Hour of Power

Last updated
Hour of Power
Also known asHour of Power
Genre Protestant television
Presented by
Opening theme The Hymn of Joy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons51
No. of episodes2,662 as of February 7, 2021
Production
Production locationsIrvine, California
Running time60 minutes
Original release
Network First-run syndication
ReleaseFebruary 8, 1970 (1970-02-08) 
present

Hour of Power is a weekly American Evangelist television program broadcast from Shepherd's Grove Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, near Los Angeles. It is one of the most watched religious broadcasts in the world, seen by approximately two million viewers. It was formerly broadcast from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

Contents

The program was founded and first hosted by Robert H. Schuller. [1] It is currently hosted by Bobby Schuller, [2] who is Robert H. Schuller's grandson.

The program is normally one hour long, but some networks broadcast an edited 30-minute program.

History

The program first aired on February 8, 1970, as a church service of the Garden Grove Community Church (Reformed Church in America). By the 1980s, it was the most-watched weekly religious program in living rooms across America. [3] It was originally hosted by the elder Schuller; the younger Schuller hosted it from 2006 to 2008.

Crystal Cathedral where the Hour of Power program was previously broadcast CrystalCathedral.jpg
Crystal Cathedral where the Hour of Power program was previously broadcast

On July 9, 2008, the presidency of the church was shifted from Robert H. Schuller to his son-in-law, Jim Coleman. On October 26, 2008, it was announced that Schuller had removed his son, Robert A. Schuller, as teaching pastor, but allowed him to remain as the Crystal Cathedral's senior pastor. Robert H. Schuller said that he wanted to take the ministry in a different direction and for the foreseeable future would use guest speakers for the weekly services rather than his son. [4] Well-known speakers who were used in the early stages of the new format included Lee Strobel, John C. Maxwell, and Bill Hybels.[ citation needed ] On November 29, 2008, the church announced that the younger Schuller had resigned. [5]

On October 18, 2010, the board of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy in Santa Ana, California. [6] [7]

In 2011, Crystal Cathedral Ministries reached an agreement to sell the Crystal Cathedral campus to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange for $57.5 million; the diocese's St. Callistus Parish would be transferred to the Crystal Cathedral campus, which was to be rededicated as Christ Cathedral following a renovation to convert it to the Catholic liturgy. [8] Meanwhile, the Diocese of Orange would offer Crystal Cathedral Ministries a long-term lease of the parish's former building, which was about one mile south of the Crystal Cathedral. [9] [10] [11]

Shepherd's Grove Shepherd's Grove - Irvine, California.jpg
Shepherd's Grove

On March 10, 2012, it was announced that Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, would be leaving the church. The following day their elder daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, announced at the morning service that she would also be leaving the church, therefore cutting all family ties with the Crystal Cathedral and Hour of Power. That week's broadcast would also be the program's final broadcast " [12] The ministry's successor, the Rev. Bill Bennett, said that the ministry would continue but using a more traditional service. [12]

In June 2012, the Rev. Bobby Schuller, the son of Robert A. Schuller, started preaching on a voluntary basis. In February 2013, Bobby Schuller was named as pastor for the Hour of Power.[ citation needed ]

Crystal Cathedral Ministries held its final service at its namesake on June 30, 2013, [13] after which it was renamed Shepherd's Grove and moved to the former St. Callistus Church on July 7, 2013. [11] The congregation merged with the Irvine Presbyterian Church in April 2018 after the land was sold to real estate developers. [14]

CrystalCathedralAvond.JPG

Broadcasts

The program airs in the United States mainly using paid programming time on Freeform, TBN, and recently Daystar. along with about 100 stations through individual contracts. The program also airs over the American Forces Network.

In Canada it is carried on VisionTV.

In Europe it is broadcast on VOX in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, on RTL in the Netherlands and was formerly broadcast on Sky One in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

In the Middle East it is carried on METV in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

In Australia, it is seen on the Australian Christian Channel and Network Ten. It is also broadcast weekly on radio.

It is broadcast in New Zealand on the Prime network and Shine TV.

It is broadcast in Hong Kong on NOW TV Channel 564, TVB Pearl, and Hong Kong Open TV.

The Hour of Power telecast, filmed in the Crystal Cathedral's main sanctuary, at one point attracted 1.3 million viewers from 156 countries. [15] Under current Pastor Bobby Schuller, the program attracted 2.2 million viewers worldwide each week.

