Schuller’s Son Steps In to Keep the Ministry’s Message Flowing : Televangelism: The events following the elder minister’s head injury brought to the fore the issue of who would or could succeed the man who created the Crystal Cathedral.

As 1,000 worshipers gather inside the Crystal Cathedral, the tall, handsome man known as Young Robert arrives by limousine at the back of the church to preach at the 11 a.m. service, the one taped for the “Hour of Power” telecast.

An assistant applies Robert’s makeup while his younger sister Gretchen briefs him on the morning’s guest, a self-described “religious psychotic” who nearly died when she tried to fly out an open window. “Ask her about the joy of God to wrap up with,” Gretchen suggests.

Young Robert, 37, checks his perfect hair, dons his regal robe and ascends the steel stairway to the pulpit that his father has occupied with flair and success. With the words and gestures of his father, he greets the guest with a “God loves you, and so do we” and a hearty smile in the direction of the cameras.

Temporarily without Robert H. Schuller, the machinery of his Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove and its popular “Hour of Power” show continues to turn out his unique brand of Christian hope. Unsurprisingly, the man tapped to fill the airwaves was his only son and namesake, Robert A. Schuller.

Young Robert’s ascension and his father’s recent head injury have brought to the fore the issue of who would, or could, succeed the man who created the Crystal Cathedral. But even before the recent developments, Schuller and church officials had been making provisions that would ensure that the Crystal Cathedral and the “Hour of Power” will continue beyond their founder.

Those efforts include weaning both the congregation and the television ministry from dependence on viewer donations, creating an ecumenical coalition of preachers to share the “Hour of Power,” and putting together a “bullpen” of television preachers trained in Schuller-style communication skills.

Young Robert is widely assumed to be his successor in the pulpit and the boardroom. Yet as observers note, no successor will possess the unique entrepreneurial and inspirational talents of Robert H. Schuller, not even his son.

“We don’t want to base a ministry on one man’s life or work,” the younger Schuller said in a recent interview. “Then it is limited to that individual. As soon as he’s gone, that ministry folds.”

Started as a drive-in church in 1955, Schuller’s ministry has grown into an organization that operates an architectural landmark; a local congregation of 10,000; Sunday services complete with orchestra, national political personalities and Sony Jumbotron screen; hundreds of self-help programs and thousands of volunteers; an international TV ministry with 1.3 million American viewers and lavish Christmas and Easter productions known as “The Glories.”

The elder Schuller, a member of the Reformed Church in America, plans to return to the pulpit in November, when he hopes to be fully recovered from two emergency brain surgeries performed last month after he bumped his head.

Two separate but overlapping divisions constitute the Crystal Cathedral Ministries--the congregation and the “Hour of Power.”

“One is to put the broadcasts on, the other is the life of this church,” said co-pastor Bruce Larson. Each has had its own board of directors: a “consistory” of church elders and deacons oversees the financial and doctrinal affairs of the congregation while a board of prominent national executives oversees the television operation. Two years ago, the boards--which include three family members--merged into a single, 26-member panel, chaired by Schuller.

Like most observers, Larson believes the local church is less vulnerable in the long run than the ministry’s more lucrative and expensive arm, the TV ministry, which this year is expected to contribute $36 million (raised mostly through donations) to the total 1991 budget of $41 million. According to church officials, the TV ministry no longer subsidizes the church, which is self-sustaining with a $5-million income.

What is at stake is a matter of varied opinion. Some regard Schuller’s successful venture as nothing more than a feel-good blip on the screen of religious history, his glittering glass church a monument primarily to himself. Others say it represents the most successful entrepreneurial religious venture in the country and the sole symbol of liberal Protestantism in the 20th Century.

Schuller has told board members that he hopes his son will succeed him. Many church and board members assume that will be the case.

After last month’s accident, Larson automatically stepped in as a temporary replacement for the congregation. An ad hoc coalition of family members and consultants, led by Schuller’s wife, Arvella, the producer of the “Hour of Power,” decided that her son, Robert A., should preach on the air temporarily.

Arvella Schuller would surely be part of succession plans, said board member William Bailey, a Massachusetts attorney, as would other key players: Larson, Chet Tolson, director of development; Jim Coleman, Schuller’s son-in-law and congregation president, and Robert A. Schuller.

The younger Schuller, the second of five children, said he never considered any occupation other than the ministry. Until recently, however, others wondered if Young Robert wanted to take over or was ready to.

“He recognizes that it’s a major responsibility and it takes a lot of talent and expertise to run such a large, global ministry,” Bailey said. “He’s still learning about running the business of the church, as well as being an effective preacher.”

“When he started out, he was a little terrorized by his father’s strength, dominance and personality. I would have been,” said Jess Moody, pastor of the Chatsworth Shepherd of the Hills Southern Baptist church.

“Six or eight years ago, I was concerned that if something happened to Robert, if Young Robert is going to follow him, I thought he might not make it,” Moody added. “He was possibility thinker No. 2.”

However, Moody said that after hearing him preach recently to a group of pastors, he found him “eloquent, yet it wasn’t high-blown. It was informal, laid-back, friendly, transparent and wonderfully winsome. I was stunned. “ In addition to his style, he said, “he is a gorgeous, good looking guy, 6-foot-4, about 195 pounds. I resented the heck out of him.”

The younger Schuller left the Crystal Cathedral in 1981 to start his own church. An effort to start a drive-in church in San Juan Capistrano was unsuccessful. He then obtained his own church at Rancho Capistrano when Crystal Cathedral donor and Schuller adviser John Crean gave the land to the cathedral ministries.

The growth of his church was disappointing until last year, Schuller said. Now he claims an average Sunday attendance of about 300.

Some churchgoers at the Crystal Cathedral have complained that the son is too much like the father. His first appearance during his father’s illnesses brought left-handed compliments that he “imitated his father really well,” said Michael Nason, marketing consultant for the Crystal Cathedral.

“A lot of people come to me and say, you’ve got to be yourself, Robert,” Schuller said.

It bothers him, and he sounds tired of it. “I want to shake them and say I am being myself. I try to be gracious, but what else can I say?”