Schuller’s Condition Is Upgraded to Stable : Televangelist: A spokesman said medication ‘kicked in overnight’ and that the pastor has shown marked improvement.

Doctors treating the Rev. Robert H. Schuller in Amsterdam on Friday upgraded his condition to stable after determining that medication prescribed to relieve swelling in his brain took effect overnight.

The Garden Grove-based televangelist was “alert, verbal and he even briefly sat up in his chair,” said Michael Nason, a spokesman for Schuller. “It’s a lot better day than (Thursday).”

On Thursday, doctors at Free University Hospital had downgraded Schuller’s condition from stable to guarded when they found swelling and residual amounts of blood between his brain and skull.

But Nason said another brain scan Friday showed that Schuller’s condition had “markedly improved,” mainly because the Mannitol medication that was prescribed to reduce the swelling “kicked in overnight.”

The condition of Schuller--whose internationally reknowned “Hour of Power” television program is carried by 145 television stations in 31 countries--is being monitored worldwide, according to officials of the Crystal Cathedral, where Schuller heads a 10,000-member congregation.

Beth Owen, a Schuller aide in Garden Grove, said the church has set up telephone banks to handle hundreds of calls from around the world inquiring about the minister’s health.

The switchboard at Free University Hospital has been jammed with additional inquiries, Nason said.

“It’s a joy to witness so much concern for someone who cares so much for others,” Owen said.

Schuller underwent emergency brain surgery for a blood clot Monday after he reportedly hit his head getting into a car. He was en route to Moscow to reinstate his program “Heart to Heart” over the state-owned broadcast network, Gostelradio, and to deliver a videotape of a prerecorded sermon to air on Soviet television.

Nason said Schuller’s wife, Arvella, visited the minister several times in his hospital room Friday and read from dozens of “get-well” messages that had been sent to the hospital. Arvella Schuller was not available for comment Friday, but Nason said the Schuller family was “hopeful, prayerful and realistic.”

The minister’s hospitalization has created quite a stir at the facility, Nason said. In fact, the prerecorded “Hour of Power” is shown in the hospital. Before the program is aired tomorrow, administrators plan to announce that Schuller is a patient at the hospital and “Dr. Schuller also plans to watch himself on TV,” Nason added.

Meanwhile, Owen said the Crystal Cathedral plans to proceed with its regular services tomorrow. Co-pastor Bruce Larson will assist the Rev. Juan Carlos Ortiz, who will deliver the sermon.

“I’m sure we’ll all say a special prayer for Dr. Schuller and what has happened during the past week will be talked about,” Owen said. “But Dr. Schuller would also want us to carry on the same order of the service.”

“We believe the doctors that he’ll continue to improve,” Owen said. “But we’ll feel best when he’s back on our home soil.”

Nason said the family was hoping that Schuller would be released from the hospital and allowed to return to the United States next week.

Times correspondent Michael Glennon in Amsterdam contributed to this report.