Crystal Cathedral's senior pastor Sheila Coleman expressed outrage in an interview Sunday after rumors spread across the media and Internet that her father, famed televangelist Robert H. Schuller, was stepping down.
"Dad is not retiring," she said. "I told (the congregation) that Dad's role would not be changing and mine would not be changing."
The media storm started when the Orange County Register reported that the 83-year-old Schuller announced his departure during the morning service at the Garden Grove cathedral.
The Associated Press picked up the Register story. And within the hour, dozens of papers and media sites picked up the AP article and Twitter was buzzing with the news that the man who created the empire behind the popular weekly Christian TV show "Hour of Power" was moving on. Wikipedia added to its entry that Schuller was retiring.
But Coleman, who has been serving as the megachurch's unofficial senior pastor for the last year, said the only change was that her role had been made official by the Reformed Church in America.
She said she carefully explained to the congregation that the change was largely symbolic, "just an affirmation and celebration from the denomination."
Shortly after she arrived home, however, she learned of the media reports about her father's retirement and returned to the Crystal Cathedral to set the record straight for television reporters who had gathered outside.
Source: LA Times | JASON FELCH AND CORINA KNOLL
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