TOP STORY: TV PREACHING: Schuller son to walk in TV preacher’s footsteps

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Like father, like son. Television preacher Robert H. Schuller and his only son, Robert A., both decided to be ministers before they were teenagers. Both men preach a positive theology aimed at building their congregations’ self-esteem. And now, both are in top leadership roles of the expansive Crystal Cathedral Ministries […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(RNS)-Like father, like son.

Television preacher Robert H. Schuller and his only son, Robert A., both decided to be ministers before they were teenagers. Both men preach a positive theology aimed at building their congregations’ self-esteem. And now, both are in top leadership roles of the expansive Crystal Cathedral Ministries based in southern California.


Robert A. Schuller, 41, has been named the eventual successor of the ministry his father began in 1955 with what was then an innovative drive-in church in Garden Grove, Calif. His official title is vice chairman of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, an organization that includes the massive glass-walled Crystal Cathedral, a church and retreat center known as Rancho Capistrano that is run by the younger Schuller, and the elder Schuller’s popular”Hour of Power”television program.”I suspect he’s going to be in the cathedral until the day he dies,”Robert A. Schuller said of his father, who will turn 70 in September.”But in any event, in a case of any injuryâÂ?¦, we do have a plan and we are prepared to carry on the ministry of the Crystal Cathedral.” The elder Schuller said in an interview that he plans to be in the pulpit and on television for years to come.”I’m still going to be writing books. I’m still going to be the major talking head on the `Hour of Power,'”said Robert H. Schuller, author of”The Be-Happy Attitudes”and 31 other books.”I hope … my last sermon preached on the `Hour of Power’ will be a quarter of a century away from now.” Those who have watched the evolution of religious broadcasting say only time will tell if the ministry will thrive under the younger Schuller as it has under his father.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, a multi-denominational evangelical institution in Pasadena, Calif., said the elder Schuller has proven himself as a communicator and innovator by developing one of the earliest drive-in churches, a modern cathedral and a large television audience. While Schuller’s son-who graduated from Fuller in 1980-is”an understandable choice,”Mouw said it remains to be seen how successful he will be.”Whether somebody who doesn’t have all of those accomplishments under his belt can just walk in and take it over without being the star … it’s just a question of whether it can happen.” The younger Schuller founded Rancho Capistrano Community Church in San Juan Capistrano after his plans to start a church in a drive-in theater were blocked by a city council that thought the church was an”inappropriate use”and might cause traffic congestion.

At Rancho Capistrano, he has developed his own version of his father’s notion of”possibility thinking,”which Robert H. Schuller adapted from the philosophy of Norman Vincent Peale, author of the best-selling”The Power of Positive Thinking.” The elder Schuller explains his philosophy in the introduction to his edition of the”Possibility Thinkers Bible”(Thomas Nelson Publishers), which features positive verses highlighted in blue:”It is believing in God, then believing in ourselves, then believing in our fellow human beings, to the end that we might create God’s kingdom on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit.”He defines God’s kingdom as a group of human beings”redeemed from their sin, insecurity and shame into a self-esteem instilled with the Holy Spirit.”(BEGIN FIRST OPTIONAL TRIM)

J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif., said”possibility thinking”has been most attractive to upwardly mobile business people. He said the elder Schuller’s philosophy”comes off as fluff”to the average theologian and may not make sense to blue-collar workers who can’t envision a front-office promotion.”It does find a huge audience, but … it doesn’t rival Pentecostalism or it doesn’t rival mainline Baptist evangelicalism,”he said.

The younger Schuller has taken a more holistic approach to his father’s positive preaching by conducting five-day, $795″balanced for life”seminars at a 175-acre complex in San Juan Capistrano that includes his 400-member church, an elementary school, lush gardens, and the studio of his”Balanced for Life”radio program.”We share with people how to grow spiritually with God at the center of their lives, focusing on body, mind and spirit,”he said, noting that he has been inspired by evangelist Oral Roberts.”One of the key aspects of living a balanced life is finding your destiny and fulfilling your calling.”(END FIRST OPTIONAL TRIM)

Robert H. Schuller, one of the nation’s most-watched religious broadcasters and best-selling inspirational authors, said he is”excited”and confident about his son eventually taking his place.”I think it’s fantastic. It’s an answer to prayer,”he said.”No one else was considered because no one else comes close to meeting the qualifications … He understands our ministry and our faith and our worship and our theology because he grew up in it.” The succession decision was made shortly after the elder Schuller was involved in a near-fatal accident in Amsterdam in 1991, prompting board members to prepare for his replacement. But the board opted to postpone a public announcement about the transition until now.

The elder Schuller said he will be concentrating on 10-year goals of the ministry, including establishing a $100 million endowment fund by 2005 to maintain the campus of the $20 million Crystal Cathedral, which was dedicated in 1980.

The ministry, which has an annual budget of $52 million, claims more than 10,000 members.


Like other members of his family, Robert A. Schuller has long been involved in the ministry founded by his father and mother, Arvella. He recalled helping his father plant trees on the property and cleaning bathrooms in the ministry’s offices. He was the first minister to be ordained in the church, on the second Sunday the cathedral was open.

The younger Schuller, who has been divorced and remarried, says his personal experiences help him relate to churchgoers of the 1990s who may not live in nuclear families.”It’s important for the clergy to be aware of it and to be understanding,”the son said.

The younger Schuller plans to continue to lead his congregation while increasing his appearances in the pulpit at the Crystal Cathedral. Crystal Cathedral Sunday services are televised on the 16-year-old”Hour of Power”program.

After scandals involving such televangelists as Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart in the 1980s, many religious broadcasters began making their financial information public and signed commitments limiting the number of family members on their boards. Schuller opted not to join the National Religious Broadcasters, choosing instead to remain accountable solely to his denomination, the Reformed Church in America.

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The planned transition in the Schuller family mirrors the decision by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to have Franklin Graham eventually succeed his father.

But observers of the two ministries note there are differences.

Stephen Winzenburg, an expert on television ministries, said Schuller’s concepts, such as the Crystal Cathedral and”possibility thinking,”are spoken of as often as Schuller himself, making it easier for a successor to promote the same ideas.”Schuller’s ministry is more concept-based whereas Billy Graham’s ministry is based pretty much … on Billy,”he said.


Winzenburg, communications professor at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, said the elder Schuller will be remembered as a bridge builder who embraced people from a variety of religious groups.”He was able to give positive encouragement to all faiths while still directing them to Jesus,”Winzenburg said.”Some people would say that he watered down the Gospel message, but I think he just took a low-key approach to the Gospel message and chose to live the Christian life rather than just preach the Christian message.”JC END RNS

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