publications and church and travel records for the benefit Berle alleged. Besides, Roberta also told Cox, "Mother never did a benefit in her life. She had her own charities".

Charitable work

McPherson (left) prepares Christmas food baskets (about 1935)

Aimee Semple McPherson strove to develop a church organization which could not only provide for the spiritual, but the physical needs of the distressed. Though she fervently believed and preached the imminent return of Jesus Christ, she had no idea of how soon that Second Coming might be. Two thoughts pervaded the mind of most devout Pentecostals of the time, "Jesus is coming, therefore how can I get ready," and "how can I help others to get ready?"

For McPherson, part of the answer was to mobilize her Temple congregation and everyone she could reach through radio, telephone and word of mouth to get involved in substantial amounts of charity and social work. "True Christianity is not only to be good but to do good," she preached. The Charities and Beneficiary Department collected donations for all types of humanitarian relief to include a Japanese disaster as well as a German relief fund. Men released from prison were found jobs by a "brotherhood." A "sisterhood" was created as well, sewing baby clothing for impoverished mothers. Branch churches elsewhere in the country were likewise encouraged to follow the Angelus Temple's example. Even people who considered McPherson's theology almost ridiculous helped out because they saw her church as the best way to assist their community.

In June 1925, after confirming reports of an earthquake in Santa Barbara, McPherson immediately left the parsonage and interrupted a broadcast at a nearby radio station. She took over the microphone from the started singer and requested food, blankets, clothing, whatever listeners could give for emergency supplies to assist nearby Santa Barbara. As the Red Cross met to discuss and organize aid, McPherson's second convoy had already arrived at the troubled city. In 1928, after a dam failed and the ensuing flood left over 400 dead in its wake, McPherson's church led the relief effort. Later, in 1934, an earthquake struck and devastated Long Beach. McPherson quickly arranged for volunteers to be on the scene with blankets, coffee and doughnuts.

An unwed mother's home was operated of the parsonage. Roberta Semple Star, McPherson's daughter, shared her room with one troubled or battered runaway girl after another. She recalled they came from all over the country and her mother could spot them in any crowd. McPherson herself would frequently contact the girl's presumably worried parents, offering to facilitate a reconciliation if needed. If the girl stayed on, after the baby arrived, McPherson made another call to the parents, letting them know wonderful news: their daughter just gave birth to a healthy eight pound baby boy or girl. McPherson's enthusiastically sincere, caring approach tended to result in reluctant parents accepting back their wayward daughter with their new grandchild.

While McPherson, her two children and sometimes visitors shared dinner upstairs, frequently they were interrupted by knocks on the downstairs door. The Angeles Temple parsonage received an unknown number of abandoned infants left in all types of containers at its doorstep. People knew a baby left there would be well taken care of. Because many baby abandonments were caused by mothers unable to care for their infants while they worked, she also established a day nursery for children of working mothers.

Drawing from her childhood experience with the Salvation Army, in 1927, McPherson opened a commissary at Angelus Temple which was devised to assist the needy on a much larger, formalized scale. The Commissary was virtually the only place in town a person could get food, clothing, and blankets with no questions asked. It was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and became active in creating soup kitchens, free clinics, and other charitable activities as the Great Depression wore on. It is estimated that she fed 1.5 million people. When the government shut down the free school lunch program, McPherson took it over. Her policy of giving first and investigating afterward allowed waste and a certain amount of deadbeats to leech off the program, but it "alleviated suffering on an epic scale".

McPherson got the fire and police departments to assist in distribution. Doctors, physicians and dentists were persuaded to staff her free clinic that trained 500 nurses to help treat children and the elderly. She encouraged individuals and companies of all types to donate supplies, food, cash or labor. To prevent the power from being turned off to homes of overdue accounts during the winter, a US $2,000 cash reserve was set up with the utility company. Many people, who otherwise would have nothing to do with the Angelus Temple, would receive a call from McPherson, and then loot their mansion closets or company stores for something to give. The Yellow Cab Company donated a large building and, in the first month, 80,000 people received meals there.

