Aimee Semple McPherson is the founder of the International church of the Foursquare Gospel. The Foursquare church as it is commonly known is a charismatic denomination within the world of Christendom. She was a visionary and leader in her own right as she stepped away from the church she had attended for a long period of her life on the East Coast and started her own traveling ministry, ending up in Los Angeles. She gained “hollywood star” status after starting the Angelus temple in 1923. By using this world renowned status she affected the world around her greatly, being involved in politics after the passage of the 19th Amendment, providing more food and care than the government during the Great Depression to the LA area, and even selling the most WW2 bonds than any of her other “hollywood stars”.
Her culture is different than mine because she grew up differently than I did and also lived in a different era within the United States than I did. I grew up in an unchurched home and so God was somewhat foreign to me unlike Sister Aimee as she is called. I also live in a completely different era most specifically because of the fact that I had respect and the right to vote at the very least as a woman throughout my life.
The “technology” that she founded was actually a new way of thinking and interpretation of Christinaity that has affected thousands of people worldwide and changed how women are seen in the church world. She was able to use her leadership to establish a church that is sensitive to social issues and help disenfranchised people.
Unfortunately Sister Aimee did not live long. She lived from 1891-1944 and died at the age of 53. Within that time however she shaped a church and denomination that has become a large worldwide source hope to many people without it.
