Foursquare Gospel Church Origins: 6 Things That Led to Development of Christian Denomination

Foursquare Gospel Church Christians follow the legacy of Aimee Semple McPherson. Her mission minded Pentecostal view of the gospel created a church movement that has grown to a presence in 140 countries. The church claims over a million people are brought into the Christian faith around the world each year through Foursquare Gospel congregations.

Here are 6 things that led to the development of the Foursquare Gospel Church:

ALERT: When Do You Think Christ Is Returning? Vote Now

1. Aimee Semple McPherson becomes an evangelist: Though she was a young widow and divorcee with two small children, Aimee Semple McPherson traveled the country preaching as a Pentecostal evangelist in the 1910s. She held tent revivals and meetings in auditoriums spreading the message to thousands of people.

2. Sister Aimee's Four-Square Vision: The term "Foursquare Gospel" developed from a vision Sister Aimee had during an evangelistic revival in 1922. It involved seeing Jesus in the four faces of a man a lion, an ox and an eagle. Foursquare.org explains the vision this way, "In the face of the man, she saw Jesus our Savior. In the face of the lion, she saw Jesus the mighty Baptizer … In the face of the ox, she saw Jesus the Great Burden-Bearer … In the face of the eagle, she saw Jesus the Coming King."

3. Founding of the Angelus Temple: On January 1, 1922 Sister Aimee founded the Angelus Temple to be a permanent home for her evangelistic ministry. The church immediately became mission-minded expanding to a second location by October of the same year.

VOTE NOW: Is Christ Returning?

4. KFSG Radio Station: In February of 1924, the Foursquare Gospel Church Christians took their message to the airwaves on the radio station KFSG-FM. The station was one of the first radio stations in the Los Angeles area and gave Sister Aimee the claim of being "The first woman to preach the gospel by radio," reports Los Angeles Times. Until it signed off in 2003, it was one of the oldest continuously operating Christian radio stations in the country.

5. Foreign Ministry: The church began foreign ministry in 1927. Vincente and Teodora DeFante took the Foursquare Gospel message to the Philippines where it was very successful.

6. Evangelistic and Missionary Training Institute: The Foursquare Gospel church Christian movement has was also affected by the early development of a Bible training school. The Echo Park Evangelistic and Missionary Training Institute opened the same year as the Angelus Temple. Its name has changed to the Life Pacific College. It still trains ministry leaders.

URGENT: When Do You Think Christ Will Return? Vote Here Now!

Related Stories:

• Billy Graham Quotes on Love: 8 Statements From Evangelical Christian Leader

• Evangelicals With Gay Children Challenging Church