MCPHERSON, AIMEE SEMPLE 1890-1944

Preacher

Early Life

Sister Aimee, as the followers of Aimee Semple McPherson called her, was one of the few women in the United States to form her own denomination—although that was in the process of what she considered her true calling, saving souls. Born Beth Kennedy in Canada into a family dominated by her mother's commitment to the Salvation Army, in 1907 Aimee, as she by then called herself, attended a Pentecostal tent meeting and was converted. She soon married revivalist Robert Semple and went on the revival trail with him. While she was never ordained, she took naturally to preaching, which was sufficient for her and those she brought to the altar. In 1910 the couple went into the missionary field in China, where her daughter was born and her husband died.

Finding a Place

Distraught, the young widow returned to the United States and two years later married Harold S. McPherson. Family life was not enough to keep Sister Aimee from the revival circuit, and she left her husband to return to saving souls. (He divorced her in the 1920s on grounds of desertion.) For several years, with her mother serving as manager of the ministry, Sister Aimee wandered the country until she arrived in Los Angeles in 1918 and found the permanent site of her ministry and church.

Local Fame

McPherson's message was salvation, but she recognized the need to attract attention in order to present her message. By the time she reached Los Angeles she had developed the flamboyant style that attracted not only attention but notoriety. In her new setting the crowds grew, as did the converts, and McPherson put down roots, building a stunning pie-shaped sanctuary for her Full Square Gospel Church, as she called it. The Angelus Temple opened in 1923, and the crowds poured in, to be entertained as much by McPherson's show-business antics as by her sermons of hope. In 1924 she opened her own radio station, KFSG (the letters stood for Kail Full Square Gospel), the first fulltime religious radio station. Sister Aimee became locally famous.

Gossip

While McPherson could dress and look like an angel in her pulpit, and while her resonant voice caressed her followers with her words of eternal hope, she was stubborn, hardheaded, and impulsive in private life. In the middle of the decade she paid little attention to the gossip that linked her to her station's former radio engineer.

A Colorful Story

McPherson liked to swim for relaxation. One May evening in 1926 she went to Ocean Park with her secretary, and while the secretary stayed on shore McPherson took her customary swim out beyond the breakers. She failed to swim back and had apparently disappeared. The distraught secretary called McPherson's mother, and a full-scale search was organized. Hundreds of the members of the Angelus Temple scoured the beaches looking for her body. One overwrought follower committed suicide in despair. The body was not found. McPherson's mother assumed her daughter dead or perhaps raised directly up to heaven in advance of her death. The national press had a splendid time with the mysterious disappearance of such a colorful character, and, as stories about the disappearance continued to sell papers, rumors about sightings of McPherson circulated. There was even speculation that she was with the radio engineer, whose wife had returned to Australia, claiming McPherson had taken up with her husband. Nearly six weeks after the disappearance, a letter arrived at the Angelus Temple demanding $500,000 in ransom for McPherson's return. If the money were not handed over, the letter said, she would be sold into white slavery in Mexico. Her mother, who had given her up for dead, was stunned. She was even more stunned when a few days later McPherson called from Douglas, Arizona, saying that she had finally managed to escape from her kidnappers.

McPherson's Story

By the time McPherson's mother arrived in Douglas, Sister Aimee was talking to the press, detailing the story that she would always repeat. According to McPherson, while she was at the beach a couple had come up to her asking her to come to their car to see and possibly heal their sick child. At the automobile, she said, she was chloroformed, restrained, and held hostage by two men and a woman. She was tortured to make her cooperate with her kidnappers and eventually taken to an adobe shack in Mexico. One day, when all of her captors were out of the house, McPherson cut her ropes, escaped through a window, and crawled and staggered through the desert until she was found and taken to Douglas.

Triumphal Entry

Sister Aimee returned to Los Angeles to a triumphal welcome from her followers. The press and the police were less credulous. Stories were published that a woman who looked like McPherson had spent ten days in the resort town of Carmel, California, with McPherson's former radio engineer. The press also wondered over McPherson's failure to show any evidence of her alleged mistreatment or of the ordeal of staggering through the desert for hours. In a matter of weeks a grand jury was convened, and McPherson and her mother were forced to testify. Both were bound over, and after six weeks of considerable publicity they were charged with a variety of crimes, including a conspiracy to manufacture evidence.

