The Illustrated Sermon
Get a sense of Aimee Semple McPherson's theatrically staged sermons that packed Angelus Temple while listening to the Pentecostal preacher in various settings around the world.
(Source: Heritage Department of the International Foursquare Gospel)
Reviving Sister Aimee
June 9, 2011
A look back at the closest thing the early 20th century may have had to Oprah Winfrey. The flamboyant Pentecostal preacher Aimee Semple McPherson was a multimedia sensation and a powerful female religious leader long before most of Christianity considered such a thing. The contradictions and passions of her life are a window into the world of global Pentecostalism that touches as many as half a billion lives today.
listen
(mp3, 52:30)
Unedited Interview
» Anthea Butler
(mp3, 63:14)
» Arlene Sánchez-Walsh
(mp3, 61:59)
» Margaret Paloma
(mp3, 23:34)
(mp3, 63:14)
(mp3, 61:59)
(mp3, 23:34)
SoundSeen (our multimedia stories)
Practicing What We Preach
Archival film footage of Aimee Semple McPherson included in Hearst Metrotone News reels. View the charismatic, and slightly quirky, delivery of a tech-savvy evangelist of the 1930s.
Saving Sinners on Broadway
Archival film footage of Aimee Semple McPherson
Selected Readings
A Biography of Aimee Semple McPherson
Margaret Poloma recommended to Krista that she read historian Mel Robeck's "readable and very good" entry on Sister Aimee's life and acts — a concise couple of pages well worth your time.
Acts 2:1-41
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
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About the Image
Aimee Semple McPherson preaches to her flock at Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, California in 1931.
(Source: Heritage Department of the International Foursquare Gospel)
Your Comments
Comments
Permalink Submitted by Peter Petite on Sun, 2011-06-12 07:24
What I began to think about as the broadcast progressed (and in part due to the fact that one of the interviewees is from University of Pennsylvania, where I studied classics) is how Sister Aimee might fit into the larger context of women in the church throughout history. In particular, much of what I heard reminded me of St. Margaret of Scotland, who, in the 11th century, was at once a wife, mother, educator and reformer. Granted, she married into royalty, and so had by dint of circumstances a very different personal context. Moreover, St. Margaret's life could hardly be described as "flamboyant." Still, I think that she and Sister Aimee would have a very interesting dinner conversation.
http://mw.mcmaster.ca/scriptorium/margaret.html
Joining these two at dinner could also be St. Brigid (5th-6th century, http://www.roca.org/OA/107/107e.htm) and St. Macrina the Younger (4th century, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrina_the_Younger) and, nearer to our time, Dorothy Day and Flannery O'Connor.
I have an intuition that Sister Aimee, among these luminaries, would undoubtedly raise an eyebrow, perhaps two, every now and again. Still, there is a significance and substance among all of them that is at once illuminating, inspiring and worth knowing.
Permalink Submitted by Saivite Wilson on Sun, 2011-06-12 15:46
I came in a bit late, but the question of "how far are you willing to go?" is a question I wrestle with in between dishes and meditation. My beloved Guru lost much in her God-intoxication, only to emerge with an extraordinary capacity to serve, teach and a capacity to embrace without judgment. Indeed, when your lover is God, what won't you surrender for that? What will you? - Thank you Krista! Namaste, Saivite
This is why I love your
Permalink Submitted by Sasha on Mon, 2013-02-25 11:39
This is why I love your church!Truelly catebreling Jesus.My husbands exacts words after the first Power and Praise night we attended were I feel like I was just at a Jesus party .Its moving freely in the Holy Spirit,I wish more churches would allow that.The sermons are so well absorbed(at least for me)when humour is thrown in.The fun and enthusiastic energy you have while preaching Gods word trickles into the congergation..I love that!And yes,wont it be a party once we reach heaven!Something I am so looking forward to one day,to party with my loved ones already there and Jesus himself ..
Voices on the Radio
Anthea Butler is an associate professor of Religious Studies and graduate chair of Religion at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Arlene Sánchez-Walsh is an associate professor of Latino Church Studies at Azusa Pacific University.
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Host/Producer: Krista Tippett
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