Laboring under a sign "Everybody and anybody is somebody to Jesus", volunteer workers filled commissary baskets with an assortment of food and other items as well as Foursquare Gospel literature and handed them out. Even a complete kit designed to care for newborn babies was available. A reporter writes he had always thought the breadline was a "drab colorless scar on our civilization" but of the Angelus Temple commissary, he observes, was "the warm garment of sympathy and Christian succor." A note, which reflects the sentiment of many of those who received assistance, was left in June, 2010 at McPherson's virtual gravesite:

"My grandpa always talked about when he was a kid, he and his family moved to California from Missouri, during the depression, and his family was starving and they met you and you gave them a bag of vegetables, and some money, he never forgot it." -Anonymous

Establishing an employment bureau as well, McPherson desired to help "the discouraged husband, the despondent widow, or the little mother who wants extra work to bear the burden of a sick husband". She expected everyone in her temple to be involved, 'let us ever strive to lighten our brother's load and dry the tears of a sister; race, creed or status make no difference. We are all one in the eyes of the Lord." She encouraged members to think of the commissary as widening "the spirituality of the whole church".

In 1932, the commissary was raided by police to allegedly locate a still used to make brandy out of donated apricots. Some sauerkraut and salad oil were purportedly observed leaking from their respective storage areas. As a consequence, the commissary was briefly shut down. The press got involved and the public demanded an investigation. Since no one really wanted to stall the temple's charity efforts, the acceptable solution was to replace the immediate management. The staff was let go and students from her Foursquare Gospel Church's LIFE Bible College filled in. The newspaper media, generally cynical of the Temple and in particular, of McPherson, recognized "the excellent features of that organization's efforts" and "the faults of the Angelus Temple are outweighed by its virtues". McPherson issued a statement declaring, "They have clashed loud their cymbals and blown their trumpets about a still and some sauerkraut,... our work is still before us. If...anybody abused his trust, it must not happen again."

As McPherson tried to avoid administrative delays in categorizing the "deserving" from the "undeserving," her temple commissary became known as one of the region's most effective and inclusive aid institutions. Few soup kitchens lasted more than several months, but McPherson's remained open. Even as she transformed herself into a fashionable blonde Hollywood socialite, McPherson's vigor and practicality for social activism did not change, she loved organizing big projects. A 1936 survey indicated the Angelus Temple assisted more family units than any other public or private institution in the city. Because her programs aided non-residents as well, such as migrants from other states and Mexico, she ran afoul of California state regulations. Even though temple guidelines were later officially adjusted to accommodate those policies, helping families in need was a priority, regardless of their place of residence.

Actor Anthony Quinn recalls:

"This was all during the height of the Depression, when hunger and poverty permeated America. Many Mexicans were terrified of appealing for county help because most of them were in the country illegally. When in distress, they were comforted by the fact that they could call one of Aimee's branches at any time of the night. There, they would never be asked any of the embarrassing questions posed by the authorities. The fact that they were hungry or in need of warm clothing was enough. No one even asked if they belonged to Aimee's church or not."

Later life and career

Following her heyday in the 1920s, McPherson carried on with her ministry but fell out of favor with the press. They once dubbed her the "miracle worker" or "miracle woman", reporting extensively on her faith healing demonstrations, but now were anxious to relay every disturbance in her household to the headlines. Her developing difficulties with her mother, Mildred Kennedy, were starting to take the front page. Yet, McPherson emerged from the kidnapping nationally famous. As much as ten percent of the population in Los Angeles held membership in her Temple. For a time, movie studios competed with each other offering McPherson long-term contracts.

Believing that talking pictures had the potential to transform Christianity, McPherson explored Hollywood culture and appeared in newsreels alongside other famous individuals such as Mary Pickford, Frances Perkins, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. She lost weight, cut and dyed her hair, and became stylish and well attired. A critic wrote McPherson "can out-dress the Hollywood stars". The solicitation of fame, justified to draw audiences to her and hence to Christ, was more than some in her church organization could accept. They yearned for Sister Aimee "in the old time dress," referring to her previous "trademarked" uniform of a navy cape over a white servant's dress; both purchased inexpensively in bargain basements. Other members, though, loved it and her Angelus Temple services were as popular as ever and remained so throughout her life. Unless parishioners arrived to a service early, frequently they could not get in, all seats were taken. Now that she could afford it, McPherson thought as well, she wanted her apparel and display to be the best she could present to Jesus.

