The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson - Foursquare Suisse

The Life of Aimee Semple
McPherson
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Discussion Guide #24
Introduction
The founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church, Aimee Semple McPherson, was born Aimee
Elizabeth Kennedy in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada on October 9, 1890. Her parents, James and
Minnie Kennedy, were active members in the Methodist Church and the Salvation Army. Aimee
received Christ as her Savior and was filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in
tongues at the age of 17, while attending a revival conducted by an Irish Pentecostal evangelist,
Robert James Semple. Following a storybook romance, Aimee and Robert were married on
August 12, 1908. They moved to Chicago and worked with William H. Durham before leaving
as missionaries to China in the spring of 1910. Less than three months after their arrival in
China, Robert Semple died of malaria at the Matilda Hospital in Hong Kong. On September 17,
1910, Roberta Star Semple was born. Aimee and Roberta returned to the United States and
settled in New York where Aimee began serving in the Salvation Army. In 1912, she met and
married Harold McPherson and moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where Rolf Kennedy
McPherson was born on March 23, 1913. Within two years, the Lord began to speak to Aimee
saying, “Will you go?” and “Preach the Word!” She became sick and was on her deathbed as the
Lord continued to speak her. She finally said, “Yes, Lord, I’ll go.” Her body immediately began
to heal. Between 1915 and 1923, Sister McPherson held great evangelistic campaigns moving
up and down the east and west coasts as well as all across America. .
In 1918 Aimee Semple McPherson established a home base in Los Angeles, California, where
she could raise her children and train missionaries and evangelists. With the opening of Angelus
Temple on January 1, 1923, revival started that continued for many years in Los Angeles.
Thousands were saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, healed, and called into the ministry. Within
weeks of the opening of Angelus Temple, in February 1923, The Echo Park Evangelistic and
Missionary Training Institute opened. With the growth of the school, a five-story college
building was constructed. The name was changed to L.I.F.E. Bible College when the new
building was completed in 1926. The enrollment reached approximately 1,000 by 1929. With
the establishment of radio station KFSG in February 1924, the gospel was preached to millions
through the broadcast called the “Church Without Walls.” Aimee Semple McPherson
established many other ministries including City Sisters; the commissary; the prayer tower; the
500 room; and music ministry with the silver band, harp, and a very large choir. In September
1944, Sister Aimee Semple McPherson was called home to be with the Lord while conducting a
revival campaign in Oakland, California. At the time of her death, there were 411 Foursquare
churches in the United States and Canada; 22,000 Foursquare members; 3,000 graduates of LIFE
Bible College; and 200 mission stations around the world.

Interview Questions
• What was the most influential factor in the life of Aimee Semple McPherson? How can
that same factor affect your ministry today?
• How did faith play a role in the life and ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson?
• What different means of Christian education did Sister McPherson use? Can we do the
same kinds of things today?
Questions for Discussion
A. What people, institutions, and experiences in the early life of Aimee Semple McPherson
influenced her theology, doctrine, and ministry?
The strong influences that helped shape the theology, doctrine, and ministry of Aimee
Semple McPherson included Robert Semple, her first husband; William Durham, her first
Pentecostal pastor, who was filled with the Holy Spirit at the Azusa Street revival in Los
Angeles in 1906; the Methodist Church, which trained her in Arminian doctrine; the
Salvation Army; and A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance; A.J.
Gordon; and Maria Woodworth Etter, a successful woman evangelist. Her involvement with
the Salvation Army accounts for her propensity for military terms, uniforms, silver bands,
and strong social concerns. Her experience in China and her work in the Chicago mission
created a lifelong zeal for missionary work and a love for those who were less fortunate. The
greatest influencing factor in her life was the strong anointing of the Holy Spirit and her
irresistible call to the ministry of soul winning.
B. What effect did the missionary trip to China have on the ministry of Aimee Semple
McPherson? What events brought her to the place of saying yes to the call of God to
“Preach the Word,” doing the work of an evangelist and pastor of Angelus Temple?
In early June 1910, Robert and Aimee Semple arrived in China to minister. Almost
immediately Robert began preaching, while Aimee looked for housing in Hong Kong.
Although strongly advised not to do so, Robert would go out preaching to the Chinese people
in the noonday sun. In August malaria and dysentery struck both Semples. Robert was taken
to the Matilda Hospital. He died in a matter of days. Aimee gave birth to their daughter,
Roberta Star, on September 17, 1910. Six weeks later she was on her way back to the United
States where she joined her mother and began working with the Salvation Army in New
York.
Months later Aimee met and then married a young accountant named Harold McPherson.
