The story
Founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923.1
The church has its origins in a vision of "Foursquare Gospel" (or "Full Gospel") during a sermon in October 1922 in Oakland, California, by the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson who was originally an ordained evangelist of the Assemblies of God where she once exerted a large influence until the split. According to chapter 1 of Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel had a vision of God as revealed to be four different aspects: a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. It also represents the four aspects of Christ: "Savior, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Healer and Soon and Coming King." This was the vision and name she gave at Foursquare Church, founded in January 1923 in Los Angeles, during the dedication of the Angelus Temple in Echo Park, seating 5,300 people. Despite some affinities with Pentecostals, her beliefs are interdenominational. The attendance has become a megachurch with 10,000 people. McPherson was a flamboyant celebrity in her day, participating in publicity events, such as weekly Sunday parades through the streets of Los Angeles, along with the mayor and movie stars, directly to Angelus Temple. She built the temple, as well as what is now known as Life Pacific University adjacent to it, on the northwest corner of land that she owned in the middle of the city.
McPherson's celebrity status continued after her death, with biopics such as the 1976 Hallmark Hall of Fame drama The Disappearance of Aimee depicting her life, as well as the 2006 independent film Aimee Semple McPherson, which particularly focused on her month-long disappearance in May–June 1926 and the legal controversy that followed.
After Aimee Semple McPherson's death in 1944, her son Rolf K. McPherson became president and leader of the church, a position he held for 44 years. The Foursquare Church formed the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America in 1948 in Des Moines, Iowa, in an alliance with the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Open Bible Standard Churches, the Pentecostal Holiness Church, and others. In 1994, 46 years after the founding of the Pentecostal Fellowship, it was reorganized as the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America after combining with African-American organizations, most significantly the Church of God in Christ.
In 1968, the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa congregation of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (under pastor Chuck Smith) broke from the denomination and later formed an association of autonomous Charismatic Evangelical churches, today making up the Charismatic but non-Pentecostal denomination, Calvary Chapel.
Wayman Mitchell was formerly a pastor of the Foursquare church in Prescott, Arizona. During his time as a pastor at Foursquare, Mitchell planted multiple churches who called themselves The Door. The practices of this group of churches began to differ from other churches within Foursquare, such as the rejection of formal Bible college education for pastors. In 1983, after complaints from other Foursquare pastors about the methods, attitudes, and tactics used by Mitchell's churches, Mitchell split from Foursquare and took his churches with him. Mitchell's churches would later become known the Potter's House Christian Fellowship.
On May 31, 1988, John R. Holland became the Church's third president and held the position until July 1997.
Harold Helms served as interim president from July 1997 to July 1998 and was followed by Paul C. Risser, who became the president on April 16, 1998, at the church's 75th annual convention.
In October 2003, under Risser's tenure, the church sold the Los Angeles radio station KFSG-FM to the Spanish Broadcasting System for $250 million. Risser's leadership led to another high-profile controversy for the church, when, without the involvement of the denomination's board of directors and finance council, church funds were invested in firms that targeted the "close-knit evangelical community" but turned out to be Ponzi schemes. Risser resigned his leadership position under fire in March 2004. Jared Roth became interim president for a few months.
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Jack W. Hayford, the founder of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California, served as the president of the Foursquare Church from 2004 to 2009. Hayford, along with Pastors Roy Hicks Jr. in Eugene, Oregon, Jerry Cook in Gresham, Oregon, Ronald D. Mehl of the Beaverton Foursquare Church in Beaverton, Oregon, and John Holland in Vancouver, British Columbia, have been credited by the church with setting a plan for the denomination's continued survival despite its staggering financial losses estimated at $15 million under the failed leadership of Paul Risser.
Glenn Burris, Jr. served as president from 2009 to 2020. In 2020, Randy Remington became the 10th president of The Foursquare Church.
From Wikipedia’s article on Foursquare Church, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5