Angelus Temple

About this property

Angelus Temple is a Pentecostal megachurch in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923, it is considered the first U.S. megachurch. Today, it is affiliated with the Foursquare Church and led by senior pastor Matthew Barnett. In 2015, the weekly attendance was 8,975. The church was founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson. She chose Los Angeles as the location of the Temple after receiving a vision of the California dream, "a little home in Los Angeles," as she prayed beside her ill daughter, Roberta. When McPherson found the lot near Echo Lake, she paused silently and then said, "This is the place God would have us build." McPherson hired Brook Hawkins from Winter Construction Company, the architect of the Culver Hotel, the Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre and the Pasadena Playhouse. The Angelus Temple building, seating 5,300 people, was opened in Echo Park on January 1, 1923. On opening day, McPherson told a reporter, "Today is the happiest day of my entire life. I can hardly believe that this great temple has been built for me!" She managed to raise $250,000 from wealthy followers to finance the construction. The temple is considered to be the first megachurch built in the United States, and its 125-foot-wide dome was the largest in North America. Attendance in McPherson's day reached as much as 10,000 people. In 1924, a radio station, KFSG, began operation from the site. Twin towers were constructed atop the building to support the station's transmitting antenna. In 1927, it opened a food bank and soup kitchen near the church distributing food, clothing and blankets. According to church records, Angelus Temple received 40 million visitors within the first seven years. At first, McPherson preached every service, often in a dramatic scene she put together to attract audiences. In 1972, the temple was renovated with a $500,000 budget. In November 2001, Matthew Barnett became the senior pastor. The former Queen of Angels Hospital is the base of operations for the Dream Center, an organization who offers a food bank, clothing and assistance programs for disaster victims, victims of domestic violence, drug addiction and trafficking in human beings and prisoners. In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel united the Dream Center with Angelus Temple. Angelus Temple was dedicated on January 1, 1923. The cornerstone of the building bears the inscription "Dedicated unto the cause of inter-denominational and worldwide evangelism". The temple, located opposite Echo Park Lake, had an original seating capacity of 5,300. In 2002, a renovation left the temple with a capacity of 3,500. According to the United States Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index, Angelus Temple's construction would cost $3,245,964 in 2014.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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