God continued to speak to Aimee saying, “Preach the Word!” and “Will you go?” 1 She
hesitated because of her responsibilities as a wife and mother. Late in 1914 she became
deathly ill. Aimee did not improve and was moved to a room for dying people who were
beyond help. 2 There she heard the voice of God saying again, “Now will you go?” 3 Believing
it was her last breath, Aimee whispered that she would go. By morning she was without pain
and able to turn over in bed. In two weeks she was up and well and gaining strength. By the
summer of 1915, she was out preaching and seeing people being saved, filled with the Holy
1 Epstein, Daniel Mark Sister Aimee, the Life of Aimee Semple McPherson, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993, p.73
2 Ibid. p. 75
3 Ibid. p. 75
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Spirit, and healed. As she ministered across America to larger and larger crowds, she was
always mindful of the time she spent in China. Aimee Semple McPherson never lost her
profound burden for the multitudes that had not yet heard the gospel. In 1927 the first
“official” Foursquare missionary, Rev. Vincente DeFante, was sent to his native land to
become the founder of the Foursquare ministry in the Philippine Islands. During 1928 and
1929, twenty-two Foursquare missionary units were sent out to ten different foreign
countries. By the end of 1928, it could truly be said, "The sun never sets on the Foursquare
Banner.” 4
C. How did doing the work of an evangelist prepare Aimee Semple McPherson for
ministry at Angelus Temple?
In 1915, Sister McPherson began holding meetings in a small mission. It did not take long
before there was standing room only. She purchased a 30’x 60’tent for $65. This was the
first of many that she would purchase and use for the ministry as she traveled around the
country. Between 1916 and 1922 she crisscrossed the United States coast to coast six times,
and evangelized from New England to Florida twice. She preached in more than a hundred
cities. For the first two years she traveled “on faith.” She literally wandered up and down
the Eastern seaboard on impulse, without a budget or a plan. Harold McPherson was
extremely distraught because she preferred God’s help to her husband’s. He would beg her
to let him sign up for day labor when they were flat broke. Her response was always that
God would provide. And He did. Someone would come to the tent with a basket of food or a
bag of clothes. The next day the tent would fill with the faithful, who would take up a
collection that would carry them through. She listened for the Lord’s instructions, and she
watched the world and heavens for a sign. All of these experiences helped to strengthen her
faith and dependence on the Lord as He prepared her for the ministry she would have in Los
Angeles following the completion of Angelus Temple.
D. How did Sister McPherson use the commissary as a means of evangelism?
During the Great Depression, the Angelus Temple Commissary fed and clothed over 1.5
million people. It was more reliable than the city, county or state agencies. Sister
McPherson trained the people working in the commissary to minister not only to the physical
needs but also to the spiritual needs of people. The City Sisters would follow up on people,
going to their homes to offer help and to minister to their needs. Many of those who received
help would become regular in their attendance at Angelus Temple. Each of those attending
Angelus Temple was asked to bring non-perishable items to each of the services; these items
were collected and then distributed through the commissary. The commissary is still in
operation today, providing food and clothing to hundreds of people each week.
E. What were the circumstances surrounding the death of Aimee Semple McPherson?
What effect did the death of Aimee Semple McPherson have on the International
Church of the Foursquare Gospel?
Aimee Semple McPherson had suffered for some time with an illness she contracted while
on vacation. Running a high fever and finding it difficult to rest, she still looked forward to
conducting meetings in the civic auditorium. She preached on the evening of September 26,
4 Van Cleave, Nathaniel. The Vine and the Branches, a history of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel,
p. 94
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1944; following the service she went to bed and was found dead in her bed the next morning.
The pathologist’s report indicated that death was caused by shock and respiratory failure.
Her funeral was one of the largest in the history of Los Angeles. She was buried in Forest
Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. The loss seemed insurmountable. How could an
organization replace such a talented and charismatic founder and leader? The answer is, she
was never replaced. The time had come for a large step in the maturation of the Foursquare
movement. It was necessary for the people to stop depending for progress upon a worldrenowned
leader and for everyone to become personally involved. Under the strong and
capable leadership of Dr. Rolf K. McPherson, who served the Foursquare Church as
president for forty-four years, the Foursquare Church experienced steady growth. Under the
leadership of his successors, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel has
continued seeing new churches planted and new mission fields around the world being
opened. Currently there are almost 40,000 Foursquare churches around the world.
Conclusion
• We want pastors who can learn from the life of our founder, Aimee Semple McPherson.
• We want ministers who boldly and regularly minister God’s plan of salvation, the
baptismal fullness of the Holy Spirit, and divine healing.
• We want churches that reach out to their communities to touch those who are in spiritual
need and those who are in physical need.
• We want ministers who are reproducing themselves and releasing people into ministry.
Recommended Reading
Epstein, Daniel. Mark Sister Aimee, the life of Aimee Semple McPherson, A Harvest Book,
Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1993.
McPherson, Aimee Semple. The Foursquare Gospel.
McPherson, Aimee Semple. Aimee, the life story of Aimee Semple McPherson.
Van Cleave, Nathaniel. The Vine and the Branches, a history of the International Church of
the Foursquare Gospel
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