1988 Republican National Convention : Robert Schuller Will Deliver Invocation--but No Endorsement

Since arriving in Southern California from the Midwest in an old car more than 30 years ago, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, the silver-haired Garden Grove minister with the mellifluous voice and the megawatt smile, has risen steadily.

From an itinerant preacher--holding forth on the roof of a drive-in movie refreshment stand--Schuller grew to become the pastor of the spectacular, glass-walled Crystal Cathedral and a nationwide television pulpit, together worth an estimated $75 million.

On Thursday, Schuller will step into the national limelight in a new arena as he delivers the invocation on the night George Bush accepts the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans.

Schuller and Bush have had a longstanding friendship that predates Bush’s election as vice president, according to longtime Schuller aide Michael Nason, exchanging handwritten notes for years. Bush sent videotaped birthday greetings to Schuller in 1985, timed to coincide with the installation of the Crystal Cathedral’s 11 1/2-foot-by-15-foot video screen.

On the night of the California presidential primary earlier this year, Bush came to the church to pray with Schuller, while an organist played “Just a Closer Walk to Thee,” one of Bush’s favorite hymns.

His appearance on the night of Bush’s acceptance speech, Schuller said, “does not mean I’m going on record as endorsing him. I never endorse candidates. If I had been invited by (Democratic nominee Michael S.) Dukakis, I would have accepted that too.”

Along with Schuller and Billy Graham, representatives of the Mormon and Catholic churches have also been invited to participate in the GOP convention.

Over the years, Schuller has taken pains to be nonpartisan. He has prayed with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and at the funeral service for Hubert H. Humphrey, and he has had Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as a guest on his weekly “Hour of Power” broadcast.

The perpetually positive televangelist has used an upbeat, nondenominational message, catchy aphorisms and inexpensive trinkets to make him one of the country’s most popular religious broadcasters--one of the few remaining on the national scene whose ministry has been untouched by major scandal.

Problems of His Own

But Schuller, 61, has been having problems of his own in the wake of controversies involving such religious broadcasters as Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts and Jimmy Swaggart. A falloff of television outlets, viewers and contributions--all blamed on “shock waves” from the scandals--forced major budget cutbacks and layoffs at the “Hour of Power” broadcast and the ministry itself.

Longtime aides Victor C. Andrews and Nason have left the inner circle of leadership, and the Rev. Herman Ridder, minister at large and congregation president, is retiring.

Circulation of the ministry’s magazine, Possibilities, has been drastically reduced. Schuller and the ministry have been embroiled in lawsuits involving the two holiday pageants, the “Glory of Christmas” and the “Glory of Easter,” as well as one involving a canceled speaking engagement in Australia. And a contentious dispute with local officials in Maui over use of a donated retreat has raised the possibility of sale of the property, which is costly to maintain.

Despite these setbacks, Schuller has remained faithful to his creed of “possibility thinking,” based on the “positive thinking” of the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, Schuller’s mentor in the Reformed Church of America.

He continues to churn out best-selling books at a furious rate--there are 25 titles and nearly 12 million copies of his books in print.