"We Are Designed to Be Spiritual Creatures"

Fifty years ago, Rev. Robert Schuller arrived in Garden Grove, Calif. with a degree in psychology, ordination in the Reformed Church in America, and the dream of starting a church. From humble beginnings, preaching at the local drive-in movie theater, Schuller's church grew into the Crystal Cathedral, an architectural masterpiece designed by the late Philip Johnson, and, many say, the nation's first mega-church. Schuller's sermons about spirituality and optimism are heard on the "Hour of Power" television program each Sunday.

Do you think that your ministry has contributed to a higher profile of evangelical Christians?
I think so. I notice interestingly enough that Time magazine has the cross on the cover, the 25 most impressive or influential evangelicals in America today, and I'm not one of the 25. I suspect that I probably should be included, because I speak to more Americans every Sunday on television than anybody else. I've founded the first and longest-running television church service in history, we have 2.4 billion viewers [worldwide] in a single week.

You're called the founder of the mega-church movement. What do you think makes these churches so successful?
I think they should survive because I think huge shopping centers will always survive. The concept of the mega-church-some have attributed that to me. Whatever people want to buy, they can get it in the shopping center. It's one-stop shopping. Churches should be that way. They can get a Sunday morning church service, but they can also have a ministry to singles, a ministry to young people, a ministry to music people, a ministry to people who have specialized hurts.

But I don't know the future of the mega-church. It may depend on traffic flow, it may depend on political evolution in the hierarchy of the different faiths, it may depend upon the personalities. I'm 78, and my church is still a mega-church. But what we have not seen is the death of the founding pastor of a mega-church, and how that impacts the ministry. Whether that church can survive without the personality of the founding person is something we'll have to see. I hope it can, and I believe it will. But who knows?

What do you think your legacy will be?
I don't think anybody can begin to guess. I do know that a contribution that I am making, and I'm proud of it, and that is we've created a facility in architecture here that will be a fabulous church forever and forever and forever, and if church attendance drops, membership is low, it will continue to be a fabulous place as a tourist attraction. The building and grounds are all designed to preach a message and inspire people.

Continued on page 2: »