Rev. Schuller Suffers Minor Heart Attack

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller was recovering from a minor heart attack and a procedure to clear a blocked artery to his heart Saturday, rendering him unable to preach today at his Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. It is now questionable whether he will appear in the pulpit for a globally televised Christmas Eve sermon.

Schuller, 71, was in “very good condition” and in good spirits at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where his family visited him Saturday afternoon, said his physician, Dr. Tom Cesario. The televangelist, whose “Hour of Power” broadcast draws about 30 million viewers, is expected to be released within three or four days, Cesario said, although he may not fully recover for a month.

His son, Robert A. Schuller, will substitute for him in the pulpit at the 10,000-member Crystal Cathedral in the two scheduled services this morning, said Schuller spokesman Michael Nason. The cathedral staff includes other pastors who substitute for Schuller when he is traveling.

Nason said Schuller felt chest pains about 2:30 p.m. Friday after a meeting at the cathedral and called his doctor, who told him to go to the hospital. After he arrived at UCI, Schuller called his wife and told her he would drive himself home that night to get materials to prepare today’s sermons.

But doctors overruled Schuller. Cesario said they found that one of the arteries leading into the left ventricle of Schuller’s heart was blocked and performed an angioplasty to clear it Saturday morning.

“Dr. Schuller was never in immediate danger,” Cesario said. “He didn’t suffer a drop in blood pressure and never experienced heart failure. None of this happened because he was diagnosed quickly and promptly cared for.”

Cesario, dean of the College of Medicine at UCI, said, “the prognosis is very good.”

“Everything went well. Major damage to the heart was avoided, but it’s too early to tell if any minor damage exists,” he said.

While he remains at the hospital, Schuller will be on a standard low-fat post-coronary procedure diet.

Cesario said it is unclear how much work Schuller will be able to do as he recuperates in the coming weeks. “On general principle, we don’t want to stress him for a while,” Cesario said.

This is a busy time of year for Schuller. On Christmas Eve, he preaches seven sermons. One sermon, which would be Schuller’s 200th consecutive Christmas Eve service, is scheduled to be broadcast to 154 countries.

“We’re going to have to work on that,” Nason said. He said it was too early to rule Schuller out for the holidays. “Here’s a guy who walked in here having a heart attack, and he was ready to go home and pick up his sermon materials so he could work on it while he had his tests.”

Nason said Schuller’s attack, though minor, brought back unpleasant memories of a 1991 trip to Amsterdam when Schuller hit his head on a car door. A blood clot formed in Schuller’s brain, and he fell into a coma, recovering only after emergency surgery.

“It was emotional for me,” said Nason, who has worked with Schuller for 20 years and discovered his comatose body in Amsterdam. “This’ll be much more joyous. This is not as serious as 1991.”

Cesario said Schuller has not had any other serious health problems.

The conservative televangelist has been in the news this year for both advising President Clinton and allegedly assaulting an airline attendant in a dispute during a transcontinental flight.

After the latter incident, Schuller pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge but apologized in court, paid an $1,100 fine and agreed to six months under the supervision of a federal case officer.

Times staff writer H.G. Reza contributed to this report.

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Anatomy of an Attack

A heart attack occurs when an obstruction or narrowing of one of the main coronary arteries prevents an adequate supply of oxygen-carrying blood from reaching the heart. An angioplasty can help reopen the artery, such as in the case of the Rev. Robert Schuller.

1. A stainless steel stent is placed inside a partially blocked artery using a balloon catheter.

2. The balloon catheter, with mesh-like net stent, is expanded. The plaque is pushed against the arterial wall, restoring the blood flow. After the balloon catheter has been removed, the st1701737504