Mother of Invention
Aimee Semple McPherson's Angelus Temple is full once again, as Matthew Barnett takes up her pulpit and two of her passions.
Eric Reed
January 1, 2005
All three levels of the historic coliseum-style sanctuary are packed. Though the beat rocks and video flashes on triple-wide screens, Aimee Semple McPherson would feel right at home in her old venue. The woman who once flew from the second balcony Peter Pan-like would welcome today's visiting stand-up comic. She, who reinterpreted the Medieval morality play as the "illustrated sermon," would like the spoof of family holiday gatherings. And she would like the preacher who is pacing the stage and unpacking a canvas bag of "burdens." He is her successor, Matthew Barnett, on this day speaking to more than 3,500 people. Those in the balcony are there on the promise of a free turkey. Over 1,500 were given away to Echo Park neighborhood residents this Sunday before Thanksgiving. The crowd is lively, set up by the music (the bulletin advises people with sensitive ears to sit under the balcony overhang, the only spot where the volume doesn't reach rock-concert levels), and by the comedian, Cleto (rhymes with "ghetto") Rodriguez ("Cleto? What was my mother reading? The book of stupid baby names?). Barnett's message is clear: lay down your burden, take Jesus' yoke, and follow him. Barnett has taken McPherson's mantle—well, mostly. "People in her day called her a radical, with her theatrics and illustrated sermons," Barnett says. "We do some of that; it's part of the personality of the church. But more than that, I respect her tremendous passion for soul winning and for social outreach." Angelus Temple was on the verge of closure three years ago, almost 60 years after the death of its founder and five years after the retirement of her son, Rolf. That's when leaders of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel called on Assemblies ...
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