Date: Fri, 4 Jul 1997 10:40:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Darrell128@aol.com Subject: NR 97081: Televangelist Schuller Accused of Assaulting Flight Attendant NR #1997-081: Televangelist Schuller Accused of Assaulting Flight Attendant Did a dispute over wrinkled robes and cheese mixed into fruit lead the pastor of the Reformed Church in America's largest congregation to physically assault a flight attendant while flying to speak at the June 30 funeral of Betty Shabazz, widow of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X? That's the allegation made against Dr. Robert H. Schuller, senior pastor of the 9435-member Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. According to Schuller's attorney, the allegation led to all the passengers in the first-class cabin being detained by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Schuller himself was detained for five hours at New York City's JFK Airport to speak to FBI investigators. Schuller, who founded the Crystal Cathedral in 1955 as a home mission project of the 312,000-member Reformed Church in America, is also one of America's most-watched televangelists. Schuller's "Hour of Power" syndicated TV program currently counts approximately 20 million viewers in 180 countries; his "Institute for Successful Church Leadership" regularly attracts pastors of other large churches as well as pastors from smaller congregations who wish to help their congregations grow. In a July 1 press conference, Schuller denied the allegations against him and said he had never been in a fight or slapped anyone. "I'm very proud of who I am. I am innocent," said Schuller. "I have not broken a single one of the Ten Commandments. I have not broken any of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and so I'm proud of my faith and my message." NR #1997-081: For Immediate Release Televangelist Schuller Accused of Assaulting Flight Attendant * Schuller: "I have not broken a single one of the Ten Commandments. I have not broken any of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and so I'm proud of my faith and my message." by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (July 3, 1997) URNS -- Did a dispute over wrinkled robes and cheese mixed into fruit lead the pastor of the Reformed Church in America's largest congregation to physically assault a flight attendant while flying to speak at the June 30 funeral of Betty Shabazz, widow of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X? That's the allegation made against Dr. Robert H. Schuller, senior pastor of the 9435-member Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. According to Schuller's attorney, the allegation led to all the passengers in the first-class cabin being detained by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Schuller himself was detained for five hours at New York City's JFK Airport to speak to FBI investigators. Schuller, who founded the Crystal Cathedral in 1955 as a home mission project of the 312,000-member Reformed Church in America, is also one of America's most-watched televangelists. Schuller's "Hour of Power" syndicated TV program currently counts approximately 20 million viewers in over 180 countries; his "Institute for Successful Church Leadership" regularly attracts pastors of other large churches as well as pastors from smaller congregations who wish to help their congregations grow. In a July 1 press conference, Schuller denied the allegations against him and said he had never been in a fight or slapped anyone. "I'm very proud of who I am. I am innocent," said Schuller. "I have not broken a single one of the Ten Commandments. I have not broken any of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and so I'm proud of my faith and my message." Details of the allegation have not yet been officially released pending a decision by federal prosecutors on charging Schuller, but according to Schuller's attorney, the flight attendant is on medical leave from United Airlines and claiming physical pain consistent with whiplash. United Airlines spokesmen did not return repeated calls for comment, but other published reports quoted United Airlines stating that Schuller injured the flight attendant after unspecified physical contact. Schuller's attorney said information "leaked" to him indicated the allegations are "anywhere from Dr. Schuller pushed him, to Dr. Schuller put him in a headlock." At the press conference, Schuller's attorney Terry Giles said the incident began when Schuller asked to hang up his ministerial vestments "so the robe would not get wrinkled" on the way to the Shabazz funeral. "They're very difficult to get the wrinkles out of, simple ironing just won't do the trick," said Giles. "Given the importance of the event he wanted to make sure that, of course, he looked his best." The flight attendant initially said Federal Aviation Administration rules barred hanging garment bags in the airplane. After a supervisor was called on the plane, Schuller won the dispute by comparing his clerical garb to a coat and receiving permission from the flight attendant's supervisor to hang it up with other passengers' coats in the back of the first class section as long as it was out of the carrying case. That wasn't the end of the matter, however. "After the dinner had been served the young man brought around cheese and fruit," said Giles, who said Schuller is on a low-fat diet. Schuller "asked if he could arrange to just get some fruit because quite honestly if he put the cheese... he loves cheese but he just shouldn't eat it," said Giles. "He just asked, as I've done many times and maybe some of you have, 'Boy don't put that cheese in front of me because I'm not sure I'll have the willpower to resist it, I'll probably eat it.'" When the flight attendant refused, Schuller went to the airplane galley and got grapes from another flight attendant. The flight attendant who originally refused