Sister Aimee's Kidnapping

In 1926, Sister Aimee came back from the dead. At least that’s what it felt like to the members of the Four Square Church, who thought she had drowned in the Pacific Ocean six weeks earlier. An exhaustive search had been conducted, even a memorial service. But here she was, stepping off a train from Arizona. A jubilant throng of over 30,000 people greeted her in downtown Los Angeles. Firefighters hoisted her onto a chair and carried her through the crowd while adoring citizens showered her with roses. The parade in her honor wound through the city, joined by over a hundred thousand people, including mounted officers, firefighters, and thousands of church members wearing the same white dress and blue cape Amy wore when she preached. When the parade reached Amy’s temple, she found 5,000 people waiting on the street. She proceeded inside, where nearly six thousand more faithful awaited her first sermon back. In it, she detailed how she’d been kidnapped but, by the grace of God, escaped. Some people called it a miracle. Others called it a publicity stunt. And still more, a cover story for a woman who could no longer practice what she preached.

The Woman and the Church She Built