Finances

Beginning in the late 1990s, the ministry struggled financially after it borrowed money to build a visitors' center.

The 2008 revenues for the program were nearly $5 million lower than revenues for 2007. As of early 2009, the church planned to sell more than $65 million worth of its Orange County property to pay off debt: [5] 150 acres (0.61 km2) in San Juan Capistrano, California, and an office building in Garden Grove, California. [16] Due to their financial situation, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange purchased the Garden Grove campus.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Schuller</span> American television evangelist (1926–2015)

Robert Harold Schuller was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, author and 33rd Degree Freemason. In his five decades of television, Schuller was principally known for the weekly Hour of Power television program, which he began hosting in 1970 until his retirement in 2006. His grandson, Bobby Schuller, carries on the Hour of Power now airing for over fifty years. During his time as a minister, Schuller oversaw the construction of two churches in Garden Grove, CA. The first church built under his tenure was the Garden Grove Community Church chapel, which seated 500, and the second that he oversaw was the building of the much larger Crystal Cathedral, which has a seating capacity of 2,200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles</span> Archdiocese in California

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. The archdiocese's cathedra is in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop is José Horacio Gómez Velasco. With over five million professing members and weekly liturgies celebrated in 32 languages, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is numerically the single largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Broadcasting Network</span> International Christian television network

The Trinity Broadcasting Network is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its highly visible office park, Trinity Christian City. The broadcaster retained its studios in nearby Tustin. Auxiliary studio facilities are located in Irving, Hendersonville, Gadsden, Decatur, Miami and Orlando, Tulsa and New York City. TBN has characterized itself as broadcasting programs hosted by a diverse group of ministries from Evangelical, traditional Protestant and Catholic denominations, non-profit charities, Messianic Jewish and Christian media personalities. TBN also offers a wide range of original programming, faith-based films, and political opinion commentary from various distributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Family Catholic Church (Orange, California)</span> Church in California, United States

Holy Family Catholic Church, located in Orange, California, United States, is a parish church in the Diocese of Orange. It served as the cathedral of that diocese, from the diocese's establishment in 1976, until Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, the former Crystal Cathedral, was dedicated on July 17, 2019. Because of this, Holy Family Cathedral changed its name to Holy Family Catholic Church. Holy Family Parish predates the establishment of the Diocese of Orange.

Robert Anthony Schuller is an American author, televangelist and pastor. He is the only son of Crystal Cathedral founders Robert H. Schuller and Arvella Schuller. He was formerly a minister on the Hour of Power weekly television program broadcast from the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California. He appeared on the program almost every week from 1976. He was installed as the senior pastor in January 2006 but, according to the Hour of Power website, he resigned as senior pastor on November 29, 2008. He continues his ministry with Robert Schuller Ministries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in California, USA

The Diocese of Orange is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church that covers all of Orange County, California, in the United States. It is sometimes referred to as the Diocese of Orange in California, to avoid confusion with the Diocese of Orange in Orange, France, which was dissolved in 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Swann</span> American organist and choral conductor (1931–2022)

Frederick Lewis Swann was an American church and concert organist, choral conductor, composer, and president of the American Guild of Organists. His extensive discography includes both solo organ works and choral ensembles he has conducted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tod Brown</span> American Roman Catholic bishop (1936–2023)

Tod David Brown was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Boise in Idaho from 1989 to 1998 and as bishop of the Diocese of Orange in Southern California from 1998 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church</span> Church in Florida, U.S.

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is a Christian megachurch within the Presbyterian Church in America located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was founded in 1960 by D. James Kennedy (1930–2007), who served as the church's senior pastor until shortly before his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Frenn</span>

Jason Frenn is an international missionary evangelist, author, and conference speaker, whose live ministry events have attracted a cumulative worldwide audience of over 7 million people. As a bilingual evangelist, he is widely known throughout the Spanish-speaking areas in the United States and Latin America. His ministry, entitled Power to Change, organizes citywide crusades. He is also an occasional guest voice for the Washington Post. Jason Frenn is a member of the Assemblies of God World Missions, a Protestant organization, but speaks for a wide variety of churches, denominations, and non-profit organizations. He is also a motivational and corporate affiliate speaker for the Ziglar Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elevation Church</span> Church in North Carolina, United States

Elevation Church is an Evangelical non-denominational multi-site megachurch based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Weekly church attendance was 14,000 people in 2023. Elevation has 20 locations. Its senior pastors are Steven Furtick and Holly Furtick.