to serve fruit without cheese to Schuller then came up behind Schuller, who turned around to speak with him. "He doesn't remember exactly what happened because he didn't think he'd have to take notes of it, but he addressed this young man the way he has addressed thousands of others," said Giles. "The young man, all of a sudden jumps back and says, 'If you touch me again, I will call the police!'" Following the landing in New York City and the questioning by FBI investigators, Schuller attended the Shabazz funeral and returned to Los Angeles. "Dr. Schuller's the first to admit he's a touchy-feelie person," said Giles, who emphasized that a physical assault would be entirely out of character for his client. "To imagine that Dr. Schuller would, in this set of circumstances, attack a flight attendant and do what he has not done in fifty years of public service, and that is commit a violent act, why he would do it in this setting is unexplainable," said Giles. "It is a totally unbelievable version that this male flight attendant tells." Schuller described himself as "shell-shocked" by the allegations. "I'm so used to approaching people with intensity and with physical gestures and always if they're gestures it's open palms," said Schuller. "I had no impression that if I touched him in an intense effort to build communication to let's talk, listen... that that could in any sense be considered a violation." Schuller's attorney declined to permit Schuller to answer media inquiries about why Schuller thought the flight attendant was making the allegations. "The truth is that where Dr. Schuller sees halos I see horns. The truth is that Dr. Schuller sees no bad in anyone," said Giles. "It is not in Dr. Schuller's make up to think of people as being greedy or lying, but I make my living in a very different way than Dr. Schuller and I see that happen all the time." Giles said he didn't yet have an indication on whether the federal prosecutor would press charges but expected an answer within the next few days. "I think it may very well be that given the set of circumstances and the allocation that has been made, they may very well take the position that it is better to let a jury or court decide whether or not the allocations are true as opposed to them just stepping in and dismissing the case or not filing it," said Giles. "On the other hand, they may very well decide that given the nature of who Dr. Schuller [is] the case should not go forward." According to FBI spokesman Jim Margolin, as of July 3 no decision has yet been made on filing charges and the New York City FBI office could not comment on ongoing investigations. "This office is engaged in a preliminary inquiry to sort out the facts and circumstances concerning the events of Saturday," said Margolin, who confirmed that no criminal charges had yet been filed as a result of the investigation. While uncommon, Margolin said state authorities could press charges under certain circumstances if the federal prosecutor chose not to do so. Whatever Schuller's guilt or innocence of violating federal law, some theologians took exception to Schuller's claim of being innocent of violations of the Ten Commandments. Schuller has drawn fire for years within his Reformed Church in America and other Calvinist denominations for his "self esteem" theology. "The thing that comes to mind is the Heidelberg Catechism which says 'But can those converted to God obey these commandments perfectly? No. In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience," said Dr. John Bolt, who has been a pointed critic of Schuller's theology. "It's difficult to say more than that." The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the three doctrinal standards shared by Schuller's Reformed Church in America and Bolt's sister denomination, the Christian Reformed Church. Bolt, a professor of systematic theology at Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, also objected to Schuller's attorney's claim that Schuller's ministerial profession led him to think good things of people. "What a wonderful world for a preacher to live in," said Bolt. "It is striking that a minister of the gospel whose task it is to bring the good news of forgiveness to sinners seems to live in a world where there are no sinners and where he sees only good people." Although Schuller is usually considered within evangelical Christianity, Bolt said his comments indicated that he belonged elsewhere theologically. "It's fairly conventional liberal Protestant moralism," said Bolt. "The posture taken there is a characteristically liberal one, and it is this: there is very little sense of an objective moral order which all of us fall short of, particularly in the light of the teachings of Jesus about the purity of hearts." "The notion is good intentions make good people and therefore God becomes the one who makes sure that at the end the well-intentioned have their way or triumph," said Bolt. Cross-References to Related Articles: [No previous article on file] Contact List: Rev. E. Wayne Antworth, Director, RCA Stewardship & Communication Services 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115 O: (212) 870-2954 * FAX: (212) 870-2499 Dr. John Bolt, Professor of Systematic Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary 3233 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4387 O: (616) 957-6010 * H: (616) 245-3046 * FAX: (616) 957-8621 * E-Mail: BLTJ@luther.calvin.edu Special Agent Jim Margolin, Deputy Spokesman, Federal Bureau of Investigation 26 Fedral Plaza, NY 10278 O: 212-384-2720 Tony Molinaro, Spokesman, United Airlines United Airlines Corporate Office, Algonquin Rd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 O: (847) 700-4088 Dr. Robert H. Schuller, Senior Pastor, The Crystal Cathedral 12141 Lewis St., Garden Grove, CA 92640 O: (714) 971-4000 * FAX: (714) 750-3836 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive97: nr97-081.txt .