Fame

The case came to nothing, and McPherson was now famous. Leaving the Angelus Temple to her mother, she went on an extended revival tour of the East. She was now a national celebrity, and crowds poured out to see her. She began to dress fashionably and even bobbed the luxuriant hair that had captivated the grand jury when she let it down for them during the hearings. In New York City she made a highly publicized visit to Texas Guinin, a speakeasy, and even addressed the revelers there. Reporters always noted her doings; Sister Aimee was good copy and was always willing to talk. When asked about the disappearance and kidnapping, her response was a smiling "That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Later Ministry

McPherson returned to Los Angeles and continued her ministry. Although she had no original intention to begin a new denomination, her central church developed new congregations in the spreading Pentecostal movement. She remained a celebrity, and crowds continued to pack her temple into the next decade. Some came to watch and were converted—which was what she intended.

Sources:

Edith Blumhofer, Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody's Sister (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1993);

Daniel M. Epstein, Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson (New York: Harcourt Brace Jo vanovich, 1993);

Amiee Semple McPherson, The Story of My Life, edited by Raymond W. Becker (Hollywood, Cal.: International Correspondence Publishers, 1951).

Aimee Semple Mc Pherson

Born: October 9, 1890
Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada
Died: September 27, 1944
Oakland, California
Canadian-born American evangelist

Aimee Semple McPherson, American evangelist (one who preaches Christianity), symbolized important traits of American popular religion in the 1920s and 1930s. She was one of the first female evangelists, the first divorced evangelist, and the founder of the Foursquare Gospel church.

Early life

Aimee Kennedy was born on October 9, 1890, near Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada. Her father, James Morgan Kennedy, was a struggling farmer. Her mother, Mildred "Minnie" Pearce was a former member of the Salvation Army (1865; founded by William Booth [1829–1912] as a religious organization with military structure for the purpose of bettering life for the poor and evangelizing the world). Soon after Aimee's birth, her mother took her to the Salvation Army and dedicated her to God's service. Aimee's training was particularly geared toward religious work.

When Aimee was in high school, she began to question her religious beliefs. At the age of seventeen she went to a religious meeting and experienced Pentecostal (a branch of Christianity that supports individual religious experience and evangelism) conversion under the guidance of Scottish evangelist Robert Semple. In 1908 she married Semple and followed him to China as a missionary (one who travels to spread religious teachings). He died soon after arriving in China, leaving her pregnant and penniless. After the birth of Roberta Star, she returned home and continued her Pentecostal work. She also worked with her mother for the Salvation Army.

Travels

Semple married a New York grocery clerk, Harold S. McPherson, in 1913; this marriage ended in divorce five years later. Thereafter she set out as an untrained lay evangelist to preach a Pentecostal-type of revivalism (a religious practice focused on restoring the spirit of God into people) to the people of Ontario, Canada.

Physically attractive and possessing a dynamic personality and the instinctive ability to charm crowds, Aimee Semple McPherson gradually perfected her skills. By this time professional revivalism had achieved a distinctive style and organization; McPherson was in the forefront. Though she initially lived an almost hand-to-mouth existence, following the route of traveling evangelists from Maine to Florida, success meant a move to larger cities in America, England, and Australia. In the cities audiences were often immense, with ten thousand to fifteen thousand people deliriously applauding her. "Speaking in tongues" and successful efforts at faith healing—both practiced by Pentecostal churches—were a part of her ministry. (Pentecostals believe that the sounds made by people while "speaking in tongues" are biblical messages that can be interpreted by another worshipper.)

Her own temple

By 1920 McPherson was permanently established in Los Angeles, California. In 1923 she and her followers dedicated Angelus Temple. She called her new breed of Christian church the Foursquare Gospel, a complete gospel for body, soul, spirit, and eternity. Seating over five thousand people, this served as her center of activity. Backed by a sharp business manager (her mother), McPherson developed a large group of devoted followers. She also became a community figure in tune with the publicity-oriented life of Los Angeles, the film capital of the world.

A popular evangelist, McPherson thrived on publicity and sensationalism (causing an intense and/or unnatural emotional reaction). The most astounding incident occurred in 1926, when McPherson, believed to have drowned in the Pacific Ocean, "miraculously" reappeared in the Mexican desert. Some challenged her tale of kidnapping and mistreatment, claiming she had been in hiding with one of her male followers. The resulting court battle attracted national attention.