Since 1937, the United States presidential inauguration has included one or more prayers given by members of the clergy. Since 1933 an associated prayer service either public or private attended by the president-elect has often taken place on the morning of the day. At times a major public or broadcast prayer service takes place after the main ceremony most recently on the next day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Vann</span> American Catholic prelate

Kevin William Vann is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Orange in Southern California since 2012. Vann previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth in Texas from 2005 to 2012.

William Robert Johnson was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Orange in California from 1976 until his death in 1986. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California from 1971 to 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shepherd's Grove</span> Church in California, United States

Shepherd's Grove is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Irvine, California, United States. The church was founded by Robert H. Schuller in 1955 as the Garden Grove Community Church and renamed to Crystal Cathedral Ministries after its church building, the Crystal Cathedral, in 1981. The congregation is now pastored by Bobby V. Schuller, grandson of Robert H. Schuller, and the organization has changed its name to Shepherd's Grove Ministries. As such, the church continues to advance the weekly production of Robert H. Schuller's well-known Hour of Power Christian television program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Schuller</span> American television evangelist, pastor and writer

Robert Vernon Schuller is an American humanitarian, author, television producer, and a Presbyterian minister. He serves as lead pastor on the Hour of Power television program and is the senior pastor of Shepherd's Grove church in Irvine, California. He is the grandson of Robert H. Schuller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, California)</span> Church in the United States

Christ Cathedral, formerly and informally known as the Crystal Cathedral, is an American church building of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, located in Garden Grove, California. The reflective glass building, by the firm of Philip Johnson/John Burgee Architects, seats 2,248 people. The church was touted as "the largest glass building in the world" when it was completed in 1981. The building has one of the largest musical instruments in the world, the Hazel Wright Organ.

Dante Gebel is an Argentine writer, pastor, talk show host and television personality, best known for hosting the Dante Night Show on TV Azteca and Dante’s Divine Night on Channel 9 (Argentina), for which he won a Martín Fierro award in year 2023 as best television presenter at the ceremony that took place at the Manuel Artime theater in Miami.

References

  1. "Robert Schuller Dies: 'Hour Of Power' Televangelist Founded Crystal Cathedral". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation. April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  2. Kopetman, Roxana (August 21, 2016). "Bobby Schuller is new 'Hour of Power' pastor". Orange County Register . Freedom Communications . Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  3. "Crystal Cathedral, the original evangelical megachurch, has a conversion to Catholicism". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 2019.
  4. Sam Quinones (October 26, 2008). "Schuller ousts son from show; He cites a 'lack of shared vision' on the future of the ministry, which he had handed over less than three years ago". Los Angeles Times.
  5. 1 2 "Family spat divides televangelism empire; 'Hour of Power' church struggling due to recession, change in leadership". Associated Press. January 31, 2009.
  6. Wahba, Phil (October 18, 2010). "Televangelist Schuller's megachurch files for Ch 11". Reuters.
  7. "Crystal Cathedral megachurch files for bankruptcy". The Associated Press.
  8. Palmer, Melissa (June 9, 2012). "Landmark Crystal Cathedral gets a new name – Christ Cathedral". NBC News . Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  9. Campbell, Ronald (February 4, 2012). "Crystal Cathedral is sold". The Orange County Register. p. Local 1. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  10. Do, Anh (June 29, 2013). "St. Callistus Catholic Church moves to Crystal Cathedral site". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Baharath, Deepa (May 19, 2017). "Diocese picks contractor for Christ Cathedral's $72 million reconstruction project". Orange County Register. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Crystal Cathedral divided as Schullers leave, changes planned". Los Angeles Times . March 12, 2012.
  13. Rokhy, Ron (June 30, 2013). "Crystal Cathedral Holds Last Service Before Relocating". NBC Los Angeles. NBCUnviersal Media, LLC. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  14. "Church led by Schuller grandson joins with Presbyterian church in Southern California". Presbyterian Mission Agency. 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  15. "Hour of Power pastor Robert Schuller retiring". The Star. Toronto. July 11, 2010.
  16. Deepa Bharath (January 25, 2009). "Crystal Cathedral to move on without a Schuller". The Orange County Register.

Further reading

33°40′37″N117°48′20″W / 33.677030°N 117.805660°W / 33.677030; -117.805660