Week 8 Preview – Check in at Foursquare

Before the location-based social networking application allowed friends to publicly share where they were hanging out from their phones, the term Four Square was known as a playground game on elementary school courtyards. It is also the name of a church denomination started by a woman named Aimee Semple McPherson in 1927 in Los Angeles. I have a Foursquare church in my neighborhood.

Sister Aimee, as she was known, coined the term “Foursquare Gospel” during an evangelistic outreach in California. To her it represented an equally balanced expression of the four-fold ministry of Jesus:

1. as Savior
2. as Baptizer with the Holy Spirit
3. as Healer
4. and as the coming King

This denomination likes 4’s. Their strategy for accomplishing their church planting vision is as follows:

1. Pioneer
2. Establish
3. Empower
4. Send

Their website is divided into four segments:

1. I’m new to Foursquare
2. I want to get involved
3. I’m a foursquare leader
4. I’m looking for leadership tools

They believe that biblical truth meets people in four main segments:

1. Salvation
2. Christian Walk
3. The Spirit-filled Life
4. The Afterlife

The Foursquare church in my neighborhood (who list their membership at 400) lists four ways to start a relationship with Jesus:

1. Start Reading the Bible
2. Get Water Baptized
3. Connect with others at their church
4. Begin to journal.

I’ve got the 1, 2, and 4^th covered. This weekend, I’ll hit number 3, connecting with others in their fellowship.

Here’s a video that the Foursquare denomination has prepared for their first time visitors.

Have you ever visited a Foursquare church?