In the summer of 1927, Mildred Kennedy, McPherson's mother, left the Temple. The two had heatedly argued over management polices and McPherson's changing personal dress and appearance. For similar reasons, 300 members of the choir left as well. The choir could be replaced; however, Kennedy's financial and administrative skills had been of crucial importance in growing McPherson's ministry from tent revivals to satellite churches and maintaining its current activities in the Angelus Temple. A series of less able management staff replaced Kennedy and the Temple became involved in various questionable projects such as hotel building, cemetery plots, and land sales. Accordingly, the Temple plummeted deep into debt. In response to the difficulties, Kennedy came back in late 1929, but because of continued serious disagreements with McPherson, tendered her resignation July 29, 1930. The following month, in August 1930, McPherson suffered a physical and nervous breakdown. For ten months she was absent from the pulpit, diagnosed, in part with acute acidosis.

When she gained strength and returned, it was with renewed vigor that she introduced her moving "Attar of Roses" sermon, based on the Song of Solomon, with its Rose of Charon as the mystical Body of Christ. While journalists attending her Sunday illustrated sermons assumed her language was fit only for slapstick or sentimental entertainment, scholars who have studied her work for Bible students and small prayer groups, found instead the complex discourse of neoplatonic interpretation. The Old Testament book, the Song of Solomon, for example, she had hundreds of pages written about it, each "different from one another as snowflakes".

In 1931 McPherson embarked on a worldwide six month discovery tour to examine the social religious and economic climates of many countries. At one point, it was reported she was on her way to India for the purpose of studying the women's movement in connection with the campaign for Independence, and was anxious to have "a chat with Mahatma Gandhi". McPherson was deeply impressed with Gandhi. She thought he might secretly lean towards Christianity; his dedication possibly coming from catching "a glimpse of the cleansing, lifting, strengthening power of the Nazarene".

On September 13, 1931, McPherson married again, to actor and musician David Hutton; the marriage got off to a rocky start. Two days after the wedding, Hutton was sued for breach of promise by ex-girlfriend Hazel St. Pierre, although Hutton claimed he had never met her. He eventually settled the case by paying St. Pierre US$5,000. While McPherson was away in Europe, she was angered to learn Hutton was billing himself as "Aimee's man" in his cabaret singing act. The marriage also caused an uproar within the church: the tenets of Foursquare Gospel, as put forth by McPherson herself, held that one should not remarry while their previous spouse was still alive, as McPherson's second husband still was. McPherson and Hutton separated in 1933 and divorced on March 1, 1934. McPherson later publicly repented of the marriage, as wrong from the beginning, for both theological and personal reasons and therefore rejected another, more appropriate suitor when he asked for her hand.

Around 1936, McPherson reassigned staff responsibilities in an effort to address the Temple's financial difficulties. This, together with other unresolved issues, accelerated simmering tensions among various staff members. Rumors circulated that "Angel of Broadway", charismatic evangelist Rheba Crawford Splivalo, who had been working extensively with McPherson for several years, planned to take the Angelus Temple from her. McPherson asked Splivalo to "leave town". In the course of the staff controversy, McPherson's lawyer issued a strongly worded press release that upset Roberta Star Semple, McPherson's daughter, and led her to initiate a $150,000 lawsuit against him for slander. Splivalo also sued McPherson for $1,080,000 because of alleged statements calling her a ‘Jezebel and a Judas’ and "unfit to stand in the Angelus Temple pulpit".

The two lawsuits filed by Semple and Splivalo were not related, but McPherson did not see it that way. She saw both as part of the Temple takeover plot. Mildred Kennedy, McPherson's mother, was also involved and sided with Semple, her granddaughter, making unflattering statements about McPherson to the press. In these charged circumstances, McPherson's defense of herself and her lawyer in a public trial was dramatic and theatrical. She testified tearfully with swoons and faints about how her daughter conspired with others against her. Her daughter's lawyer, meanwhile, mocked McPherson by imitating her mannerisms and making faces at her. The trial did much to estrange McPherson from her daughter. The judge ruled for Semple giving a $2,000 judgment in her favor. Semple then moved to New York. Splivalo and the Temple settled their suit out of court for the "cause of religion and the good of the community."

