| International Church of the Foursquare Gospel | |
| Jesus Christ the Savior, Baptizer, Healer, Coming King | |
| Classification | Protestant |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Pentecostal |
| Associations | Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America |
| Geographical areas | Worldwide |
| Founder | Aimee Semple McPherson |
| Origin | 1927 Los Angeles, California |
| Congregations | 30,000 |
| Members | 7 million |
The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, commonly referred to as the Foursquare Church, is an evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination. As of 2000 it had a worldwide membership of over 8,000,000, with almost 60,000 churches in 144 countries. In 2006, membership in the United States was 353,995 in 1,875 churches.[1] While congregations are concentrated along the West Coast, the denomination is well distributed across the United States,[2] The states with the highest membership rates are Oregon, Hawaii, Montana, Washington, and California.[2] The church maintains its headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
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Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944), an evangelist known as "Sister Aimee," founded the Foursquare Church in 1927. Los Angeles was her center of operations, and Angelus Temple, seating 5,300 people, was opened in Echo Park in 1923. McPherson was a celebrity, 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 College 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.[3][4]
Her son, Rolf K. McPherson, became president and leader of the church after Aimee Semple McPherson's death in 1944, a position he held for 44 years.[5] Under his leadership, the denomination grew from around 400 churches to over 10,000. 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.
On May 31, 1988, Dr. John R. Holland became the Church's third President, a position he held until July 1997.[5] 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.
Dr. Harold Helms served as interim president from July 1997 until July 1998; he was followed by Dr. Paul C. Risser, who became the president on April 16, 1998, at the church's 75th annual convention.[6]
In October 2003, under Risser's tenure, the church sold Los Angeles radio station KFSG-FM to the Spanish Broadcasting System for $250 million.[7] 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.[8] Risser resigned his leadership position under fire in March 2004.
Dr. Jack W. Hayford served as the president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel between 2004 and 2009. Hayford is the founder of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California. He, 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 growth in spite of its staggering financial losses under Paul Risser.[9]
Dr. Glenn Burris Jr. has been president the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel since June 2009.
The Foursquare denomination, under Hayford's leadership, is in "Missional Conversation" with the emerging church movement, claimed to be part of a "Church Multiplication" effort.[10] "Church Multiplication" also supports the house church movement through resources that support the expansion of "Foursquare Simple Church Networks."[11]
The Foursquare Church believes in the following:[12]
Foursquare emphasizes a believer's wholehearted relationship with God through prayer, meditation, and fasting, along with social service for and through Christ.
In the United States, the church is divided into districts, divisions, and individual churches. A General Supervisor oversees the national office and district supervisors; district supervisors oversee divisional superintendents who have oversight of individual churches within the local region. Rev. Tammy Dunahoo currently (2010) serves as General Supervisor.
A number of educational institutions are affiliated with the Foursquare Church. Among these are Life Pacific College, formerly "L. I. F. E. Bible College," in San Dimas, California, and Pacific Life Bible College in Surrey, British Columbia.
The update in the 2008 Foursquare Church Annual Report provides 2007 data of the movement's statistics in the United States, as of April 1, 2008:
Over 30 churches from Louisiana and Mississippi are formalizing into the Foursquare Church.
Former U.S. Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada) is a member of the Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
Anna D. Britton, a graduate of L.I.F.E. Bible College in Los Angeles, moved to Vancouver, B.C. in 1927, established L.I.F.E. Bible College of Canada in 1928 and grew a small group of believers into a congregation of nearly 1,000, known as Kingsway Foursquare Church. Her vision prompted her to extend the Foursquare Gospel to the three western provinces of Canada over which she served as Supervisor for many years. Other Supervisors of the Western Canada District have been, B.A. McKeown, Clarence Hall, Warren Johnson, Guy Duffield, Charles Baldwin, Harold Wood, Roy Hicks Sr., and John Holland.
Victor Gardner became Supervisor of the Western Canada District in 1974. Eventually, in order to comply with Canadian law, The Western Canada District needed to register all properties in the name of a Canadian Corporation and gain control of all finances as well. Victor Gardner led the development of the Constitution and Bylaws, the Administrative Manual and oversaw the transfer of all the legal documents so on March 5, 1981, the Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada (FGCC) came into being.[13] Tim Peterson was President of the FGCC from 1992–2007. His wife, Laurene, also worked in the National Office of FGCC, and together they oversaw the establishment of a healthy corporate structure and developed National Teams.
Barry Buzza, who planted the largest Foursquare Church in Canada, Northside Church, a three-campus church in the Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, and two in Port Coquitlam) in the Vancouver metropolitan area of British Columbia was elected as President on July 1, 2007. His inauguration took place at the FGCC Convention on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at the Chandos Pattison Auditorium in Surrey, British Columbia.
The church has a major presence in Nigeria. It entered Nigeria in the 1955 through the ministry of Rev.&Mrs Harold Curtis who established the LIFE theological seminary at Herbert Macurley road,Yaba,Lagos.The missionary couples trained a group of young boys and taught them the doctrines of Foursquare as contained in the 22 tenets of faith of the movement. Thoroughly furnished with God's word;this group of teenagers began to teach the foursquare message of Christ as the saviour,baptizer,healer and soon coming king. As a result of their zealousness towards the propagation of God's word the church grew so fast and is today ranked the second largest church in Nigeria. The church is currently headed by Rev. Felix Meduoye in Nigeria and has over 3000 churches grouped into 61 districts with a membership strength of 1,000,000 people.
Specific references and footnotes:
General references: