The Angelus Temple - 1937

Angelus Temple circa 1937

Janet McAdam Waning's letter of 1937 mentions attending a healing service at the "Angeles Temple" which seated 5300.  I am fairly certain she refered to the "Angelus Temple" and I've found information about it on Wikipedia. 

Angelus Temple is the central house of worship of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California.

It was constructed under the leadership of Aimee Semple McPherson and dedicated on the First of January, 1923. 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. A 2002 renovation left it with a capacity of about 3,500.
The lighted cross, atop the temple's dome, is a longstanding landmark. The entire temple was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.

Aimee Semple McPherson (October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also called Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-born evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church.McPherson has been noted as a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio, which she drew upon through the growing appeal of popular entertainment in North America.
She was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy on a farm near Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada. Her father James Kennedy was a farmer. Young Aimee got her early exposure to religion through her mother Mildred (known as Minnie), whose work with the Salvation Army feeding people through soup kitchens was echoed in her daughter's later work spreading the Gospel.

As a child she played "Salvation Army" with her classmates and at home would gather a congregation with her dolls and give them a sermon.


Her revivals were often standing room only. One of these was held in a boxing ring, with the meeting before and after the match, throughout which she walked about with a sign reading "knock out the Devil." In San Diego, California the National Guard was brought in to control a crowd of over 30,000 people. McPherson had practiced speaking in tongues but rarely emphasized it. She was also known as a faith healer and there were claims of physical healing, although this became less important as her fame increased.


Weary of constant traveling and having no place to raise a family, McPherson had settled in Los Angeles, where she maintained both a home and a church. McPherson believed that by creating a church in Los Angeles, her audience would come to her from all over the country, she could plant the seed of the Foursquare gospel and tourists would take it home to their communities, thus taking the traveling out of her preaching, while still reaching the masses. For several years she continued to travel and raise money for the construction of a large, domed church building in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, named Angelus Temple. She raised more than expected and altered the original plans to build a "megachurch" that would draw many followers throughout the years. The church was dedicated on January 1, 1923. It had a seating capacity of 5,300 people and was filled to capacity three times each day, seven days a week. At first McPherson preached every service, often in a dramatic scene she put together to attract audiences. The church eventually evolved into its own denomination, called the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, which focused on the nature of Christ's character, that he was savior, baptizer with the Holy Spirit, healer and coming king. There were four main beliefs, the first being Christ's ability to transform individuals' lives through the act of salvation. The second focused on a holy baptism, the third was divine healing and the fourth was gospel-oriented heed to the premillennial return of Christ.