Televangelist Robert H. Schuller, Father of the Megachurch Movement, Has Died

Televangelist Robert H. Schuller, the founder of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries and considered the father of the megachurch movement, died today at age 88.

Schuller, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2013, died this morning at a skilled nursing facility in Artesia.

Schuller’s grandson, Bobby Schuller, who now leads the “Hour of Power” weekly televised church service his grandfather started, told City News Service it was appropriate that his grandfather died during Holy Week.

“On Maundy Thursday we reflect on the Last Supper” and how Christ prepared his disciples for his crucifixion, Bobby Schuller said. “It’s kind of nice -- a great time to be comforted during Holy Week. The message of Holy Week is Good Friday is difficult but Easter is coming. After death comes new life. It’s different than the one before, but with the new life we’re promised there’s just tremendous hope.”

The “Hour of Power” host said his grandfather’s death will “certainly change the way I write my sermon for Sunday.”

Bobby Schuller reminisced about how he, his father and grandfather made an inseparable trio at family gatherings.

“The Robert Schullers were always in a corner talking theology, ministry or whatever it was,” he said. “Those are really fun memories. We would debate, even tease each other and make jokes. I treasure the memory of three Robert Schullers hanging at my grandpa’s house.”

Robert H. Schuller mentored his grandson, who recalled weekly meetings at the megachurch the elder Schuller built.

“It was a great experience. What I didn’t realize then was I was learning an incredible amount -- what some people might pay thousands of dollars in consulting, I was getting for free,” Bobby Schuller said.

Bobby Schuller is also the pastor of Shepherd’s Grove church, which is housed in the former Roman Catholic church leased to his congregation when the Diocese of Orange acquired Crystal Cathedral in bankruptcy. He said he never envisioned following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather so exactly, but recalled being told when he was a student at Oral Roberts University that he would succeed them.

“I always wanted to do my own thing, but the irony is I did my own thing and started my own church and while doing that the Crystal Cathedral had all of that drama,” Bobby Schuller said. “After they lost Crystal Cathedral and they were looking to rebuild the congregation they voted unanimously to make me senior pastor of the church, so the prophecy came true.”

Bobby Schuller added, “Our job is to make sure Dr. Schuller’s message never dies.”

Robert H. Schuller moved to Garden Grove in the 1950s and opened his first church there in 1955 in a drive-in movie theater. He acquired acreage for the iconic Crystal Cathedral and construction started in 1958 on the Richard Neutra-designed building that was finished in 1961.

He founded the “Hour of Power” in 1970 with his wife, Arvella. The television program was broadcast worldwide, with upbeat sermons, celebrity interviews and music from a renowned choir and one of the largest organs in the world.

Schuller retired in 2010 and elevated his daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, to pastor. That same year, the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy, which led to the sale of the megachurch to the Diocese of Orange in February 2012.

As part of the deal, the ministry was able to move to nearby St. Callistus Catholic Church, now known as Shepherd’s Grove, while the Diocese readied the cathedral for Roman Catholic services. It was renamed Christ Cathedral.

Bobby Schuller said the congregation is growing again.

“Our services are completely packed. God has really blessed us,” he said. “We’re buying new networks and we’re getting even more (television) viewers.”

Robert Schuller had not been undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatments since his wife, Arvella Schuller, died in February 2014, the Orange County Register reported. Earlier this year, family members said they were pleasantly surprised with what appeared to be an “amazing” recovery despite the absence of treatment.

Donna Schuller told the Register earlier this week that her father-in- law was not on life support and was breathing on his own, but he was extremely weak because has not “eaten for several days.” He was asleep most of the time, but seemed to be at peace, Donna Schuller said.

Schuller is survived by son Robert Anthony Schuller; and daughters Sheila Coleman, Jeanne Dunn, Carol Milner and Gretchen Penner; and 19 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

“Robert Schuller was one of the original pioneers of the megachurch movement,” Donald E. Miller, executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC, told the Los Angeles Times. “However, his message of positive thinking became frozen in time appealing to an aging audience of adults, but never really connected to the post-boomer generation.”

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• City News Service