From key figures of the faith and the afterlife, to the role of
women in the church, pastors explain beliefs of the International
Church of the Foursquare Gospel
n By Kelly Savio Staff Writer
Though there are plenty of Christian denomination churches in the South Valley, many have names that are either familiar or are self-explanatory, such as Assembly of God, Lutheran or Baptist. But one Christian church includes a term that may cause some to scratch their heads.
The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, better known as the Foursquare Church, has a name most associate with a childhood game rather than Christianity.
To shed light on the beliefs of the Foursquare Church, we went to the source. Senior pastor Mark Wilson from The Foothills Foursquare Church in Gilroy and assistant pastor Sarah Rufener from Abundant Life Foursquare Church in Hollister explain there isn’t much mystery behind the Foursquare Church – just a whole lot of faith.
Q: Where and when do you worship, and what are your leaders called?
A: Members of Foursquare meet once a week for services, typically on Sundays, though the Hollister church has Wednesday services, too. Services last anywhere from one to two hours. Services are held in the church building.
“We call this the church building because we believe the church is the people in the building, not the building itself,” Rufener said.
The leaders at Foursquare churches are called pastors.
“We also have elders within the church who have served the Lord for a long time, met certain qualifications of faith and walk solidly with God,” Wilson said. “We also have a church council, which serves an advisory board to the senior pastor. They advise, they vote on certain church matters and they serve as a source of accountability for church finances. They approve a financial statement every month.”
The highest level of governing body in the faith is the convention body, Rufener explained. The convention body is comprised of all the senior pastors of every Foursquare church. When they meet, they discuss the state of the faith, and may vote on things such as amendments to bylaws.
Q: What do you believe?
A: “In a nutshell, we believe that the Bible is the word of God, and we believe in everything from Genesis all the way to Revelations,” Wilson said. “These holy scriptures instruct us how to live and what we should do in church. We believe in the trinity. We believe that Jesus was the son of God and that he came to earth as a man, but was fully God and fully human.”
“We believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God,” Rufener said. “We believe Jesus Christ came, died on the cross, rose and will come back again when God chooses.”
Q: Who are the key figures in your faith?
A: The key figures in the Foursquare Church are the figures in the trinity: God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit.
There are people of importance in the faith, such as the prophets and Jesus’ disciples, but congregants do not pray to these people. These people are important because they were vessels for the word of God.
Q: What are your beliefs about the after life? Who is “saved?”
A: “We believe there is a heaven and a hell,” Rufener said. “Those that know Jesus and believe in him will go to heaven, and those that don’t know him will go to hell. No ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Scriptures such as John, chapter three, verses 17 and 18, Wilson said, are the source of this belief. Those verses say, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Wilson said it is not good deeds that get people to heaven, but rather their faith.
Q: What are your holy books?
A: The Bible, including the Old and New Testaments.
Q: How far does your faith date back?
A: The Foursquare Church denomination dates back to 1923, when Aimee Semple McPherson began preaching. When she developed a large group of followers, they became their own denomination, called The Church of the Foursquare Gospel. When the followers became an international group, the name was changed to The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
Q: What are the important holidays in your faith?
A: Easter, the observation of Jesus rising from the dead, and Christmas, the observation of Jesus’ birthday are the two primary holidays of the faith. Foursquare congregants also consider Thanksgiving to be an important holiday because it’s a time to offer thanks to God for his blessings.
Q: What role do women play in your faith?
A: The Foursquare denomination was founded by a woman. Subsequently, women are permitted to be pastors, elders and members of the governing bodies of the faith. Members of the Foursquare Church refer to Galatians, chapter three, verse 28 when explaining why women should be equals in ministry. The verse reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Rufener said women are equal to men and can do the same things as men, such as ministry, if they are called to it.
As a member of the household, women should be submissive to their husbands, according to Foursquare Church beliefs. The source of this belief is in 1 Timothy, chapter two, verse 13, which places men as the head of the household. The verse says, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.”
Both Rufener and Wilson said women play an important role by providing input for household decision making. However, the final decision is up to the husband.
Q: What are common misperceptions about your faith?
A: “I think some people might think that because of our ties to the Pentecostal movement, that we might be wild, crazy, screaming and all that,” Wilson said. “We’re very balanced, though. We aren’t shouting during our services or falling down. So, if there was a misconception, I think it would be that there’s a weirdness here and there really isn’t.”
Q: Where does the name of your faith come from?
A: “The name Foursquare came about because Aimee Semple McPherson was a very hip preacher for her day,” Wilson said. “The word ‘foursquare’ was an idiom of her day in the ’20s that we don’t use today. Foursquare means ‘right on.’ Who knows, if Aimee were starting it up today, it might be called the ‘Right On Church.'”
Aimee Semple McPherson called the gospel “foursquare,” meaning that it was right on, and that it was something balanced and solid.
“She called the gospel ‘foursquare’ because it’s like a table,” Wilson explained. “It has strong foundations, it’s stable, it’s something you can stand on. In it’s most fundamental meaning, it means balance, and that’s what our denomination tries to strike.”
Q: Why did you choose this faith?
A: “I was raised in the Foursquare church, I grew up in this church and I chose this church,” said Rufener, whose father is the senior pastor of the Hollister Foursquare Church. “I still had to make the decision to choose God, though. I was around 9 years old when I understood what it meant to make that choice, and that’s when I was baptized.”
“My parents started serving the Lord when I was an early teenager,” Wilson said. “They didn’t care what the denomination was – they just wanted to go to a church they liked and where they could learn the word of God. I grew up going to a Mennonite church and a Quaker college. When I left college and went back home, they were going to a Foursquare church. I went with them one night when there was a guest speaker, and it was like God was speaking right to me. I asked God, ‘What do you want me to do now?’ and I felt God in my heart say, ‘I want you to be a minister.’ I was about 21 when I converted. I’m now 46, and I did just what God asked me to do.”
Three questions specific
to your faith:
Q: How is your faith different
and similar to other Christian
faiths?
A: The main difference between Foursquare and other Christian faiths is how the church is governed. Otherwise, most of the basic principles are the faith are very similar to other Christian faiths.
Q: What are your views on those that don’t believe Jesus is the son of God?
A: Both Wilson and Rufener said they have no problems with nonChristians and would never shun someone for not believing the same things they do.
“I haven’t really come in contact with many nonChristians, but if I do, I’d say ‘This is what I believe, and you may believe differently, but I can’t change what I believe,'” Rufener said. “People may think I’m right or wrong, but I don’t think it has to be an issue. I’m always open to people asking about my faith, and I’m just aware that I have to be sensitive to the person I’m talking to. And I’m never afraid to tell someone about the love Jesus has for them, even if they don’t believe.”
Wilson said Christians should love all of God’s children, whether they are Christian or not.
Q: Are there any daily practices affiliated with your faith?
A: Though there are no requirements, Foursquare Church congregants are encouraged to pray every day and to read the Bible. At the Foothills Foursquare Church in Gilroy, Wilson runs a program he calls “Cover to Cover.” The goal is to have as many congregants as possible read the entire Bible by the year’s end. Last year, more than 70 people read their entire Bible. This year, more than 80 people have already read their Bible, and by Christmas, Wilson said he hopes more than 100 will have completed their reading.
