Lost in the Stacks: Sister, Sinner

Sister Aimee’s show was the hottest ticket in town. Believers by the droves packed Angelus Temple in Los Angeles eager for a spectacle. Brass bands. Orchestras. Elaborate skits complete with Hollywood costumes, live animals and palm trees. At the center of it all was a young, charismatic evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson.  

Aimee Semple McPherson may be the most remarkable woman you know very little about. In Sister, Sinner Claire Hoffman traces Aimee’s unlikely journey from a Canadian farm girl to itinerant preacher to owner and operator of a megachurch in Los Angeles. With her sweet manner and her emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus, Aimee converted thousands. Hardworking and driven with a genius for fundraising and marketing, Aimee became one of the most famous and powerful people in the 1920s. Then she disappeared. 

Although Aimee’s mysterious disappearance at the height of her fame is intriguing, I think the more interesting story in Sister, Sinner is how this young woman was able to tap into the zeitgeist and use innovative methods and technology to spread her message. Before reading Sister, Sinner I knew very little about Aimee. Now I’m fascinated by this pioneering evangelist who used her considerable talents to achieve her dreams.