Aimee Semple McPherson

McPherson was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy in Salford, Ontario, Canada, to James Morgan and Mildred Ona (Pearce) Kennedy (1871–1947).[10][11][12] She had early exposure to religion through her mother, Mildred, who worked with the poor in Salvation Army soup kitchens. As a child she would play "Salvation Army" with classmates and preach sermons to dolls.[13]

As 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. In high school, she was taught the Theory of Evolution.[14][15] She began to ask questions about faith and science, but was unsatisfied with the answers.[16] She wrote to a Canadian newspaper, questioning the taxpayer-funded teaching of evolution.[16] This was her first exposure to fame, as people nationwide responded to her letter,[16] and the beginning of a lifelong anti-evolution crusade.

Robert and Aimee Semple (1910)

While attending a revival meeting in 1907, McPherson met Robert James Semple, a Pentecostal missionary from Ireland. She dedicated her life to Jesus and converted to Pentecostalism.[16] At the meeting, she became enraptured by Semple and his message. After a short courtship, they were married in an August 1908 Salvation Army ceremony. Semple supported them as a foundry worker and preached at the local Pentecostal mission. They studied the Bible together, then moved to Chicago and joined William Durham's Full Gospel Assembly. Durham instructed her in the practice of interpretation of tongues.[17]

Aimee Semple and her second husband Harold McPherson. For a time Harold traveled with his wife Aimee in the "Gospel Car" as an itinerant preacher.

After embarking on an evangelistic tour to China, both contracted malaria. Semple also contracted dysentery, of which he died in Hong Kong. McPherson recovered and gave birth to their daughter, Roberta Star Semple. On board a ship returning to the United States, she held religious services and classes.

After her recuperation in the United States, McPherson joined her mother Mildred working with the Salvation Army. While in New York City, she met accountant Harold Stewart McPherson. They were married in 1912, moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and had a son, Rolf Potter Kennedy McPherson, in 1913.

During this time, McPherson felt as though she denied her "calling" to go preach. Struggling with emotional distress and obsessive–compulsive disorder, she would weep and pray.[18][19] In 1914, she fell seriously ill with appendicitis. McPherson later stated that after a failed operation, she heard a voice asking her to go preach. After accepting the voice's challenge, she said, she was able to turn over in bed without pain. In 1915, her husband returned home and discovered that McPherson had left him and taken the children. A few weeks later, he received a note inviting him to join her in evangelistic work.[20]

Aimee Semple McPherson and her third husband, David L. Hutton, enjoying their honeymoon breakfast. Hutton assisted in some of McPherson's charity work before their divorce in 1934.

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.[21] The couple sold their house and lived out of their "Gospel Car". Harold McPherson, despite his initial enthusiasm, wanted a more stable and predictable life, and returned to Rhode Island. In 1918 he filed for separation, then petitioned for divorce, citing abandonment; the divorce was granted in 1921.

McPherson remarried in 1931 to actor and musician David Hutton. After she fell and fractured her skull,[22] she visited Europe to recover. While there, she was angered to learn Hutton was billing himself as "Aimee's man" in his cabaret singing act and was frequently photographed with scantily clad women. Hutton's personal scandals were damaging the reputation of the Foursquare Gospel Church and its leader.[23] McPherson and Hutton separated in 1933 and divorced in 1934. McPherson later publicly repented of the marriage for both theological[24] and personal reasons[25] and later rejected gospel singer Homer Rodeheaver when he proposed marriage in 1935.[26][27]

As part of William Durham's Full Gospel Assembly in Chicago, McPherson became known for interpreting glossolalia, translating the words of people speaking in tongues. Unable to find fulfillment as a housewife, in 1913, McPherson began evangelizing, holding tent revivals across the Sawdust Trail. McPherson quickly amassed a large following, often having to relocate to larger buildings to accommodate growing crowds. She emulated the enthusiasm of Pentecostal meetings but avoided their unbridled chaos, in which participants would shout, tremble on the floor, and speak in tongues. McPherson set up a separate tent area for such displays of religious fervor, which could be off-putting to larger audiences.[28]

In 1916, McPherson embarked on a tour of the Southern United States, and again in 1918 with Mildred Kennedy. Standing on the back seat of their convertible, McPherson preached sermons over a megaphone.

