Founder removed from ministry board

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – The Rev. Robert H. Schuller has been voted off the board of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, the church he founded more than 50 years ago, the pioneering televangelist’s son said Sunday.

Schuller wanted to enlarge the ministry’s board of directors but members voted him off instead, said Robert A. Schuller, who was his father’s designated successor but himself was ousted from the church by family members in 2008.

“It’s a very sad day, and unfortunately I know how that feels,” the younger Schuller told the Orange County Register. “A majority of that board consists of paid employees of the church, and that’s a serious conflict of interest.”

Schuller and the Register did not give details on the vote, but he said his mother, a board member, voted with the minority.

The move is the latest of several – some voluntary, some forced upon him – that have brought a diminished role in the California megachurch for the elder Schuller.