--- description: Aimee Semple McPherson is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Aimee Semple McPherson: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5438b74f03564d20/698a0af909208f02b541665c/social-1926_Aimee-Semple-McPherson.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1926: Aimee Semple McPherson Mar 5, 2020 11:33 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by George Dawnay for TIME; AP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:33 AM CUT Thousands flocked to her memorial service. Millions listened in shock as it was reported: “Sister” Aimee Semple McPherson, the nation’s most famous evangelist of the era, it seemed, was dead. A Pentecostal preacher with a knack for publicity, McPherson gained national fame for traveling the U.S. in a car painted with Jesus Is Coming Soon—Get Ready, delivering passionate sermons and faith-healing demonstrations. Thanks to the new medium of radio, she preached in people’s homes too. By 1926, she had founded a Bible college and established what would become one of the first mega-churches, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in Los Angeles, which has branches around the world today. Her sermons regularly drew crowds of as many as 30,000. [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/aimee-semple-mcpherson-1926-time.html "undefined") A month after her [reported death](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-aimee-semple-mcpherson-19440928-story.html "undefined") in May 1926, McPherson reappeared, claiming she’d been abducted. News of her “resurrection” created media madness. Whether the alleged kidnapping was a publicity stunt is up for debate. What isn’t is that she blazed a trail for other religious figures. Her groundbreaking mix of cutting-edge media and old-time religion set the stage for [televangelism and religious celebrity](https://time.com/5168188/billy-graham-evangelism-crusades/ "undefined") in the decades to come. _—Erin Blakemore_ _Blakemore is a journalist and the author of_ [The Heroine’s Bookshelf](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061958778/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0061958778&linkId=90176c94ffa8bd78c7b61c4134d84959 "undefined")  Aimee Semple McPherson and Kenneth G. Ormiston in the radio operating room of Angelus Temple.Bettmann—Getty Images --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5792693/aimee-semple-mcpherson-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5792693/aimee-semple-mcpherson-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1926: Aimee Semple McPherson","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:33:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:19:59.417Z","description":"Aimee Semple McPherson is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5792693/aimee-semple-mcpherson-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5438b74f03564d20/698a0af909208f02b541665c/social-1926_Aimee-Semple-McPherson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5438b74f03564d20/698a0af909208f02b541665c/social-1926_Aimee-Semple-McPherson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1926_Aimee-Semple-McPherson","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5792693/aimee-semple-mcpherson-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1926: Aimee Semple McPherson"}}]}] ```