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

Nearly two years after succeeding a world renowned pastor and televangelist, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller is walking in his own shoes rather than trying to fill the “big shoes” of his father, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller. Now, as senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., the younger Schuller takes over the helm of a ministry built by his father over the span of more than half a century.

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But rather than retrace history, Schuller is taking the ministry forward with plans to broadcast messages through the "Hour of Power" to every part of the globe as a church designed for the world.

And now with a new book out (Walking in Your Own Shoes), Schuller has revealed how he’s created his own pair of shoes as he leads his global ministry in what he feels is a new era in the Church.

CP: What's the purpose behind writing this book and what kind of audience were you directing it towards?

Schuller: I was installed as the senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral a year ago January, so it’s coming up on two years. When I received that opportunity, I was actually the second installed pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in its almost 60-year history. My father started the cathedral in 1955 and when I was installed, many people came to me and said, ‘You have some big shoes to fill.’ And I kind of chuckled and I said, ‘You’re right. I do have some big shoes to fill. However, I cannot fill those shoes, period.’ First of all, you have to realize my father’s shoes won’t fit me. He wears a 10-1/2, I wear 12. So that’s not going to work.

Secondly, I said ‘I can’t walk in his shoes; that’s not going to help us at all because that means we’re just going to retrace history. We need to create some new shoes that I can walk in, that will take us into the current decade and into the future and make a positive impact in this community. So I’m going to have to walk in my own shoes, not my father’s shoes and I have to walk in the shoes that God’s created for me and not the shoes that we’ve been used to.’ As a result of that, this whole concept of walking in our own shoes started. And the fact is that this true for everybody – that nobody can walk in another man’s shoes. History is history; the present is the present; and the future, the future. And a result of that, we have to discover the direction that God has for our own lives and fulfill that calling that God has for each of us.

CP: Your church is part of the Reformed Church in America, but as you described in your book, your father has built a very non-traditional church that has grown to be one of the largest in the denomination. What do you think attracted so many people and does that same attraction apply today?

Schuller: It definitely does. What my father did when he started the Crystal Cathedral is he put the cathedral on the cutting edge of meeting the needs of people where they are. And that is still without question the case regardless of whether you’re in Africa, or India, or Europe, or the United States … if you’re meeting the needs of your community and reflecting your community, your church is going to be successful. A church doesn’t have to grow to be successful. A church needs to meet the needs of its community and fulfill again its calling and its destiny. And for each community, that can be a different prescription for success…. A healthy church in a growing community will grow. A healthy church in a non-growing community won’t grow because it doesn’t have the influx of people. There’s different rules for different environments.