In 1917, she started a magazine, Bridal Call, for which she wrote articles about women's roles in religion; she portrayed the link between Christians and Jesus as a marriage bond. Along with taking women's roles seriously, the magazine contributed to transforming Pentecostalism into an ongoing American religious presence.[29]

In Baltimore in 1919 she was first "discovered" by newspapers after conducting evangelistic services at the Lyric Opera House, where she performed faith-healing demonstrations. During these events the crowds in their religious ecstasy were barely kept under control.[30] Baltimore became a pivotal point for her early career.[31]

In 1918, McPherson moved to Los Angeles. Mildred Kennedy rented the 3,500-seat Philharmonic Auditorium, and people waited for hours to get into the crowded venue.[32] Afterwards, attendees of her meetings built a home for her family.[33] At this time, Los Angeles was a popular vacation destination. Rather than touring the United States, McPherson chose to stay in Los Angeles, drawing audiences from both visitors and the city's burgeoning population.[34] Her ministry to tourists allowed her message to spread nationwide.

For several years, she traveled and raised money for the construction of a large, domed church in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, named Angelus Temple, in reference to the Angelus bell and to angels.[35] Not wanting to incur debt, McPherson found a construction firm willing to work with her as funds were raised "by faith",[36] beginning with $5,000 for the foundation.[37] McPherson mobilized diverse groups to fund and build the church, by means such as selling chairs for Temple seating.[38][39]

McPherson dedicating Angelus Temple in 1923.

Raising more money than expected, McPherson altered the plans and built a "megachurch". The endeavor cost contributors around $250,000.[40] Costs were kept down by donations of building materials and labor.[35] Enrollment grew to over 10,000, and Angelus Temple was advertised as the largest single Christian congregation in the world.[41] According to church records, the Temple received 40 million visitors within the first seven years.[42]

McPherson intended the Temple as a place of worship and an ecumenical center for all Christian faiths. A wide range of clergy and laypeople consisted of Methodists, Baptists, the Salvation Army, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Adventists, Quakers, Roman Catholics, Mormons, and secular civic leaders, some of whom were featured as guest speakers.[9][43]

Because Pentecostalism was unpopular in the United States during the 1920s, McPherson avoided the label. She practiced speaking-in-tongues and faith healing in her services, but kept the former to a minimum to appease mainstream audiences. Discarded medical fittings from faith-healing services, such as crutches and wheelchairs, were gathered for display in a museum area. McPherson also developed "lighthouses," or satellite churches.

McPherson (left) prepares Christmas food baskets (about 1935).

McPherson developed a church organization to provide for physical as well as spiritual needs. McPherson mobilized people to get involved in charity and social work, saying that "true Christianity is not only to be good but to do good." The Temple collected donations for humanitarian relief including for a Japanese disaster and a German relief fund. Men released from prison were found jobs by a "brotherhood". A "sisterhood" sewed baby clothing for impoverished mothers.[44]

In June 1925, after an earthquake in Santa Barbara McPherson interrupted a radio broadcast to request food, blankets, clothing, and emergency supplies.[45] In 1928, after a dam failed and the ensuing flood left up to 600 dead, McPherson's church led the relief effort.[46] In 1933, an earthquake struck and devastated Long Beach. McPherson quickly arranged for volunteers offering blankets, coffee, and doughnuts.[47] McPherson persuaded fire and police departments to assist in distribution. Doctors, physicians, and dentists staffed her free clinic that trained nurses to treat children and the elderly. To prevent the power from being turned off to homes of overdue accounts during the winter, a cash reserve was set up with the utility company.[48][49]

Men wait in line at McPherson (Hutton)'s Angelus Temple Free Dining Hall & Commissary on Temple St.

