Web Site Operator Recruits Schuller as Board Presence
A private Internet company, which seeks to position itself as the operator of a wholesome business and auction Web site, has lined up the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founder of the Crystal Cathedral, for its board.
Guidesmart.com in Laguna Niguel, which seeks to portray its site as “a welcoming place for families and children,” said it sought out Schuller, who will receive an undisclosed amount of stock options. Schuller, who is taking his first position on the board of a private company, plans to donate any proceeds to a ministry foundation.
The company, which launched its own online site in the middle of last year, has about 150,000 visitors per month. The company makes its money by listing more than 15,000 business Web sites and arranging online auctions. As a portal, it offers links to other family-oriented sites, such as Walt Disney Records and Sesame Street. It also offers personalized Web sites, e-mail, classified notices and a variety of other products and services.
“We’re trying to focus on the good side of the Internet and stay away from the bad,” said Thomas Banks, founder and chairman. “It made a lot of sense to turn to someone like Dr. Schuller to provide moral stewardship for the organization.”
Banks, 46, said he had wanted a member of the clergy for the board and had been introduced to Schuller. The two had a two-hour meeting to discuss Schuller’s joining the board.
Banks said Schuller was particularly drawn by the company’s plans to launch a children’s Web site that will feature interactive games, homework aids, music and art. It also will give kids the chance to collaborate with children in other states and countries.
Parents will be able to create a computer profile for their children, giving them control over what the child has access to when signed on. The profile will be protected by a secret password.
Banks said the portal does not accept Web sites or auction items for pornography, liquor, guns “and things that we generally consider inappropriate.”
Schuller, 73, who last month marked the 30th anniversary of his “Hour of Power” television broadcast, said in a statement Monday that he is “thrilled to be a part of something positive on the Internet.” He was not available for further comment.
Larry Sonnenburg, chief operating officer of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, said Schuller “gave the offer some serious thought” before joining the nine-member board of directors, which includes attorneys, a real estate executive and a restaurant executive.
“He has an interest in the Internet and its ability to communicate,” Sonnenburg said.
Stephen Winzenburg, who has studied religious broadcasters for 20 years said it is “very unusual” to have a member of the clergy serving on a corporate board.
“The skeptic would say that the TV minister is in it to further his personal wealth while the devout follower would say he is just trying to spread the Gospel by getting involved in as many business opportunities as possible,” said Winzenburg, a communications scholar at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa.
Sonnenburg said the Crystal Cathedral has its own Web site and that no joint commercial ventures between Guidesmart and Schuller have been discussed.
“If he can offer some wisdom and insight to them, as long as what they are doing is consistent with his own beliefs and philosophies, it will be a mutual win-win situation,” Sonnenburg said.
Banks invested $10,000 of his own money to begin the Internet company. He said $1.5 million more has since been put into the venture. Prior to Guidesmart.com, Banks spent 15 years as owner of Santiago Data Systems, a software company specializing in the health care industry.
