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Before the Hillsong scandal, before the prayer apps fronted by A-listers, there was Aimee Semple McPherson. The evangelist was a one-of-one figure for her time\u2014a harbinger of what was to come in today\u2019s influencer-saturated world, where celebrity idolatry is a cornerstone of certain faiths. In this excerpt from<\/em> Sister, Sinner<\/a>, a potent trinity\u2014of Hollywood, power, and spirituality\u2014gives rise to the resurrection of McPherson.<\/em><\/p>\n Just after lunch on a warm afternoon in May 1926, Aimee Semple McPherson<\/a> escaped her church for the beach. After just seven years in Los Angeles, Aimee had become the most recognizable woman<\/a> in a city that was already specializing in fame. Behind her, was the church she had built with her mother, Minnie. The Angelus Temple<\/a> rose from the sidewalk like the Roman Colosseum\u2014circular, pillared, and vast<\/a>. Known by locals as \u201cthe Million Dollar Temple,\u201d it was one of the largest churches<\/a> built in the history of the world, constructed with the same lavish splendor as the new movie palaces<\/a> being erected around the city.<\/p>\n Seating almost six thousand people, the groundbreaking mega-church<\/a> hosted what the papers called the greatest show in town. Camels, lions, and even a motorcycle had made their way across the planks of her stage. As young children, both Richard Nixon<\/a> and Marilyn Monroe were visitors with their families. And Hollywood stars of the era<\/a>, such as Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford<\/a>, would attend for the spectacle of it all.<\/p>\n Aimee had built the church through force of will and a supernatural sense of destiny, raising the funds during years of itinerant tent revivals around the nation<\/a>, each dollar given to her in what she called \u201clove offerings.\u201d The building stood as a monument to her: the pioneer of a new global religion. Aimee was a Pentecostal\u2013a once-fringe religious movement<\/a> that had begun in downtown Los Angeles and emphasized a direct connection to Jesus, speaking in tongues and faith healing. A populist, Aimee preached against the teaching of evolution<\/a> and frequently appeared with William Jennings Bryan, who had risen to fame during the Scopes Monkey trial<\/a> in Tennessee that had divided the nation, pitting believers in creationism against Darwin\u2019s emerging science of evolution. She had an incredible sense of how to use her own image to connect to the public\u2013she was on the cutting edge of the latest technology as she looked for every means to promote her gospel. Aimee\u2019s influence can be seen today in many of our iconic public figures\u2014both the infamous and the faithful, from Billy Graham and Oprah<\/strong> to Donald Trump<\/strong> and Kim Kardashian<\/strong>\u2014larger-than-life personalities who have crafted spectacular personal narratives to influence<\/a> and lecture us from their self-erected pulpits<\/a>. Aimee was doing all of this a century ago\u2014to create and sell the most riveting story: her own.<\/p>\n