Drawing from her childhood experience with the Salvation Army, in 1927 McPherson opened a commissary at Angelus Temple offering food, clothing, and blankets. She became active in creating soup kitchens, free clinics, and other charitable activities during the Great Depression, and fed an estimated 1.5 million. Volunteer workers filled commissary baskets with food and other items, as well as Foursquare Gospel literature.[50] When the government shut down the free school-lunch program, McPherson took it over. Her giving "alleviated suffering on an epic scale".[51]

Line of unemployed men getting meals at dining hall run by McPherson, 1932.

In 1932, the commissary was raided by police, allegedly to locate a still used to make brandy out of donated apricots. As a consequence, the commissary was briefly shut down, and the staff was let go. However, students from her Foursquare Gospel Church's L.I.F.E. Bible College filled in.

As McPherson refused to categorize the "deserving" from the "undeserving," her temple commissary became known as an effective and inclusive aid institution,[50] assisting more families than other public or private institutions. Because her programs aided nonresidents such as migrants from other states and Mexico, she ran afoul of California state regulations. Though temple guidelines were later officially adjusted to accommodate those policies, helping families in need was a priority, regardless of their place of residence.[52]

In August 1925, McPherson chartered a plane to Los Angeles to give her Sunday sermon. Aware of the opportunity for publicity, she arranged for followers and press at the airport. The plane failed after takeoff and the landing gear collapsed, sending the nose of the plane into the ground. McPherson used the experience as the narrative of an illustrated sermon called "The Heavenly Airplane",[53] featuring the devil as pilot, sin as the engine, and temptation as propeller.

Angelus Temple, completed in 1923, is the center of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel founded by McPherson. In 1992, Angelus Temple was designated a National Historic Landmark, and remains in use.

On another occasion, she described being pulled over by a police officer, calling the sermon "Arrested for Speeding". Dressed in a traffic cop's uniform, she sat in a police motorcycle and blared the siren.[53] One author in attendance wrote that she drove the motorcycle across the access ramp to the pulpit, slammed the brakes, and raised a hand to shout "Stop! You're speeding to Hell!"[54]

McPherson employed a small group of artists, electricians, decorators, and carpenters, who built sets for each service. Religious music was played by an orchestra. McPherson also worked on elaborate sacred operas. One production, The Iron Furnace, based on the Exodus story, saw Hollywood actors assist with obtaining costumes.

McPherson surrounded by choirs at Angelus Temple for a musical requiem in 1929.

Though McPherson condemned theater and film as the devil's workshop, its techniques were co-opted. She became the first woman evangelist to adopt cinematic methods[55] to avoid dreary church services. Serious messages were delivered in a humorous tone. Animals were frequently incorporated. McPherson gave up to 22 sermons a week, including lavish Sunday night services so large that extra trolleys and police were needed to help route the traffic through Echo Park.[56] To finance the Temple and its projects, collections were taken at every meeting.[57][58][59][60]

McPherson preached a conservative gospel, but used progressive methods, taking advantage of radio, movies, and stage acts. She attracted some women associated with modernism, but others were put off by the contrast between her message and her presentation.

McPherson and a group of tambourine players leading a service at Angelus Temple. She produced innovative weekly dramas illustrating religious themes.

The battle between fundamentalists and modernists escalated after World War I.[61] Fundamentalists generally believed their faith should influence every aspect of their lives. Despite her modern style, McPherson aligned with the fundamentalists in seeking to eradicate modernism and secularism in homes, churches, schools, and communities.[62]

The appeal of McPherson's revival events from 1919 to 1922 surpassed any touring event of theater or politics in American history.[62] She broke attendance records recently set by Billy Sunday[3] and frequently used his temporary tabernacle structures to hold her meetings. One such revival was held in a boxing ring, and throughout the boxing event, she carried a sign reading "knock out the Devil". In San Diego the city called in the National Guard to control a revival crowd of over 30,000 people.