With Kennedy, Semple, and Splivalo gone, the Temple lost much of its talented leadership. However, McPherson found a competent and firm administrator in Giles Knight, who was able to bring the Temple out of debt, dispose of the 40 or so lawsuits, and eliminate the more spurious projects. He sequestered McPherson, allowed her to receive only a few personal visitors, and carefully regulated her activities outside the Temple. This period was one of unprecedented creativity for McPherson. No longer distracted by waves of reporters, reams of lawsuits, and numberless individuals demanding her attention, she became very accomplished in her illustrative sermon style of gospel preaching. The irreligious Charlie Chaplin would secretly attend her services, enjoying her sermons. She later met and consulted with Chaplin on ways to improve her presentations. McPherson, who earlier blared across newspaper headlines as many as three times a week, in one alleged scandal or another, had her public image much improved. Her adversary, Reverend Robert P. Shuler, who previously attacked her by radio, magazine, pulpit, and pamphlet, proclaimed "Aimee's missionary work was the envy of Methodists".

Her efforts at making interracial revival a reality at Angelus Temple continued. She welcomed blacks into the congregation and pulpit. While race riots burned Detroit in 1943, McPherson publicly converted the notorious black former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson on the Temple stage and embraced him “as he raised his hand in worship”.

War years

Pacifism, which was a component of Pentecostalism, was evaluated by the Foursquare Gospel Church in the 1930's with official statements and documents which were further revised by McPherson. A press quote attributed to McPherson, in reference to Mahatma Gandhi, appears to explore the concept, "I want to incorporate the ideals of India with my own...." Additionally, Clinton Howard, the chairman of the World Peace Commission, was invited to speak at the Angelus Temple. In 1932 she promoted disarmament, "If the nations of the world would stop building warships and equipping armies we would be all but overwhelmed with prosperity."

Foursquare leaders, alarmed at rapid changes of technology, especially sea and air, which challenged the United States isolation and security, decided to officially draw up an amendment inclusive of varied opinions in regards to military service. The idea that one could trust to bear arms in a righteous cause as well as believing the killing of others, even in connection to military service, would endanger their souls; both views were acceptable.

McPherson kept a canny eye on the international events leading up to the Second World War, citing the probability of a much more terrible conflict than the one that passed 20 years earlier. In a sermon, she described a recently conquered country which had the Cross and other religious symbols in their schools removed; in their place was a portrait of a certain man. Instead of prayer, their school day began with a distinctive salute to this person. The destructive apocalypse of John the Apostle, with its expected high civilian casualties, followed by the Second Coming of Christ, it seemed, was at hand. Even if submarines were hiding in the depths of the sea, they could not escape the terror that would befall them.

All night prayer meetings were held Friday nights at the Angelus Temple, starting in 1940, the year when Germany was overrunning Belgium, Holland and France. She asked other Foursquare churches around the country to follow suit. She sent President Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary, Mr. Stephen Early, as well as some other leaders, an outline of her plans. Prayer, to her, was even more powerful than the implements of war. Various officials expressed their appreciation, including the governor of California. Early passed on a reply back from Roosevelt: a message of thanks for her work. A month later Roosevelt declared a National Day of Prayer to "beseech the Ruler of the Universe to bless our Republic." Foursquare leaders thought McPherson may have inspired it; and perhaps the President of the United States was looking to her for spiritual leadership of the nation.

At the outbreak of World War II, McPherson rejected the Christian pacifism of many in the Pentecostal movement including those of her own church. Her mind was set on on doing what ever it took to assist the United States in winning the war, "It is the Bible against ''Mein Kampf''. It is the Cross against the Swastika. It is God against the antichrist of Japan,... This is no time for pacifism." The Angelus Temple itself became a visible symbol of home front sacrifice for the war effort. If necessary, it was announced the building could be used for an air raid shelter. The distinctive white dome was painted over with black paint and its beautiful stained glass windows covered up. The Temple, like other buildings in the city, had to have any opening or window that could emit visible light at night, covered. One evening in May 1942, to advertise the need to conserve gasoline and rubber, McPherson herself drove a horse and buggy to the Angelus Temple.

Rubber and other drives were organized; and unlimited airtime on her radio station, KFSG, was given to the Office of War Information. She asked parishioners and other listeners to donate two hours a day for such tasks as rolling bandages "so that a soldier's bandage could be changed.... And let us give our blood to help every one." Money was raised to provide local military bases with comfortable furnishings and radios. Newsweek published an article about McPherson, "The World's Greatest Living Minister," in July 19, 1943, noting she had collected 2,800 pints of blood for the Red Cross; servicemen in her audience are especially honored, and the climax of her church services is when she reads the National Anthem.