McPherson continued her unconventional ways by engaging in a slander suit (when a person is taken to court for telling lies that damaged another's reputation) with her daughter, publicly quarreling with her mother, and carrying on well-publicized vendettas (intense and lengthy fights) with other religious groups. Aimee Semple McPherson died of a sleeping pill overdose in Oakland, California, on September 27, 1944. The Foursquare Gospel church continues to thrive in America today.

For More Information

Austin, Alvyn. Aimee Semple McPherson. Don Mills, ON: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1980.

Bahr, Robert. Least of All Saints: The Story of Aimee Semple McPherson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1979.

Blumhofer, Edith L. Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody's Sister. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 1993.

Epstein, Daniel Mark. Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1993.

Thomas, Lately. Storming Heaven: The Lives and Turmoils of Minnie Kennedy and Aimee Semple McPherson. New York: Morrow, 1970.

Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), American evangelist, symbolized important attributes of American popular religion in the 1920s and 1930s.

Aimee Kennedy was born on Oct. 9, 1890, near Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada. Her father was a struggling farmer, her mother a former member of the Salvation Army. Aimee remained a nonbeliever until, at the age of 17, she experienced conversion under the guidance of Scottish evangelist Robert Semple. In 1908 she married him and followed him to China as a missionary. He died soon after arriving in China, leaving her penniless and with a month-old daughter. Returning home, Semple married a grocery clerk, Harold S. McPherson, in 1913; this marriage ended in divorce five years later. Thereafter she set out as an untrained lay evangelist to preach a Pentecostal-type of revivalism to the people of Ontario.

Physically attractive and possessed of a dynamic personality and instinctive ability to sway crowds, Aimee Semple McPherson gradually perfected her skills. By this time professional revivalism had achieved a distinctive style and organization; McPherson illustrated the newer tendencies. Though she initially lived an almost hand-to-mouth existence following the route of itinerant evangelists from Maine to Florida, success meant a move into larger cities in America, England, and Australia. In the cities audiences were often immense, with 10,000 to 15,000 partisans deliriously applauding her. McPherson's preaching also identified her with the "fringe" sects of American Protestantism that were especially influential among the masses in America's newly emerging urban centers. "Speaking with tongues" and successful efforts at faith healing—both practiced by the Pentecostal churches—were a part of her performance.

By 1920 McPherson was permanently established in Los Angeles. In 1923 she and her followers dedicated Angelus Temple. Seating over 5,000 people, this served as her center of activity. Backed by a shrewd business manager (her mother), the evangelist organized a private cult of devoted followers. She also became a public figure in tune with the garish, publicity-oriented life of the film capital of the world.

As a popular evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson symbolized the vulgarization that occurred when grass-roots religion fused uncritically with secular mass culture. Popular evangelists always ran the risk of identifying their personal concerns too much with the nonreligious aspects of culture. This tendency was strikingly illustrated by McPherson. She thrived on publicity and sensationalism. The most astounding incident occurred in 1926, when McPherson, believed to have drowned in the Pacific Ocean, "miraculously" reappeared in the Mexican desert. Her tale of kidnaping and mistreatment was challenged by some who claimed she had been in hiding with one of her male followers. The ensuing court battle attracted national attention.

McPherson continued her unconventional ways until her death in Oakland, Calif., on Sept. 27, 1944. She engaged in a slander suit with her daughter, publicly quarreled with her mother, and carried on well-publicized vendettas with other religious groups.

Further Reading

Aimee Semple McPherson's own reminiscence, The Story of My Life (1951), is too romanticized and sketchy to be of much value. A biographical study is Lately Thomas, Storming Heaven: The Lives and Turmoils of Minnie Kennedy and Aimee Semple McPherson (1970). One account dealing principally with the celebrated "kidnaping incident" of 1926 is Thomas's The Vanishing Evangelist (1959). An older though valuable study is Nancy Mavity, Sister Aimee (1931). □

McPherson, Aimee Semple (1890–1944), evangelist and founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.Aimee Kennedy was born in Canada near the southern Ontario village of Salford, where her early religious impressions were shaped by her father's Methodism and her mother's enthusiasm for the Salvation Army. In 1908, Aimee embraced Pentecostalism and married Robert Semple, the evangelist who converted her. They sailed as missionaries to Hong Kong in 1910. Six weeks later, Robert died of malaria and other complications. Married again in 1912 to Harold McPherson, a bookkeeper, Aimee could not settle into a housewife's routine. In 1915, Living in Providence, Rhode Island, she left Harold and dedicated her life to Robert Semple's work of evangelism. The couple divorced in 1921.