McPherson's ability to draw crowds was also greatly assisted by her faith healing presentations. According to Nancy Barr Mavity, an early McPherson biographer, the evangelist claimed that when she laid hands on sick or injured persons, they got well because of the power of God in her.[63] During a 1916 revival in New York, a woman in advanced stages of rheumatoid arthritis was brought to the altar by friends. McPherson laid hands on her and prayed, and the woman apparently walked out of the church without crutches. McPherson's reputation as a faith healer grew as people came to her by the tens of thousands.[64] McPherson's faith-healing practices were extensively covered in the news and were a large part of her early-career success.[65] Over time, though, she largely withdrew from faith-healing, but still scheduled weekly and monthly healing sessions which remained popular until her death.

McPherson preaching at the newly built Angelus Temple in 1923.

Eventually, McPherson's church evolved into its own denomination, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel or "Foursquare Church", the term Foursquare representing the Full Gospel theological concept. The four main beliefs were Christ's transformative salvation; the role of baptism; divine healing; and the premillennial return of Christ.

McPherson published the weekly Foursquare Crusader. She began broadcasting on radio in the early 1920s. In April 1922, she became the first woman to preach a sermon wirelessly.[66] With the opening of Foursquare Gospel-owned KFSG on in 1924, she became the second woman granted a broadcast license by the Department of Commerce, which supervised broadcasting at the time.[67]

McPherson racially integrated her tent meetings and church services. On one occasion, as a response to integration, Ku Klux Klan members were in attendance, but after the service, their hoods and robes were found on the ground nearby.[68] She is also credited with helping Hispanic ministries in Los Angeles.[69]

McPherson caused concern among some Los Angeles churches. Though she shared many of their fundamentalist beliefs, her lavish sermons and faith-healing events, along with her status as a female divorcee, were unprecedented, and her style of dress was drawing emulators.[70] Her illustrated sermons attracted criticism from some clergy members for allegedly turning the Gospel message into mundane entertainment. Faith healing was considered to be unique to Apostolic times. Rival radio evangelist Robert P. Shuler published a pamphlet titled McPhersonism, in which he called her ministry "out of harmony with God's word."[71] Debates such as the Bogard-McPherson debate in 1934[72] drew further attention to the controversy.[73][74][75]

The newly forming Assemblies of God denomination worked with her for a time, but it encouraged her to separate her church from established Protestant faiths. McPherson resisted trends to isolate her church as a denomination and continued her evangelical coalition-building. She was helped by the establishment of L.I.F.E. Bible College adjacent to the Temple, which was intended to train ministers so they would be able to share her new "Foursquare Gospel" both nationally and internationally. Methodist minister Frank Thompson[76] ran the college, teaching students the doctrines of John Wesley, while McPherson and others infused them with Pentecostal ideals. McPherson's efforts eventually led Pentecostals, who were previously on the periphery of Christianity, into mainstream American evangelicalism.[9]

McPherson (early 1920s).

By early 1926, McPherson had become one the most influential women and ministers of her time,[77] influential in many social, educational and political areas. McPherson crusaded against Darwinian evolution and became a supporter of William Jennings Bryan during the 1925 Scopes trial, about local laws prohibiting the teaching of human evolution. Bryan and McPherson worked together in the Temple, and they believed that Darwinism undermined morality, "poisoning the minds of the children of the nation."[78] McPherson organized an all-night prayer service, preceded by a Bible parade through Los Angeles."[79]

McPherson's political alignment was undisclosed. She endorsed Herbert Hoover, but threw support behind Franklin D. Roosevelt and his social programs after his election.[80] She patronized organized labor, but was more cautious when labor strikes resulted in violence,[81] and worried about Communism's influence in labor unions. McPherson opposed both Communism and fascism as totalitarian rule divine authority.[82] McPherson did not align herself consistently with a broad conservative or liberal political agenda, but wanted Christianity to occupy a central place in national life. The Foursquare Gospel Church currently qualifies the evangelist's views "in light of the political and religious climate of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s," drawing a contrast between her approach and "today's extreme fundamentalist, right-wing Christianity."[83] She was also among the first prominent Christian ministers to support the establishment of a Jewish homeland.[84]

On May 18, 1926, McPherson disappeared from Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica, CA. Presuming she had drowned, searchers combed the area. McPherson sightings were reported around the county, often many miles apart. The Temple received calls and letters claiming knowledge of McPherson, including ransom demands. After weeks of unpromising leads, Mildred Kennedy believed her daughter to be dead.[86]

As the Temple was preparing a memorial service, on June 23, Kennedy received a phone call from Douglas, Arizona. McPherson was alive in a Douglas hospital, and relating her story to officials.

