Robert Schuller

Robert Harold Schuller (September 16, 1926 – April 2, 2015) was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. In his five decades of television, Schuller was principally known for the weekly ''Hour of Power'' television program, which he began hosting in 1970 until his retirement in 2006. His grandson, Bobby Schuller, carries on the ''Hour of Power'' now airing for over fifty years. During his time as a minister, Schuller oversaw the construction of two churches in Garden Grove, CA. The first church built under his tenure was the Garden Grove Community Church chapel, which seated 500, and the second that he oversaw was the building of the much larger Crystal Cathedral, which has a seating capacity of 2,200.

Schuller began broadcasting his ''Hour of Power'' program from the smaller Garden Grove chapel in 1969. He made the decision to begin his broadcast of ''Hour of Power'' shortly after he had received encouragement from longtime friend Billy Graham during a visit with the popular evangelist. The ''Hour of Power'' broadcast later continued in the Crystal Cathedral.

Like his good friend Billy Graham, the Schuller organization never became closely associated with any major scandal. During the 90's his televised sermons were regularly viewed by an estimated audience of 20 million. Schuller's weekly telecast of his sermons which began in 1969 was one of the first instances of such weekly televised church services, and was the world's most widely watched hour-long church service ever.

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