The Angelus Temple 2002 Rebirth
Matthew persisted and dad helped. Miracles happened in the financial realm. Soon, what had become the LA International Church was located in the old Queen of Angels hospital building. It was a church that reached out to the inner city and quickly enjoyed unusual success. Pastor Tommy, though still based in Phoenix, became its co-pastor and took on the responsibility of raising funds needed by the rapidly growing inner city ministry. Today this ministry is known as the Dream Center. Its success has led to 130 more Dream Centers in cities across the world. President Bush visited the Dream Center and presented it to our country as an example of the type of faith based ministry that could far out perform the government in dealing with society’s problems. Every time I visit the Dream Center I find the presence of God abounds on its campus. It is filled with all sorts of enthusiastic volunteers willing to give their lives to serve and tell others of the love of Christ and His Gospel. It is truly an astonishing place.
The Dream Center ministers to 30,000 people a week, and it needed an auditorium big enough to house the ever growing numbers that crowded into its on-campus meeting room. Foursquare admired the Dream Center and encouraged its work.
Foursquare had no idea that Matt Barnett would frequently walk through Echo Park late at night to look at Angelus Temple and ask God to give him their founder’s church. If I had known what he was doing, I would have dismissed him as a silly young man. He was part of the Assemblies, and while similar to Foursquare, the differences between the denominations made such an idea unthinkable. Besides, it was Sister Aimee’s church. She had picked its location, bought the grounds, designed it, raised the funds for it and filled it over and over. Moreover, Aimee had started her evangelistic ministry in the Assemblies only to have her credentials revoked when her marriage to Harold McPherson ended in divorce. Matt was a young man pursuing folly and wasting his time. Had I known what he was doing in the park late at night, I would have thought these thoughts, and wouldn’t you know, I would have been wrong again.
Something amazing was about to happen. Unprecedented cooperation among denominational leaders and believers’ passion to see a city changed for Jesus were leading up to some wonderful events.
Matthew Barnett, his father, and Foursquare leaders began praying and considering together the possibility of joining the ministries of the Dream Center and Angelus Temple. In late fall of 2001, Matthew Barnett was named as Senior Pastor of Angelus Temple. Prior to this, Matthew and his entire staff studied Foursquare Heritage and Polity and were ordained or granted appropriate ministerial licenses by Foursquare. They had to leave the Assemblies to do this. Only Matthews’s dad currently remains with the Assemblies, and he continues to co-pastor the Dream Center.
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