Los Angeles: Televangelist and Crystal Cathedral megachurch founder Robert Schuller, known worldwide for his weekly "Hour of Power" broadcasts, died in Southern California on Thursday, his grandson said. He was 88.
The death of Schuller, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2013, marked a closing chapter for a congregation he began in 1955 in a rented drive-in movie theater and built into a worldwide following.
His Sunday morning television broadcast was carried internationally and aired for more than four decades, featuring celebrity guests and drawing some 30 million viewers a week at its peak.
He retired as senior pastor of the Protestant church in 2006 and resigned from its board six years later in a financial dispute with its leaders following the $57.5 million bankruptcy sale of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
The towering landmark, which opened in 1980 and was distinguished for its 10,000-pane glass walls, was purchased by a Roman Catholic Church diocese.
The Crystal Cathedral Ministries moved its services to new quarters at the Shepherd`s Grove Church under the direction of a new pastor, Schuller`s grandson, Robert Vernon "Bobby" Schuller.
"My Grandfather Robert H. Schuller passed this morning into eternal life with Christ," he said in a post on Twitter.
Supporters had said on Wednesday that the elder Schuller`s condition was swiftly declining, and they called for prayers for him and his family.
Schuller was born and raised in a rural Dutch-American community in Sioux County, Iowa, graduated from seminary school and became ordained in Illinois before moving in the early 1950s to Garden Grove, California, south of Los Angeles, where he started his ministry.
He started out preaching his sermons from the top of a concession stand at a drive-in theater in Orange County, advertising his services in newspaper ads with the tagline, "Come as your are ... in the family car."
He went on to build his flock into one of America`s first mega-churches, financing his ministry largely from donations raised during his "Tower of Power" broadcasts.
He also published about three dozen inspirational and positive-thinking books, several of which were bestsellers, and provided spiritual guidance to President Clinton.
Supporters said Schuller distinguished himself from other leading televangelists of his era with a message that emphasized healing and hope over prosperity.
"Schuller ... was talking about the possibilities in your life. Period. Not attaining wealth," longtime friend and church spokesman Michael Nason told the Orange County Register.
