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The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel's story runs along two parallel tracks — founder Aimee Semple McPherson and the church itself. Each was, in its own way, larger than the other. McPherson, who grew up in Ontario, attended a revival presided over by Robert Semple at age eighteen and received a religious conversion. She adopted Semple as her mentor, and within a year the two were married.

In June of 1910, the couple went to China for missionary work, and both contracted a vicious strain of malaria. Semple died on August 12, and Aime — who was eight months pregnant at the time — was devastated. She married American businessman Harold McPherson in 1912 back in the United States. However, while he first tolerating her religious work, he became jealous of it. Just before their first child was born, he moved the family from Chicago to Providence, Rhode Island. Aimee became desperately ill and almost died after her son Rolf was born. At one point she related she heard the voice of God demanding: “Now will you go? ” She surrendered, and was healed. Soon, crowds flocked to see her, the curious spectacle of a woman preacher on the road.

The official Web site of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel says of that time in Aimee McPherson's life:”Knowing that she had to keep her promise to the Lord, she began evangelizing and holding tent revivals, first by traveling up and down the eastern part of the United States, then expanding to other parts of the country. She eventually held meetings in all parts of the world. People began coming in ever-increasing numbers to hear this remarkable lady evangelist. “When not in a tent, she would need to find the largest auditorium in town in order to hold the record number of people that would come to her meetings. Often times she would have to share the time with whatever “event” was happening in the town. Like, on one occasion she met in a boxing ring, but had to hold her meetings before and after the boxing match. Once in San Diego, the National Guard had to be brought in to control the crowd of over 30,000 people. People would often stand in line and wait many hours for the next service to begin in order to be assured a seat. “McPherson had raised enough money to raise the Angelus Temple in Echo Park in Los Angeles, with a seating capacity of over 5,000 by 192
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I. F. E. Bible College rose. McPherson founded the Foursquare Church in 1927. Aimee Semple McPherson was a groundbreaking religious personality in many ways. She was the first woman to own and operate a Christian radio station, and her sermons were the first to incorporate the contemporary communications of that day into her preaching of the Gospel. From Angelus Temple, she performed an extensive social ministry and provided hot meals for more than 1. 5 million people during the Great Depression. Known as 'The Foursquare Gospel,' she summarized her message into four major points.

In 1944, son Rolf became the church leader when McPherson died at a relatively young age (54). He presided over a period of remarkable growth in which Foursquare Gospel grew from 400 churches to more than 10,000. This momentum hardly abated over the next half-century. By 2000, there were 30,000 Foursquare congregations scattered all over the world.

There was little different about the Foursquare doctrine, except that it came with McPherson's larger than life personality attached.

In a sense, McPherson foreshadowed the cult of personality that invaded later American evangelism. TIt didn't hurt that she was attractive and a fiery orator. Foursquare's basic values included a belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the fall of man, the second coming, salvation through grace, heaven and hell and baptism by immersion.

It also stressed the importance of church membership and tithing. This was a religious menu, in short, which Jerry Falwell or Billy Graham would have been in complete agreement. And despite its charismatic roots, the Foursquare code of beliefs calls for “moderation” in all things, including a caution against religious fanaticism.

The church's local congregations operate under a loose structure in which they answer to district, national and international organizations. “Foursquare” refers to Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Baptizer, Jesus the Healer and Jesus the Soon to Come King — four different interpretations of Jesus by the church's founder.
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