The Rev . Robert H. Schuller died early Thursday at a care facility in Artesia , daughter Carol Schuller Milner said . He and his late wife started a ministry in 1955 with $ 500 when he began preaching from the roof of a concession stand at a drive-in movie theater southeast of Orange County . By 1961 , the church had a brick-and-mortar home — a 'walk-in/drive-in church ' — and Schuller began broadcasting the 'Hour of Power ' in 1970 . In 1980 , he built the towering glass-and-steel Crystal Cathedral to house his booming TV ministry . At its peak , in the 1990s , the program had 20 million viewers in about 180 countries .
The Rev . Robert H. Schuller died early Thursday at a care facility in Artesia , daughter Carol Schuller Milner said . He and his late wife started a ministry in 1955 with $ 500 when he began preaching from the roof of a concession stand at a drive-in movie theater southeast of Los Angeles . By 1961 , the church had a brick-and-mortar home — a 'walk-in/drive-in church ' — and Schuller began broadcasting the 'Hour of Power ' in 1970 . In 1980 , he built the towering glass-and-steel Crystal Cathedral to house his booming TV ministry . At its peak , in the 1990s , the program had 20 million viewers in about 180 countries .