Designed and built by "Sister" Aimee Semple McPherson under the strict command of God for the benefit of saving souls by introducing them to the Lord Jesus, whom she described in the "four-fold" way: Savior, Holy Spirit Baptizer, Healer, and Coming King.
- Location: 1100 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles
- Opened: January 1, 1923
- Original Capacity: 5,300 (3,500 after 2002 renovations)
- Dome Diameter: 125 feet (largest in North America when built)
- Construction Cost: $1.5 million)
- Architect: Brook Hawkins*
- Historic Status: National Historic Landmark (1992)
Aimee built Angelus Temple without taking on any debt. The initial $5,000 deposit started the excavation, followed by donations from her cross-country revivals. The entire country was invited to contribute, and they did.
After the radio was invented, Aimee bought a station, becoming one of the first to do so. Her daily broadcasts could be heard on nearly every street and in nearly every neighborhood in Los Angeles for decades.
The “Miracle Room”
To provide tangible proof of the miracles performed by the Holy Spirit through Aimee McPherson, Angelus Temple featured a dedicated room called the "Miracle Room." It served as a "Museum of Testimonies," and was filled to the brim with discarded crutches, wheelchairs, braces, and eyeglasses left behind by those healed.
How It Came About
“Come, let us build a house unto the Lord!” So urgently did those words ring in my ears that one day I got in my automobile and set out in search of land. After a few minutes of driving, I came to Echo Park and saw for the first time (for I had never been in that part of the city before) the beautiful park, with its great placid lake, its drooping palms, willows and eucalyptus trees; and the graceful swans sailing peacefully among the lovely water lilies.
Involuntarily the thought flashed through my mind, “Why, this is heaven on earth, the most beautiful spot for the house of the Lord that I have ever seen!” I thought of how, in the heart of the great cities, where the various buildings in which I had preached had to be emptied between meetings, the people had stood in the hot sun, hour after hour, waiting for admittance. Here they would have the park, the trees, the grass, the benches, the picnic tables and other conveniences—and yet the whole locality, though so near the heart of the city, was strangely quiet and peaceful and provided parking space for the hundreds of automobiles that would gather.
...
Hands drew me through a doorway into the Temple and as I went into the adjoining building for a moment's quiet and meditation before the great indoor meeting I heard the doors of the Temple flung wide and a murmur of voices like the billows of the sea, as the huge crowd surged through them, over the steps and up the aisles, filling the main auditorium, filling the first balcony, then the second, until five thousand three hundred persons were seated and hundreds more lined the walls, the ramparts, and even crowded the platform space.
After the praises in song and testimony, the message dealing with the various altars of God down through the ages, and the altar call during which men, women and children swarmed down the many aisles from every direction and filled every available space in the front of the auditorium—after all this had died away and was just a memory, it seemed indeed that the Lord had crowned with His glory fifteen years of humble but adoring ministry in His service.
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Following the building of Angelus Temple, the next three years were spent in active and intense soul winning. A continuous revival was manifest in our midst. I preached every night in the week and three times on Sundays, besides conducting many outside services, speaking for various clubs, addressing Sunday School classes and other meetings in the Temple, and presiding over the numerous Board meetings necessary to the functions of the church. (Story of My Life in Memoriam, 1951, Ch. XX: The Crowning Glory!)
*Brook Hawkins (Winter Construction) résumé included the Culver Hotel, the Pasadena Playhouse, and Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre. He attended Aimee's revivals to understand the need for altar calls and stage performances. A fireproof structure built from reinforced concrete and steel, and the 125-foot free-spanning concrete dome was the largest in North America, which eliminated the need for pillars and provided flawless acoustics.