Angelus Temple was the central house of worship of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California.
It was constructed under the leadership of denominational founder Aimee Semple McPherson and 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, huge for a church then and now, but suited well for the crowds McPherson attracted as an evangelical sensation of the 1920s and 1930s. The halcyon days have never been repeated, and a 2002 renovation has left it with a capacity of only about 3,500.
The lighted cross, atop the temple's dome, is a longstanding landmark. The entire temple was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.
L. I. F. E. Bible College was founded in a building adjacent to Angelus Temple. The building is currently the home of the Angelus Temple Hispanic Church. The former Queen of Angels Hospital is the base of operations for the Dream Center, which housed many people from the Gulf States displaced after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel united the Dream Center with Angelus Temple.
It is currently pastored by Matthew and Caroline Barnett.
Famous quotes containing the word temple:
“One sorry fret,
An anvill Sparke, rose higher,
And in thy Temple falling, almost set
The house on fire.
Such fireballs dropping in the Temple Flame
Burns up the building: Lord, forbid the same.”
—Edward Taylor (1645–1729)