Schuller Still Hoping to Reach Soviets

Yanked without explanation from the Soviet Union’s main national television frequency, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller is looking for alternative ways to reach the Soviet audience, a spokesman for the Crystal Cathedral said Tuesday.

Schuller, best known for his weekly “Hour of Power” broadcast, had cited his agreement with the Soviet broadcasting agency Gosteleradio to make the broadcasts as a major breakthrough.

Schuller’s first scheduled broadcast aired Dec. 9, but the second--a holiday message--did not air Jan. 13, as scheduled, with no subsequent explanation or official communication from Moscow. Rob Owen, a spokesman for Schuller, said the ministry believes that the interruption may be connected to a change in leadership at Gosteleradio in January, as well as the shifting political situation in Moscow.

Gosteleradio has been criticized in recent months, since the violent crackdown on Baltic independence movements, for returning to its pre- perestroika role as a propaganda outlet for the government.

Yuri Bokanev, third secretary at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, said Tuesday that he hadn’t heard anything about the cancellation.

Owen said the Garden Grove ministry’s agreement with Gosteleradio called for 12 monthly, 20-minute talks by Schuller, followed by 10 minutes of Russian classical music on its nationwide Channel 1.

Schuller’s words were to be translated into Russian and broadcast as a voice-over to the series, called “From Spirit to Spirit and Heart to Heart.”

The broadcast agency also agreed to publish and distribute a Russian translation of Schuller’s best-selling “The Be Happy Attitudes.”

Schuller has appeared on Soviet television three other times: on Christmas Eve of 1989; in May, 1990, in preparation for the U.S.-Soviet summit in Washington, delivering a soothing message in the wake of food riots, and last December, as the subject of a 45-minute, Soviet-made documentary. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev singled out Schuller for recognition during his visit to Washington last May.

Owen said Schuller, who was traveling in Northern California on Tuesday, was disappointed by developments with Gosteleradio. But, Owen said, the ministry now is exploring the possibility of “going directly to the republics,” by appearing on broadcast frequencies under the control of the individual republics, particularly Channel 2, operated by the Russian republic.

(Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian Republic and Gorbachev’s main rival, was himself blocked from access to the nationwide broadcast system in January and forced to resort to the republic’s outlets.)

In addition, Owen said, Schuller is planning to conduct an outdoor church service in Estonia in July, as part of a music festival.