Son Takes the Pulpit in Schuller’s Absence : Religion: Robert A. Schuller, 36, will fill in until the pastor recovers from surgery. ‘Hour of Power’ co-pastor Bruce Larson assumes a secondary role.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller’s son on Sunday assumed the leading role in the “Hour of Power,” the syndicated religious broadcast taped at the Crystal Cathedral, a position church officials say he will keep until his father fully recovers from surgery.

The elder Schuller was scheduled to return to Southern California from Amsterdam today, his 65th birthday. Church officials say he will be recuperating for a minimum of six weeks, and are confident that the world-famous televangelist eventually will resume parish leadership.

While in Amsterdam, Schuller hit his head while getting into a car and had to undergo two operations in the span of a week to relieve pressure on the brain caused by blood clots.

His son, Robert A. Schuller, 36, is no stranger to the “Hour of Power,” having led the services five or six times a year.

He will have to juggle the high-exposure post with pastoral duties at his own church in San Juan Capistrano. Sunday, the preacher, who bears a strong resemblance to his father, led services at his own church at 9 a.m. and then hurried to Garden Grove for the main Crystal Cathedral service at 11 a.m.

The younger Schuller shared duties at the 11 a.m. service with the Rev. Bruce Larson, co-pastor of Crystal Cathedral. But church officials say Schuller will be the dominant minister on “Hour of Power,” which is culled from the 11 a.m. service and broadcast the following week.

The son said he is happy to fill in at the Crystal Cathedral, but looks forward to his father’s return to the pulpit. “I, my family and everyone else at the Crystal Cathedral can’t wait for my father to be back,” he said.

Larson, 65, has been the “Hour of Power’s” most common substitute when the elder Schuller was out of town or unavailable. When Larson was hired in June, 1990, Schuller referred to him as “my co-pilot.”

Larson said he is neither surprised nor displeased by the temporary elevation of the younger pastor to the television ministry’s top slot. Larson said his role is to help oversee the congregation in Orange County and affairs at the church itself.

“I just pitch in and help out (with the broadcast) when asked, but my concern is the people worshiping here at the cathedral,” Larson said. “It’s like the two parts come together on Sunday when the ‘Hour of Power’ is taped here at the cathedral, but the two are distinct and my duties lie with the Crystal Cathedral.”

Schuller’s head injury has caused some congregation members to wonder if either man could fill the shoes of their leader. The accident has prompted church members to begin thinking the unthinkable: If Schuller retires or steps down, who is in line to take his place?

“An awful lot of us have wondered (about a Schuller replacement),” said Donna Crean, who together with her husband, recreational vehicle mogul John C. Crean, have donated $2 million as well as substantial land holdings in San Juan Capistrano to the ministry.

In reference to the son, who many believe has been groomed to one day assume the role of church head, Donna Crean remarked that his speaking abilities “are very good. But he’s not his father.”

Sitting outside the sprawling cathedral Sunday, longtime “Hour of Power” follower Helen Kemper, 83, said the younger Schuller would be hard-pressed to replace his father, who she said is the Crystal Cathedral ministry to many of the flock.

“The son does just fine,” said Kemper, “but not as good as his father. If (Robert H. Schuller) was not here, I think people would still come, because the others talk about the same beautiful things, but it wouldn’t be the same. He has done so much.”