Information about Robert H. Schuller

The Rev. Robert Harold Schuller, (born September 16, 1926) is an American televangelist and pastor known around the world through his weekly broadcast the Hour of Power.

Schuller was born in Alton, Iowa to a family of Dutch ancestry and, after finishing his studies at Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, was ordained as a minister in the Reformed Church in America. He worked in Chicago before moving to Garden Grove, California where, after humble beginnings, the Garden Grove Community Church was opened in 1955 in the Orange Drive-In Theatre, which Schuller rented for $500. Many consider this the first "seeker-sensitive" church in the world. Renamed the Crystal Cathedral in 1980, it is the denomination's largest congregation in terms of membership, and easily the most renowned. Indeed, given the Hour of Power's massive worldwide audience of 20 million people each week, many believe that the Crystal Cathedral is the most famous church in the world.

Strongly influenced by his mentor, Norman Vincent Peale, Schuller has focused in his teaching on the positive aspects of Christianity. Rather than concentrating on condemning people for sin, he encourages Christians (and non-Christians) to achieve great things through God, uplifting theology and positive thinking. Such doctrines have led to some spirited criticism on the part of many evangelicals.

Bill Hybels and Rick Warren consider Schuller to have had the most influence on their own successful "seeker-sensitive" ministries. The Church Leadership Institute was where both Hybels and Warren found a great passion to pursue their ministries.

Robert H. Schuller is the author of numerous Christian and self-help books including Way To The Good Life (1963), Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking (1967), Self-Love (1975), You Can Be The Person You Want To Be (1976), Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (1982), Living Positively One Day At A Time (1986), My Journey: From An Iowa Farm To A Cathedral Of Dreams (2001), Hours of Power (2004) and, most recently, Don't Throw Away Tomorrow (2005).

He is married to Arvella De Haan who has been his right hand in making decisions involving the television ministry. She was a church organist and was very instrumental in developing the music department at the Crystal Cathedral. They have one son, four daughters and 19 grandchildren, with one great-grandchild. His son Robert Anthony Schuller, born 1954 took over as senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral on January 22, 2006. He currently serves as the Founding Pastor of the Cathedral and periodically appears alongside his son during Hour of Power services, interviewing select guests.

Quotes

• "My denomination shunned me when they heard I was preaching in a drive-in theater."
• "What dream would you dream if you knew you could not fail?"
• "Tough times never last, but tough people do."
• "God loves you and so do I!"
• "Make your dreams big enough for God to fit-in."
• "Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly."
• "I don't think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and, hence, counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition."
• "If the gospel of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed as a theology of self-esteem, imagine the health this could generate in society!"
• "I may not deserve it [salvation] but I am worth it so don't say that I am unworthy."