Interview: Rev. Schuller Reveals Where His Church, America's Churches are Headed

That’s not necessarily the case anymore because society is so much different and there’s so many more opportunities. So the denominations are really asking themselves the question ‘What is our role today?’ And I think it’ll be a very interesting study to see where they move and I think we’re going to see denominations unifying and still having a major role. There’s still a role and a function for the church on the corner, but I think it’s a shifting and an adjusting role we need to be aware of and move with.

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CP: You mention Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan, noting that Magellan accomplished his mission but his success was essentially built on the journey Columbus took. How would you tie that to yourself and other evangelical leaders today who are experiencing success – however you want to define success?

Schuller: I could’ve gone off from Magellan to the various additional discoverers who kept defining the maps and making them more accurate. As Christian leaders we need to continue to see ourselves in the same way – not caught in the history, but part of the history and with a continuation into the future so that we continue to build the kingdom and not recess into the kingdom. And throughout history there has been recessions and the dark ages was clearly a recession. We’re not going back there. Christian leaders need to be aware of the fact that we’re moving forward and meet the needs of people where they are today as opposed to where they were. The encouraging case is that that is indeed the case and that’s what’s happening.

When I look at the Internet and the changes that it brings to our society and I also see the churches embracing that. You can go to our website with the Crystal Cathedral and you can watch our broadcast online. We have a tremendous prayer community. We have thousands of people, it’s a self-sustaining community where people are going online and asking people for prayer. None of this was possible before the Internet. To link all these people – these prayers are from India, from Africa, Holland, every corner of the globe – it’s just beautiful to see how all these individuals from all around the world are linking together. The world is becoming extremely small and … I think a tremendous amount of that has to do with the fact that the Internet has linked the entire globe together and it has become an equalizer.

CP: You’re the only son in your family. Were you expecting from the start that you would eventually succeed your father?

Schuller: I think so. But at the same time, I still had the option of whether I want to walk in that direction. So it wasn’t something forced on me by any stretch of the imagination. It was something I chose for myself. As a young man I decided I wanted to be a minister when I grew up. I went straight from high school to college. When I was in college I went there for one reason and one reason only – that was for a piece of paper. It’s called a certificate of graduation. And that piece of paper would allow me to go to seminary. I went to seminary and spent four years there. I went to seminary so I could be ordained. I did that all with one purpose in mind – so I could go into ministry.