McPherson gave visiting servicemen autographed Bibles. She observed they often had no religious affiliation and did not even own a Bible. She wrote:

"What a privilege it was to invite the servicemen present in every Sunday night meeting to come to the platform, where I greeted them, gave each one a New Testament, and knelt in prayer with them for their spiritual needs, and God’s guidance and protection on their lives. Later, when the altar call would be given, many of these same servicemen would make another trip to the platform publicly to receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior."

She insulted both Hitler and Tojo, and became involved in war bond rallies. Pershing Square's Victory House in Los Angeles never saw a bigger crowd. McPherson sold $150,000 worth of bonds in one hour on June 20, 1942, breaking all previous records, then repeated the performance again on July 4, 1944. The U.S. Treasury awarded her a special citation. The Army made McPherson an honorary colonel.

Her wartime activities included sermons that linked the church and American patriotism. McPherson spoke to the men in uniform of her belief that military action against the Axis powers was long overdue. And more so than in almost any war previously, she felt that if they did not prevail, churches, homes and everything precious and dear to the Christian would absolutely be destroyed.

McPherson's embrace of the total war strategy of the United States, left her open to some criticism. The line between the church as an independent moral authority monitoring government became blurred, perceived instead, as complicit with that same governance. Wrongs being done to Japanese Americans through their internment in relocation camps, were being overlooked, for example. And she refused to allow her denomination to support Christians who remained committed pacifists. Even if conscientious objectors were willing to participate in non-combat roles, more was needed. Church members and leaders had to be willing to take up arms and fight for the United States. The pacifist clause which earlier existed, was by her proposal, voted upon and eliminated by Foursquare Gospel Church leaders.

She articulated the history of Christianity, as a torch ignited first in the Near East with the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus; moving to Europe, then England finally to arrive in the United States. Freedom of speech, assembly, and the press was being blotted out in Asia and Europe; the United States now had total responsibility for Christianity, to carry the Gospel to millions. McPherson announced, "the flag of America and the church stand for the same thing...they stand or fall together!"

Death

Aimee Semple McPherson's grave

On September 26, 1944, McPherson went to Oakland, California, for a series of revivals, planning to preach her popular "Story of My Life" sermon. When McPherson's son went to her hotel room at 10:00 the next morning, he found her unconscious with pills and a half-empty bottle of capsules nearby. She was dead by 11:15.

The autopsy did not conclusively determine the cause of McPherson's death. She had been taking sleeping pills following numerous health problems – including "tropical fever". Among the pills found in the hotel room was the drug Seconal, a strong sedative which had not been prescribed for her. It was unknown how she obtained them.

The coroner said she most likely died of an accidental overdose compounded by kidney failure. The cause of death is officially listed as unknown. Given the circumstances, there was speculation about suicide, but most sources generally agree the overdose was accidental, as stated in the coroner's report.

Forty-five thousand people waited in long lines, some until 2 am, to file past the evangelist, where, for three days, her body lay in state at the Angelus Temple. Within a mile-and-a-half radius of the church, police had to double park cars. It later took eleven trucks to transport the $50,000 worth of flowers to the cemetery which itself received more telegrammed floral orders than at any time since Will Roger's death almost 10 years earlier. A Foursquare leader noted that to watch the long line pass reverently by her casket, and see tears shed by all types of people, regardless of class and color, helped give understanding to the far reaching influence of her life and ministry.

Aimee Semple McPherson is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Following her death, the Foursquare Gospel church denomination was led for 44 years by her son Rolf McPherson. The church claims a membership of over 8.7 million worldwide.

