The Angelus Temple

A large part of McPherson's plan to forge a new gospel entailed refashioning the experience of church-going itself. Fresh off of her success on the itinerant revival circuit, McPherson sought to build for herself a church where she could combine the spirit and energy of an open-air revival meeting with the stability and prestige of a local house of worship. Recognizing that if she “had a church in Los Angeles, the audience would come to her, not she to the audience,” McPherson sought to build a grand temple to house both her ambitious spiritual aims and community healing efforts. Ample supply of curious tourist aside, building in Los Angeles afforded McPherson the distinct opportunity to make her healing process an integral component of the Foursquare experience. Rather than turning toward downtown, McPherson scouted around Glendale Boulevard to find a suitable construction site. Once there, she discovered Echo Park, with its “beautiful park, with its great placid lake...its drooping palms, willows, and eucalyptus trees.” Unlike the many civic buildings in which she had preached, where parishioners waited for hours on city streets in the hot sun, she realized, “they would have the park, the trees, the grass, the benches, the flowing fountain, the picnic tables and ...stoves...upon which to cook their lunches.” There were restrooms, children’s play areas, and ample parking. “Though so near the heart of the city and on two of the largest car lines,” this spot felt “strangely peaceful and quiet.” Thus for McPherson, even the land that her church was built upon reflected the notions of healthful living and garden-like tranquility.  The healing rhetoric she espoused placed supreme emphasis on accepting the will of God and his divine offerings. The setting of her church situated her gospel accordingly, surrounding her flock with the peaceful, abundant, and healing power of nature.[1]

Having found a God-ordained site of natural health and prosperity, McPherson next went to work constructing a temple to compliment the natural therapeutic powers of the Southern California environment. Relying again on her revival circuit experience, McPherson was able to raise approximately $300,000 to complete work on the temple of her dreams.  Gleaming white in the California sunshine, the original Angelus Temple held a seating capacity of 5,300 at its dedication in 1923. Showcasing a neo-classical style, the temple boasted such features as a giant unsupported dome 110 feet high, a sparkling façade due to the crushed seashells mixed with the cement, a $22,000 Kimball organ, space for nurseries, and private areas for classes and prayer. Situated at the very top of the outside edifice, on top of the dome, was the famous lighted cross, one of Los Angeles’s longstanding landmarks.[2] Radiating both a sense of classical sophistication and twentieth-century modernity, this open, clean, and inviting temple provided the perfect platform for McPherson to share her healing philosophy.