Angelus Temple

Angelus Temple

Angelus Temple
Location 1100 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, California
Coordinates 34°4′34.79″N 118°15′38.99″W / 34.0763306°N 118.2608306°W / 34.0763306; -118.2608306Coordinates: 34°4′34.79″N 118°15′38.99″W / 34.0763306°N 118.2608306°W / 34.0763306; -118.2608306
Architect Brook Hawkins
Architectural style Modern Movement
NRHP Reference # 92001875
Significant dates
Added to NRHP April 27, 1992[1]
Designated NHL June 23, 1965[2]

Angelus Temple is a pentecostal megachurch of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California, United States. The senior pastor is Matthew Barnett. The attendance is 8,975 persons.

History

The church was founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson.[3] The Angelus Temple building, seating 5,300 people, was opened in Echo Park in 1923.[4] The attendance has become a megachurch with 10 000 people.[5]

According to church records, Angelus Temple received 40 million visitors within the first seven years[6] At first, McPherson preached every service, often in a dramatic scene she put together to attract audiences.

In November 2001, Matthew Barnett became the senior pastor.

In 2015, the weekly attendance is 8,975 persons.[7]

Buildings

It was constructed under the leadership of denominational founder Aimee Semple McPherson and dedicated on January 1, 1923.[8] The cornerstone of the building bears the inscription "Dedicated unto the cause of inter-denominational and worldwide evangelism".[9] The temple, located opposite Echo Park Lake, had an original seating capacity of 5,300, huge for a church then and now, but suited well for the crowds McPherson attracted as an evangelical sensation of the 1920s and 1930s. The halcyon days have yet to be repeated, and a 2002 renovation has left it with a capacity of a more manageable 3,500. According to the United States Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index, Angelus Temple’s construction would cost $3,245,964.91 in 2014.[10]

It was the largest construction of its time in North America, rising "125 feet from the main floor". A panorama of clouds, which was the work of artist Anne Henneke, adorns the ceiling, and the temple has eight stained glass windows depicting the life of Jesus Christ, created by artist George Haskins. The building underwent renovations in 1972, while still retaining its original interior and exterior appearance.[11] The lighted cross atop the temple's dome is a longstanding landmark. The entire temple was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[2][12]

It was a Class "A" fireproof building constructed of concrete and steel designed by Brook Hawkins. The main architectural feature of the structure is its large, unsupported concrete dome coated with a mixture of ground abalone shells. The dome's interior was painted azure blue, with fleecy clouds, a reminder to "work while it's day" and "to look for His coming". McPherson insisted on a bright joyous setting, avoiding any reminder of sin from either artwork or motto. In back of the pulpit was her theme verse from Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever." She later said that she loved "every stone in Angelus Temple,...I love to touch its walls, its altar,...I look to its high vaulted dome...."[13] but no part of the church pleased her more than the magnificent Kimball pipe organ which always soothed her and brought her peace of mind.[14]

The main building was dedicated on January 1, 1923. The auditorium had a seating capacity of 5,300 people and was filled three times each day, seven days a week.

L. I. F. E. Bible College was founded in a building adjacent to Angelus Temple. This building is currently the home of the Angelus Temple Hispanic Church. The former Queen of Angels Hospital is the base of operations for the Dream Center, which housed many people from the Gulf States displaced after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel united the Dream Center with Angelus Temple.


See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Angelus Temple". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-28.
  3. ↑ Edith Waldvogel Blumhofer, Aimee Semple McPherson: everybody's sister, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 1993, page 246-247
  4. ↑ Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press, USA, 2002, page 295
  5. ↑ Thomas, Lately Storming Heaven: The Lives and Turmoils of Minnie Kennedy and Aimee Semple McPherson, Ballantine Books, USA, 1970 page 32
  6. ↑ Bridal Call (Foursquare Publications, 1100 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles.) October 1929, p. 27
  7. ↑ Hartford Institute, Database of megachurches in the US, Official website, USA, Retrieved September 11, 2016
  8. ↑ Robeck, C. M. Jr. (2002). "Angelus Temple". In Stanley M. Burgess. The new international dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements. (Rev. and expanded ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House. pp. 314–315. ISBN 0310224810.
  9. ↑ "Angeles Temple". Four Square Assn.
  10. ↑ Payne, Leah. Gender and Pentecostal Revivalism: Making a Female Ministry in the Early Twentieth Century, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015
  11. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/wom/2002/angelas.htm
  12. ↑ Page Putnam Miller; Jill S. Topolski; Vernon Horn (November 13, 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Angelus Temple" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 3 photos, exterior and interior, from 1991 (219 KiB)
  13. ↑ Blumhofer, p. 239
  14. ↑ Blumhofer, pp. 246–247

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