Aimee enjoyed instant success as an evangelist. In 1917, she began publishing The Bridal Call, a monthly magazine that helped her build an international network. Late in 1918, she moved to Los Angeles where she opened the 5,300–seat Angelus Temple and a Bible school in 1923 and her own radio station in 1924. Her charismatic sermons, often illustrated with visual props, attracted thousands. Fame turned to notoriety in 1926 when McPherson disappeared for six weeks. The district attorney's office sought to disprove her widely doubted claim that she had been kidnapped, but eventually dropped all charges. Rumors persisted that she had spent the time with a male staff member of Angelus Temple. Her third marriage, in 1931, ended in divorce two years later. Ill health curtailed McPherson's activities thereafter, but her son Rolf McPherson carried on her ministry with considerable success.
See also Protestantism; Religion; Revivalism; Sunday, Billy; Twenties, The.

Bibliography

Edith L. Blumhofer , Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody's Sister, 1993.
Daniel Epstein , Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson, 1993.

Edith L. Blumhofer

Aimee Semple McPherson , 1890–1944, U.S. evangelist, founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, and, in the 1920s and 30s, one of the most famous women in America, b. near Ingersoll, Ont. Born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy, she was converted to Pentecostalism as a young girl and married a preacher, Robert Semple. The couple went as missionaries to China, and when he died a year later, she returned to the United States. Not long afterward she married Harold McPherson, but she left him in 1915 to take up a life of itinerant preaching, holding revival meetings along the Atlantic coast. With her mother, Minnie Kennedy, as business manager, she went to Los Angeles in 1918. There she became phenomenally successful and was noted for her healing sessions. In 1923, she opened Angelus Temple in Los Angeles and began to preach the foursquare gospel (see Foursquare Gospel, International Church of the ) at the temple, in an evangelical newspaper, and on her own radio station. Her disappearance in May, 1926, while swimming in the Pacific, and then reappearance in June with a bizarre tale of kidnapping caused a huge uproar that resulted in a trial for fraud. Although she was acquitted, her business activities as head of Angelus Temple resulted in numerous other legal actions. She died as a result of an allegedly accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

Bibliography: See biographies by R. Bahr (1979, repr. 2001), E. L. Blumhofer (1993), D. M. Epstein (1993), and M. A. Sutton (2007).

Hecht, Ben (1894–1964), playwright. Born in New York and raised in Wisconsin, Hecht made unsuccessful attempts at becoming an acrobat and a violinist before finding a niche as a flamboyant Chicago newspaperman. Besides his newspaper writing, novels, and other literary works, he wrote numerous plays, most memorably with Charles MacARTHUR (1895–1956), a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of a clergyman and a respected, if antic, figure in Chicago journalism, working for the Hearst papers. Broadway first knew MacArthur when he collaborated with Edward Sheldon on Lulu Belle (1926), followed by a thinly veiled exposé of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson called Salvation (1928), written with Sidney Howard. That same year, he teamed up with Hecht to write a marvelous comedy about the jungle‐like world of reporting, The Front Page. The twosome also wrote the show business comedy Twentieth Century (1932), the book for the musical Jumbo (1935), Ladies and Gentlemen (1939), and Swan Song (1946). On his own MacArthur wrote a failed political satire, Johnny on a Spot (1942), while Hecht wrote or co‐wrote The Egotist (1922), The Stork (1925), The Great Magoo (1932), To Quito and Back (1937), A Flag Is Born (1946), and the libretto for Hazel Flagg (1953). Autobiography (Hecht): A Child of the Century, 1954. Biography: Charlie: The Improbable Life and Times of Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht, 1957.

McPherson, Aimee Semple (1890–1944) US evangelist who founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (1927). McPherson's controversial brand of evangelicalism incorporated faith healing and glossolalia (speaking in tongues). In 1923 she opened the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, California. McPherson also used the radio to broadcast her message of personal salvation. In 1926 she claimed to have been kidnapped and was unsuccessfully tried for fraud. McPherson's use of church funds saw further legal actions. See also Pentecostal Churches