Works about McPherson

Books, periodicals, films, and plays

• The character Sharon Falconer in Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry (1926) was based on McPherson. (Lingeman, p. 283)
• The faith-healing evangelist Big Sister in Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust was based on McPherson.
• Upton Sinclair was fascinated with her history. After writing a poem about her dubious abduction, called "An Evangelist Drowns", he wrote her into his 1927 novel, Oil!, in the character of Eli Watkins, a corrupt small-town minister. That character is called Eli Sunday in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood.
• The character of the American evangelist Mrs. Melrose Ape in Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies (1930) is thought to be based on McPherson.
• Vanity Fair published a satirical cutout paper doll based on her.
• Aimee Semple McPherson appeared in The Voice of Hollywood No. 9 (1930), one in a series of popular documentaries released by Tiffany Studios.
• Frank Capra's film The Miracle Woman (1931), starring Barbara Stanwyck, was based on John Meehan's play Bless You, Sister which was reportedly inspired by McPherson's life.
• Agnes Moorehead's role as Sister Alma in the 1971 thriller film What's the Matter with Helen? was modeled after McPherson.
• A television film about the events surrounding her 1926 disappearance, The Disappearance of Aimee (1976) starred Faye Dunaway as McPherson and Bette Davis as her mother.
• A film adaptation of the story of her life, entitled Aimee Semple McPherson (2006) was directed by Richard Rossi. The same director filmed a short film Saving Sister Aimee in 2001. (The film was retitled "Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story" and released on DVD April 22, 2008.) Rossi later penned the prize-winning play "Sister Aimee", honored with a cash award in the 2009 Bottletree One-Act Competition, an international playwriting contest.
• A documentary about McPherson, entitled Sister Aimee, made for the PBS series American Experience, premiered April 2, 2007.
• Several biographies have been written about McPherson.
• In the alternate history novel Back in the USSA, she appears as the Secretary of Manpower Resources under President Al Capone.
• Escape from Hell (fiction novel) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (Tor, 2009), features "Sister Aimee" in Hell after her death, in a supporting role as a guide and saint who is teaching the damned about Dante's route out of Hell.
• Scandalous is a musical about the life and ministry of McPherson with the book and lyrics written by Kathie Lee Gifford and music written by composer David Friedman and David Pomeranz; the musical ran in 2011 at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, and had 29 performances in 2012 at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, with McPherson portrayed by Carolee Carmello.
• "An Evangelist Drowns" (2007) a one-woman play based on McPherson's life. Includes fictionalized accounts of relationships with Charlie Chaplin and David Hutton.
• "Aimee Semple Mcpherson and the Resurrection of Christian America" (2007) A biography by Matthew Avery Sutton that chronicles the ever changing life of Sister Aimee.
• "La disparition de Soeur Aimee" (2011) in Crimes et Procès Sensationnels à Los Angeles, book by Nausica Zaballos, pages 103-140, Paris, E-Dite, (ISBN 978-2-8460-8310-2)
• The song "Hooray for Hollywood" lyrics by Johnny Mercer, from the film Hollywood Hotel mentions McPherson. "Where anyone at all from Shirley Temple to Aimee Semple is equally understood."

Theater

A 2012 Broadway Musical Scandalous began in the fall. The Broadway show about evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson – written by TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford – opened and closed within a month.

A production of the musical Saving Aimee, with a book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, debuted at the White Plains Performing Arts Center in October 2005 and was staged at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, in April and May 2007.Vorlage:Citation needed An updated, fully staged production opened September 30, 2011, at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre. A revised version of the musical, now called Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson began a broadway run at the Neil Simon Theatre on October 13, 2012, with an official opening date set for November 15 of that year. The musical stars Carolee Carmello as McPherson.

A play entitled The Wide Open Ocean, a musical vaudeville, was performed at The Actors' Gang theater in Los Angeles. It was written and directed by playwright, director, actor, and educator Laural Meade.Vorlage:Citation needed

In 2003, a play entitled Spit Shine Glisten, loosely based on the life of McPherson, was performed at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. Written and directed by the experimental theatre artist Susan Simpson, the play used life-sized wooden puppets, human beings, and fractured and warped video projection.Vorlage:Citation needed

As Thousands Cheer, a musical revue with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, contains satirical sketches and musical numbers loosely based on the news and the lives and affairs of the rich and famous, including Joan Crawford, Noël Coward, Josephine Baker, and Aimee Semple McPherson.

The musical, Vanishing Point, written by Rob Hartmann, Liv Cummins, & Scott Keys, intertwines the lives of evangelist McPherson, aviatrix Amelia Earhart, and mystery writer Agatha Christie. It is featured as part of the 2010–2011 season at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 2007, a one-woman play titled An Evangelist Drowns, written by Gregory J. Thompson, debuted at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma. In 2008, the show was produced at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. The play is partly based on the life of McPherson, but it explores a fictionalized portrayal of her recalling lost loves, regrets, and remorse in the final hours before her death in 1944.

