A day after the death of the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, his children were backing competing ideas about how, when and where to memorialize the man who founded the Crystal Cathedral.
On Friday, Carol Schuller-Milner, the daughter who cared for Schuller during his final years, said funeral arrangements are pending. She said only that a memorial service might take place at the Arboretum of the Christ Cathedral, but nothing was set.
She added that as trustee for her parents’ estate, she’ll make final decisions about his memorial.
But her brother, Robert A. Schuller, offered his own plan for a Schuller memorial, including a public walk-in/drive-in service.
Rev. Schuller will be buried at the Christ Cathedral Memorial Gardens next to his wife, Arvella Schuller, who died early last year.
Bobby Schuller, the elder Schuller’s grandson and leader of the Shepherd’s Grove church – made up mostly of former Crystal Cathedral followers – said Friday he would ask parishioners and the public for money to pay for those services.
He urged members of the public to contribute to Robert Schuller Ministries, Robert A. Schuller’s nonprofit, in lieu of flowers. Bobby Schuller said the money would help pay for a memorial.
Schuller-Milner is asking that contributions be mailed to Robert H. Schuller, Christ Cathedral to the attention of Alma Ochoa. She said she had exchanged texts with her brother, but they had not spoken face to face.
She also said Christ Cathedral, now owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, has offered to provide the space for the service and extra security arrangements during the service, but not the mortuary, casket, headstone or any other expenses a public memorial would incur.
Such a memorial almost certainly would include a video tribute to Schuller, who spent much of his career on the “Hour of Power” TV ministry.
Schuller-Milner said that she likes her brother’s idea for a drive-in/walk-in service with a video presentation, but she’s concerned about the expenses.
“I’ve spent most of the day trying to coordinate a date that will work for the entire family,” she said.
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SOURCE: Orange County Register – Dheepa Bharath
