SISTER AIMEE THE LIFE OF AIMEE SEMPLE MCPHERSON 1ST EDITION Author: Daniel Mark Epstein Number of Pages: --- Published Date: --- Publisher: --- Publication Country: --- Language: --- ISBN: 9780156000932 DOWNLOAD: SISTER AIMEE THE LIFE OF AIMEE SEMPLE MCPHERSON 1ST EDITION This item was reviewed in:. To find out how to look for other reviews, please see our guides to finding book reviews in the Sciences or Social Sciences and Humanities. Minnie, p. All Rights Reserved. This information is provided by a service that aggregates data from review sources and other sources that are often consulted by libraries, and readers. The University does not edit this information and merely includes it as a convenience for users. Eerdmans, Epstein, Daniel Mark. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Thomas, Lately. New York: Morrow, Toggle navigation. For More Information Austin, Alvyn. After his death Aimee and their baby daughter returned to the United States. She married her second husband, Harold McPherson, in , and a son was born in After undergoing a near death experience in , Aimee began traveling and preaching at church meetings throughout Canada and the United States. She separated from McPherson in , and Aimee spent the next few years as an itinerant Petecostal minister, attracting a large following. She quickly attracted a huge following and generated a great deal of publicity with her lively meetings, which often included speaking in tongues and faith healing. She had a magnetic personality and adopted an angelic appearance: she usually dressed in a white flowing gown, and carried a small bouquet of flowers. From the early s, "Sister", as she was widely known, broadcast her sermons on the radio, which only increased her renown. She was a pioneer in her use of the media to reach as many people as possible with her religious messages. If we can learn one lesson from the transitioning debacle of , prohibiting access to information and hindering the progression of the incoming administration can cause the loss of American lives. Sister Aimee served as a harbinger of positivity during a dark time. Recent Posts See All. The most famous woman preacher of the early 20th century is still hiding some secrets. Find out what really happened to Sister Aimee. She does not appeal to the brain and try to hammer religion into the heads of her audience Fundamentally she takes the whole Bible literally, from cover to cover. McPherson was not a radical literalist. She believed that the creation story in the book of Genesis allowed great latitude of interpretation, and did not insist on young-earth creationism. The encounter persuaded her to travel and gain new perspectives. Impressed with Gandhi, McPherson thought he might secretly lean toward Christianity. In mid, a delegation associated with the Azusa Street Mission Revivals , including African-American Evangelist Emma Cotton , asked to use the Angelus Temple for their 30th anniversary celebration. Cotton and McPherson organized a series of meetings also marking McPherson's re-identification with Pentecostalism. McPherson's experiments with celebrity had been less successful than she hoped, and alliances with other church groups were failing or defunct. Therefore, she looked to her spiritual origins and considered reintroducing Pentecostal elements into her public meetings. Temple officials were concerned the Azusa people might bring "wildfire and Holy Rollerism. Out of the Azusa Street Revival , black leaders and other minorities appeared on her pulpit, including Charles Harrison Mason , an African American and founder of the Churches of God in Christ, a significant Pentecostal leader. For the first time since the Temple opened, McPherson began to publicly speak in tongues. McPherson reassigned staff in an effort to address the Temple's financial difficulties. This worsened tensions among staff members. Rumors circulated that charismatic evangelist Rheba Crawford Splivalo, who had been working with McPherson for years, planned to take the Temple from her. McPherson asked Splivalo to "leave town". The two lawsuits filed by Semple and Splivalo were unrelated, but McPherson saw both as part of the Temple takeover plot. McPherson's mother sided with Roberta Semple, making unflattering statements about McPherson to the press. McPherson's defense in a public trial was dramatic and theatrical; she testified tearfully about how her daughter conspired against her. 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 leadership. However, McPherson found a new administrator in Giles Knight, who brought the Temple out of debt, disposed of 40 or so lawsuits, and eliminated spurious projects. He sequestered McPherson, allowed her to receive only a few personal visitors, and regulated her activities outside the Temple. This period was one of unprecedented creativity for McPherson. No longer distracted by reporters and lawsuits, she developed her illustrative sermon style. The irreligious Charlie Chaplin secretly attended her services, and she later consulted with Chaplin on ways to improve her presentations. McPherson's public image improved. Her adversary, Robert P. Shuler , who previously attacked her, proclaimed that "Aimee's missionary work was the envy of Methodists". Her efforts toward interracial revival continued. She welcomed black people into the congregation and pulpit. While race riots burned Detroit in , McPherson publicly converted the black former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson on the Temple stage and embraced him. McPherson also considered Gandhi's views on pacifism, [4] and Clinton Howard, chairman of the World Peace Commission, was invited to speak at the Temple. In , she promoted disarmament. Two views were held acceptable: the idea that one could bear arms in a righteous cause; and the view that killing of others, even in connection to military service, would endanger their souls. All-night prayer meetings were held at the Temple starting in as Germany occupied Europe. She asked other Foursquare churches around the country to follow suit. She sent President Franklin Roosevelt's secretary, Stephen Early , an outline of her plans, and various officials expressed appreciation, including the governor of California. It is the Cross against the Swastika. It is God against the antichrist of Japan This is no time for pacifism. Its white dome was painted black and its stained-glass windows covered in anticipation of air raids. To advertise the need to conserve gasoline and rubber, McPherson drove a horse and buggy to the Temple. Rubber and other drives were organized, and unlimited airtime on her radio station, was given to the Office of War Information. She asked listeners to donate two hours a day for such tasks as rolling bandages. She frequently made newspaper headlines, most notably in , when she disappeared for several weeks she claimed to have been kidnapped. She was also accused of a number of financial improprieties, but none was proved and none detracted from her appeal to her loyal following. During the s she was dogged by numerous lawsuits—at one time 45 assorted legal actions were pending—and by disagreements with her family. Her Bible College, founded in and from housed in the Lighthouse of International Foursquare Evangelism next to the Angelus Temple, had graduated more than 3, evangelists and missionaries. For five weeks, no one knew where she was and no one could find her, and then she just reappeared right on a border town coming out of the deserts of Mexico. A grand jury was impaneled and there was a court case. Charges were dropped. Well, who knows what really happened?.