Aimee's Castle

Aimee's Castle is a mansion built by McPherson. She had a house near Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, but McPherson built this mansion in Lake Elsinore, California, as a retreat. McPherson convalesced there after an injury in 1932.

In 1929, Clevelin Realty Corp. purchased land in Lake Elsinore's Country Club Heights District and was marketing the area as a resort destination for the rich and famous. To encourage celebrities to purchase there, the developers offered to give McPherson a parcel of land featuring panoramic views of the lake. She accepted the land and in 1929 commissioned the architect Edwin Bickman to design a Vorlage:Convert Moorish Revival mansion, with art deco details, on the hills above the lake's northeastern shore. The structure's white plaster wall and arches reflect an Irving Gill influence. Its large, cerulean blue-tiled dome over a prayer tower and a second silver-painted dome and faux-minaret give it mosque-like appearance from the exterior; the interior features art-deco wall treatments in several of the rooms. The domed ceiling of the formal dining room rises at least Vorlage:Convert. A narrow breakfast nook reflects an American-Indian motif.

Publications

• Aimee Semple McPherson: The Second Coming of Christ: Is He Coming? How is He Coming? When is He Coming? For Whom is He Coming? A. McPherson, 1921, OCLC 8122641 (google.com). 
• Aimee Semple McPherson: This is That: Personal Experiences, Sermons and Writings of Aimee Semple McPherson, Evangelist. The Bridal Call Publishing House, OCLC 1053806 (google.com). 
• Aimee Semple McPherson: In the Service of the King: The Story of My Life. Boni and Liveright, 1927, OCLC 513458 (google.com). 
• Aimee Semple McPherson: Give Me My Own God. H. C. Kinsey & Company, Inc., 1936, OCLC 1910039 (google.com). 
• Aimee Semple McPherson: The Story of My Life: In Memoriam, Echo Park Evangelistic Association, Los Angeles. 1951, OCLC 1596212 (google.com). 

See also

• Christian evangelist scandals

References

• Richard R. Lingeman, Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street, Minnesota Historical Society Press, June 2005, ISBN 978-0-87351-541-2.

Further reading

• Bahr, Robert: Least of All Saints: the Story of Aimee Semple McPherson. Prentice-Hall, 1979, ISBN 978-0-13-527978-6 (google.com). 
• Blumhofer, Edith L.: Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody's Sister. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1993, ISBN 978-0-8028-0155-5 (google.com). 
• Cox, Raymond L.: The Verdict is In. R.L. Cox, 1983, OCLC 11315268 (google.com). 
• Epstein, Daniel Mark: Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1994, ISBN 978-0-15-600093-2 (google.com). 
• Morris, James, Morris, Jan: The Preachers. St. Martin's Press, 1973, ISBN 0-900997-41-9 (google.com). 
• Sutton, Matthew Avery: Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America. (at Harvard University Press), 2009, ISBN 978-0-674-03253-8 (google.com). 
• Thomas, Lately: The Vanishing Evangelist: the Aimee Semple McPherson Kidnapping Affair. Viking Press, 1959, OCLC 1575665 (google.com). 
• Thomas, Lately: Storming Heaven: The Lives and Turmoils of Minnie Kennedy and Aimee Semple McPherson. Morrow, 1970, OCLC 92194 (google.com). 
• Zaballos, Nausica La disparition de Soeur Aimee (23 November 2011) in Crimes et procès sensationnels à Los Angeles 1922-1962: Au-delà du Dahlia noir, pages 103-140, Paris, E-Dite, (ISBN 978-2-84608-310-2)

External links

• "Aimee McPherson" Old Time Radio
• Foursquare Gospel church
• Aimee Semple McPherson biography
• Biography from Liberty Harbor Foursquare Gospel Church
• Song about the McPherson kidnapping scandal, dating from when it was a current news story. Pete Seeger recorded this on the 1961 album Story Songs.
• Woman Thou Art God: Female Empowerment, Spirituality & a biography on Aimee.
• The Ballad of Aimee McPherson.
• Aimee Semple McPherson on The California Museum's California Legacy Trails
• Vorlage:IMDb name
• Vorlage:Find a Grave