As the first assistant pastor of Angelus Temple, I have been asked to give account of those early never-to-be-forgotten days of the Foursquare movement, and the part I was privileged to play in them.

It was while I was occupying the pulpit of a Methodist church in Sacramento, Calif., that Aimee Semple McPherson came to San Jose to hold a revival. A number of my members left their official duties on the Lord’s Day to attend this campaign, several of them returning completely healed and “all fired up.”

This angered me to the extent where I rebuked my people from the pulpit the following Sunday, telling them that the Methodist Church was just as good as any other and had just as much to offer, and that if they wanted to be healed, they need not run to some other church but simply come forward, and I would pray for them (a thing I had never done before!).

Needless to say, I was scared to death when eight people immediately arose, came to the front, and stood directly before me. The nearest was an elderly lady who had fallen the previous winter, breaking her hip, and the doctors said she could never walk again. God had called my bluff.

With knees knocking, I reached forth and laid my hands on the sister’s head and started to pray. Immediately she dropped the crutches and ran toward the front door, shouting praises to God! The other seven people were all healed, as well. I was completely “knocked through the ropes,” but I knew from that moment that God was still on the throne.

 

Filled with the Holy Spirit

On a certain Sunday afternoon during the latter part of Sister McPherson’s campaign in San Jose, she was invited to speak at a church in Lodi. All the Sacramento ministers were invited to attend, and out of curiosity I slipped in with the rest. Sister, as was her custom, called on several of the ministers to lead in prayer, but all shook their heads. Then she turned to the other side of the platform and suddenly pointed her finger at me.

To this day I don’t know what happened, but that finger did something to me! Leaping to my feet, I prayed the prayer that Sister said afterward was the cause of them asking me to become the assistant pastor of Angelus Temple. During the message that followed I am reasonably sure that my mouth was open the whole time, and driving home, I told my friend that even though “tongues” were of the devil (which I sincerely thought to be the case), that little woman had something I never had, and “tongues or no tongues” I was going to have it!

Sister McPherson’s next campaign was at Lodi, where they erected a tabernacle seating 6,000, using the local Congregational church for meetings. I went to the first such meeting. I took several church members with me. We didn’t go to pray but to look and listen. Soon, however, someone called out: “This is a prayer meeting, and if you can’t pray for yourself then pray for somebody else.”

Conviction struck my heart, and I went down on my knees. I wasn’t there long until Sister came by, and laying her hands on me, prayed, “Lord, please fill this Methodist preacher with the Holy Ghost!” Down I went. Four and a half hours later, I came back to this world to find myself lying prostrate in the middle of the aisle. The next day was the crowning day of my whole life, for I received that glorious gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

Joining Angelus Temple

Knowing that it was but a short time until the dedication of Angelus Temple, Sister McPherson and her mother made three trips to Sacramento to see me about accepting the assistant pastorate. They said they had prayed, and the Lord had shown them that I was the one. Each time I refused, being unwilling to leave the good work the Lord had begun in my ministry since being filled with the Spirit.

About 10 days before the Temple opened, a friend and I went to Los Angeles to assist as best we could with making ready. There was much more work to do, for as yet the opera chairs had not been installed, and seating for the first few services had to be arranged by placing planks on nail kegs.

Meanwhile, I had had a vision, but of course I did not know the interpretation of it. The vision was of a bellows with thousands of people being blown from the large end to the small end where they caught on fire but were not consumed. I saw myself at the big end of the bellows part of the time and at the little end the rest of the time assisting those who had caught on fire.

Then, just prior to the day of dedication, I received a check for $100 in the mail. It was signed by the treasurer of Angelus Temple. I had told no one that I was in need of finances. My wife and three children were still in Sacramento, and since I wanted my wife to see the Temple, I sent half of the money to her for the trip down to Los Angeles. The moment she stepped in the front door, she exclaimed: “Why, Terrell, this is your vision! You will have to come here, whether you want to or not!” Immediately I saw the truth of what she said and told Sister McPherson that the Lord had shown me that I must accept her offer.

 

Miracles + rapid growth

Those were marvelous days, not only in my life but in the lives of thousands of others, including ministers of every denomination. As many as 40 persons in a single day would receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Two long healing lines, sometimes more than twice weekly, would cross the platform, and most of those who joined them were instantly healed. Sister was at the head of one line and I at the other, with a little stand between us on which rested a basin of anointing oil.

I recall the time a girl of about 7 came with a package that she handed to me. I unwrapped it and saw that it contained a pair of new shoes. Showing me her limbs, which were both supported to her hips by iron braces, she said, “I am going to put them on after you pray for me!” In a few minutes, she was dancing with glee all over the platform, perfectly healed. I could relate hundreds of wonderful cases of healing in those action-packed days.

Two long healing lines, sometimes more than twice weekly, would cross the platform, and most of those who joined them were instantly healed. Sister was at the head of one line and I at the other, with a little stand between us on which rested a basin of anointing oil.

There were so many families with children that a Sunday school was necessary, so Sister delegated me to organize one. On the first Sunday, about 1,000 turned out, and within three months the adult Bible class alone numbered 500. The Bible school was organized in the same manner. There were but four of us teachers in the beginning, but we later secured another man from Texas. My wife was the dean, and the original enrollment was 75.

All this time I was knee deep in the work of the Lord and had never been baptized in water. We simply had to have a baptismal service in the Temple because of the enormous amount of converts at our altars, so a Thursday night was chosen for the event. Sister McPherson said, “Brother Newby, I want you to assist me in the pool tonight.” Conviction seized me, and I said, “I will, if you will baptize me first.”

She did, and I then assisted her in baptizing 81 candidates that one night. I am sure no one will blame me for being just a little proud of having the honor to be the first person ever immersed in the Angelus Temple baptistry.

Thus Angelus Temple began and grew rapidly, until today it stands as a mighty monument to the faith and vision of a little handmaiden of the Lord who labored in nurse’s white uniforms (many of them frayed and oft-patched), and God mightily blessed.

 

Footnote: This article is adapted from its original printing in the October 1952 issue of Foursquare Magazine.