Aimee Mcpherson
Aimee Semple McPherson: Biography Aimee Semple McPherson was an evangelical leader in the 20th Century. McPherson was determined to spread her Pentecostal faith, developing followers from all over the United States and Canada. A recognized religious leader in American history, McPherson has long been the subject of films, poems, novels and songs. Despite being known as one of the most influential evangelist of her time, McPherson was also a complex, uncontainable and contentious public figure. She was a woman advanced of her time, defying traditional roles for women. McPherson established an evangelistic ministry, wildly known worldwide as the Foursquare Church. Perhaps one of McPherson’s appealing characteristics was her ability to identify with ordinary people, drawing myriads of loyal followers throughout her evangelical journey. Born in a farm on October 1890 in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, McPherson was brought up in a devoted Christian home. Her father, James was a farmer and her mother Minnie worked with the poor in Salvation Army soup kitchens. When Darwinism was introduced in her school during her teenage years, McPherson began to question the Bible. When she was seventeen years old and still in high school, she attended a revival service conducted by Pentecostal evangelist Robert Semple, where she heard the message of repentance and a born-again experience. Although she resisted the message, the Holy Spirit continued to speak to her heart, convicting her of the sin in her life and of her need for a Savior (Foursquare Church). Semple helped McPherson strengthen her faith and both fell in love with each other. The two married and became missionaries in China. Unfortunately, Semple died in China of dysentery, leaving McPherson with a one-month old child (Robertson). Upon returning home, McPherson remarried to a grocery clerk, Harold S. McPherson, but the marriage ended after five years. Subsequently, she began to pursue her calling as an evangelist
Cited: 1. Blumhofer, Edith L. Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody 's Sister. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1993. 2. Epstein, Daniel Mark. Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1993. 3. Foursquare Church. OUr Story. The History and Future of the Foursquare Church. 2012. 8 September 2012 <http://www.foursquare.org/about/aimee_semple_mcpherson>. 4. Robertson, Anna. Aimee 's Life. 1999. 8 September 2012 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug00/robertson/asm/background.html>. 5. Sutton, Mathew Avery. The Resurrections of Aimee Semple McPherson. 28 September 2011. 8 September 2012 <http://harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2011/09/the-resurrections-of-aimee-semple-mcpherson.html>.