Limited Liberty

In the early twentieth-century, four Pentecostal women-Florence Louise Crawford, Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Ida Bell Robinson-stepped out of the limited liberty reserved for them by the male-dominated church. They used their God-given gifts to establish four denominations-the Apostolic Faith Mission, the Church of the Living God Pillar and Ground of the Truth, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, and Mount Sinai Holy Church of America. With their extraordinary gifts, these were not plaster saints. Each had their short-comings, yet each and unashamedly challenged sexism in the church and broader society to open doors for women's fullest participation. Their stories stand as testimony to how Spirit-empowered woman can move into arenas previously reserved for men and succeed.