The couple sold their house and lived out of their "Gospel Car". Harold McPherson followed her to bring her home, but changed his mind after seeing her preaching, and joined her in evangelism, setting up tents for revival meetings and preaching. Hutton assisted in some of McPherson's charity work before their divorce in 1934. Hutton, enjoying their honeymoon breakfast. Īimee Semple McPherson and her third husband, David L. A few weeks later, he received a note inviting him to join her in evangelistic work. In 1915, her husband returned home and discovered that McPherson had left him and taken the children. After accepting the voice's challenge, she said, she was able to turn over in bed without pain. McPherson later stated that after a failed operation, she heard a voice asking her to go preach.
In 1914, she fell seriously ill with appendicitis. Struggling with emotional distress and obsessive–compulsive disorder, she would weep and pray. ĭuring this time, McPherson felt as though she denied her "calling" to go preach. They were married in 1912, moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and had a son, Rolf Potter Kennedy McPherson, in 1913. While in New York City, she met accountant Harold Stewart McPherson. Īfter her recuperation in the United States, McPherson joined her mother Mildred working with the Salvation Army. On board a ship returning to the United States, she held religious services and classes. McPherson recovered and gave birth to their daughter, Roberta Star Semple. Semple also contracted dysentery, of which he died in Hong Kong. For a time Harold traveled with his wife Aimee in the "Gospel Car" as an itinerant preacher.Īfter embarking on an evangelistic tour to China, both contracted malaria. This was her first exposure to fame, as people nationwide responded to her letter, and the beginning of a lifelong anti-evolution crusade.Ĭonversion, marriage, and family Īimee Semple and her second husband Harold McPherson. She wrote to a Canadian newspaper, questioning the taxpayer-funded teaching of evolution. She began to ask questions about faith and science, but was unsatisfied with the answers. In high school, she was taught the Theory of Evolution. Īs a teenager, McPherson strayed from her mother's teachings by reading novels and attending movies and dances, activities disapproved of by the Salvation Army and her father's Methodist religion.
As a child she would play "Salvation Army" with classmates and preach sermons to dolls. She had early exposure to religion through her mother, Mildred, who worked with the poor in Salvation Army soup kitchens. McPherson was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy in Salford, Ontario, Canada, to James Morgan and Mildred Ona (Pearce) Kennedy (1871–1947). McPherson's preaching style, extensive charity work and ecumenical contributions were a major influence on 20th century Charismatic Christianity. National news coverage focused on events surrounding her family and church members, including accusations she fabricated her reported kidnapping. McPherson's view of the United States as a nation founded and sustained by divine inspiration influenced later pastors. She conducted public faith healing demonstrations involving tens of thousands of participants. In her time, she was the most publicized Protestant evangelist, surpassing Billy Sunday and other predecessors. McPherson pioneered the use of modern media in religious services, using radio to draw on the growing appeal of popular entertainment and incorporating stage techniques into her weekly sermons at Angelus Temple, an early megachurch. Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian Pentecostal evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s, famous for founding the Foursquare Church.
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