Schuller Continues to Improve After Minor Heart Attack

Relatives who visited the Rev. Robert Schuller on Monday said that his health continued to improve and he was already making plans for his Christmas Eve service, a spokesman said.

“I talked to family members who said he was doing great” just days after suffering a heart attack, said Michael Nason, a spokesman for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, which Schuller founded.

The 71-year-old minister, whose “Hour of Power” broadcast draws about 30 million viewers, was stricken this weekend with a minor heart attack. On Monday he was resting comfortably after a successful angioplasty was performed Saturday.

He was expected to be released from UCI Medical Center in Orange today. He was in intensive care but in good condition Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Schuller’s son, Robert A. Schuller, substituted for him in the pulpit during two Sunday services at the 10,000-member Crystal Cathedral.

Nason said Schuller was adamant about returning to work and not missing Christmas Eve at the church.

“I know he wants to be here for services on Christmas Eve,” he said. “He’s been preaching since 1955 and will, at the 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service, celebrate his 200th [Christmas Eve] service,” Nason said.