After emerging from the Mexican desert, McPherson convalesces in a hospital with her family in Douglas, Arizona, 1926. District Attorney Asa Keyes stands to the far left with Mildred Kennedy (mother) next to Roberta Star Semple, middle left (daughter). On the far right, Deputy District Attorney Joseph Ryan is alongside her son, Rolf McPherson.

McPherson said that at the beach she had been approached by a couple who wanted her to pray over their sick child. After walking with them to their car, she was shoved inside. A cloth laced with a drug was held against her face, causing her to pass out. Eventually, she was moved to a shack in the Mexican desert. When her captors were away, McPherson escaped out a window[87] and traveled through the desert for 11–13 hours and an estimated 20 miles (32 km), reaching Agua Prieta, Sonora, a Mexican border town, at around 1:00 a.m. Collapsing near a house, the evangelist was taken by locals to adjacent Douglas.

Her return to Los Angeles was greeted by 30,000–50,000 people, a greater turnout than President Woodrow Wilson's 1919 visit to Los Angeles.[88][89][90]

Los Angeles prosecutors had varying theories why she disappeared, among them a publicity stunt, and finally contended that McPherson ran off with a former employee, Kenneth Ormiston, staying with him in a California resort town cottage he had rented. After leaving the cottage at the end of May, the pair traveled for the next three weeks and remained hidden. Around June 22, Ormiston drove McPherson to Mexico, dropping her off 3 miles outside of nearby Agua Prieta, where she walked the remaining distance. In contrast, McPherson consistently maintained her kidnapping story, and defense witnesses corroborated her assertions.[91][92][93][94]

Much of the evidence asserted against McPherson came from reporters, who passed it on to police. The bulk of the investigation against McPherson was funded by Los Angeles-area newspapers at an estimated amount of $500,000.[95][96] The secrecy of California's grand jury proceedings was ignored by both sides as the Los Angeles prosecution passed new developments to the press, while the evangelist used her radio station to broadcast her side of the story.[97]

On November 3, the case was to be moved to jury trial set for January 1927, charging McPherson, her mother, and other defendants with criminal conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice. If convicted, McPherson faced a maximum prison time of 42 years.[98][99][100] However, the prosecution's case developed credibility issues. Witnesses changed testimonies[101] and evidence often appeared to have suspicious origins[102] or was mishandled and lost in custody.[103][104] On January 2, Ormiston identified another woman as the companion who stayed with him at the cottage.[105] All charges against McPherson and associated parties were dropped for the lack of evidence on January 10. However, months of unfavorable news reports produced enduring public belief in McPherson's wrongdoing.

After the kidnapping, McPherson remained nationally famous and continued her ministry, but fell out of press favor. The media, which once dubbed her a "miracle worker",[116] focused on disturbances in her household, including difficulties with her mother.

Despite this, up to 10% of the population in Los Angeles held Temple membership,[117] and movie studios competed to offer her contracts. Believing that film had the potential to transform Christianity, McPherson explored Hollywood culture and appeared in newsreels alongside Mary Pickford, Frances Perkins, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. She lost weight, cut and dyed her hair, began to wear makeup and jewelry, and became known for stylish dress. This solicitation of fame was off-putting to some church members who preferred her former uniform of a navy cape over a white servant's dress.[118]

In 1927, McPherson set out on a "vindication tour", taking advantage of the publicity from her kidnapping story to preach.[119] She even visited nightclubs, including Texas Guinan's speakeasy, where she addressed the crowd. Her visits to bars added to McPherson's notoriety: newspapers reported heavily on them; and rumors erroneously implied she was drinking, smoking and dancing.

