New Britain herald., 1927-08-02
aimee TAKES full
Charge Of TEMPLE
DoYe Of Peace Descends On
Angelus

! Los Angeles, Aug. 2.-R-Aimee
semple Mcpherson took full control
of her Angelus Temple today as the
result of an agreement announced
last night in which Mrs. Minnie
Kennedy. her mother, relinquished
the church and the two women pub
licly kissed and made up to end
their differences.
The settlement, announced by at
torneys for both after two hour
conference, apparently ended q ten
day row between mother and daugh-
ter In which the latter had been
backed by . group Of temple mem
bers who rebelled against Mrs. Ken
nedy's control Of finances.
During the row Mrs. Kennedy had
said she was >resigning Immediately.
while her daughter announced in an
ultimatum that Mrs. Kennedy was
ousted. The latter charged that her
daughter had refused to speak to
her again except through her law
yers, and then Mrs. Kennedy de-
clared she would withdraw only up
on a fifty-fifty division Of holdings
valued at approximately 100000,
which was not part of the temple
property.
The management merely said that
Mrs. Minnie Kennedy will give up
active management at Angelus Tenn
pie and Mrs. Mcpherson will as
sumo complete control"
Neither Of the women would dis
close the details of the settlement,
but 1t was learned that it virtually
hinged upon the fifty-fifty plan in
sisted upon by Mrs. Kennedy.
A hundred temple workers and
onlookers greeted the two women
with Hallelujahs"s they emerged
from the conference room, wreathed
in smiles and embraced and kissed
each other before the group.
Il always did Id, you, Mother"
Mrs. Mcpherson sobbed.
And sister, you know there never
has been anything in my heart but
love for you," Mother Kennedy re-
piled. Whereupon they kissed again.
Easter Hill, where the evangelist
holds her Easter services, was said
by the attorneys to be the only real
estate held personally by Mrs. Nc
Pherson and her mother. 1t was
valued at $4,000.
The temple property. consisting of
the real estate and buildings, is held
by the Echo Park Evangelical asso-
citation, of which mother and daugh-
ter are two of the three trustees
Mrs. Kennedy had commended that
there was no other trustee since the
original one named is dead. The
evangelist claimed that her secre-
tary. Miss Emma Schaeffer. was the
other trustee.
The temple property is estimated
to be worth considerably over half
a million dollars
The announcement did not indi-
cate that Mrs. Kennedy was with
drawing from trusteeship of the
temple owning association.
The agreement brings to close
one more chapter in the life OF the
evangelist. which for more than a
year has been checkered with allie
cations, denials, Investigations and
disputes all connected directly or in
directly with her disappearance at
the beach during the summer of
1925 and her temperance more
than a month later in Arizona with
story that she had been kidnapped
and held prisoner in Mexico.
Her testimony before grand jury
to that effect caused her and Mrs.
Kennedy and three others to be
charged with conspiracy. The state
alleged the kidnapping story was
false and that the woman evangelist
had spent part of the time in a
cottage at Carmel, Cal, with her
radio operator. Kenneth G. Ormis-
ton.
The charge was dropped when
Ormiston reappeared after a long
and mysterious absence and after
the star witness in the case changed
her story.
The recent controversy between
Mrs. Kennedy denied published
statements attributed to her that she
doubted her daughters story.