The cover of a prospectus for a Lake Tahoe land deal, an unsuccessful project. A subsequent lawsuit by investors drew unfavorable publicity and the attention of the district attorney's office.

Mildred Kennedy did not agree with McPherson's strategy of tearing down barriers between the secular and religious.[120] In 1927, Kennedy left the Temple, along with other church members including 300 members of the choir. Attempting to curtail her daughter's influence, Kennedy initiated a staff-member confidence vote against McPherson, but lost. The two had argued over management and McPherson's changing dress and appearance.[121] Kennedy's administrative skills had been crucial to growing McPherson's ministry and maintaining Temple activities. A series of management staff replaced Kennedy, and the Temple became involved in various unsuccessful projects such as hotel building, cemetery plots, and land sales, plummeting into debt. In response to the difficulties, Kennedy returned in 1929, but because of continued disagreements with McPherson, resigned again in July 1930.[122] The following month, McPherson suffered a physical and nervous breakdown. For 10 months, she was absent from the pulpit, diagnosed with acute acidosis.[123]

When she returned, she introduced her "Attar of Roses" sermon, based on the Song of Solomon.[124] In October 1931 McPherson held a revival in Boston, a city with large Unitarian, Episcopalian, and Catholic populations, traditionally hostile to Pentecostal messages. On opening night, McPherson spoke to fewer than 5,000 in the 22,000-seat sports arena. The following day, her campaign's tone shifted and attendance climbed sharply.[125][126] The final day of afternoon and evening services saw 40,000 people attending, exceeding the stadium venue's capacity and breaking attendance records.[126]

McPherson's revival in New York City was less fruitful due to her sensationalistic reputation. McPherson went on to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, and visited 21 states. A full crew of musicians, scene designers, and costumers accompanied McPherson. In her last national revival tour, 1933–1934, two million persons heard 336 sermons.

The Boston Evening Traveler newspaper reported:

Aimee's religion is a religion of joy. There is happiness in it. Her voice is easy to listen to. 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.[126]

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.[127] In another meeting with students, McPherson heard an assertion that Christianity had outlived its usefulness. The encounter persuaded her to travel and gain new perspectives.[128] In 1935, McPherson embarked on a six-month world tour, partly to study the women's movement in connection with India's independence struggle and speak with Mahatma Gandhi,[4] who gave her a sari made on his spinning wheel. Impressed with Gandhi, McPherson thought he might secretly lean toward Christianity.[129] Other highlights included visiting Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar,[130] hearing Benito Mussolini speak in Italy, and sitting on a wrecked military vehicle on a still-uncleared battlefield in Verdun, France.

In mid-1936, a delegation associated with the 1906 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.[131] McPherson recommitted herself to the dissemination of "classic Pentecostalism", expressing concern that the Foursquare approach was in danger of becoming too "churchy". For the first time since the Temple opened, McPherson began to publicly speak in tongues.

McPherson's daughter, Roberta Semple (left); McPherson (middle); and Rheba Crawford Splivalo, assistant pastor of Angelus Temple (right), at a parade in 1935

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".[125] In the course of the staff controversy, McPherson's lawyer issued a strongly worded press release that upset Roberta Star Semple, McPherson's daughter, and led her to initiate a $150,000[132] slander lawsuit against him. Splivalo also sued McPherson for $1,080,000[133] because of alleged statements calling her a Jezebel and a Judas.[134][135]

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.[136] Her daughter's lawyer, meanwhile, mocked McPherson by imitating her mannerisms.[137] The trial estranged McPherson from her daughter. The judge ruled for Semple, giving a $2,000[138] judgment in her favor. 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."[139]

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".[140] He also expressed his support of her Foursquare Church's 1943 application for admittance into National Association of Evangelicals for United Action.[9]

Her efforts toward interracial revival continued. She welcomed black people into the congregation and pulpit. While race riots burned Detroit in 1943, McPherson publicly converted the black former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson on the Temple stage and embraced him.[141][142]