Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 07:21:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Darrell128@aol.com Subject: NR 97097: Pastor of Largest RCA Church Part of Official US Delegation to Mother Teresa Funeral... NR #1997-097: Pastor of Largest RCA Church Attended Mother Teresa Funeral in Calcutta as Part of Official United States Delegation Mother Teresa spent much of her life with death, dying, and funerals. On September 13, Rev. Robert Schuller of the 9400-member Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, participated in Mother Teresa's own funeral as a member of the official United States delegation to the event in Calcutta, India. Schuller, a graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, who pastors the largest congregation in the 313,000-member Reformed Church in America, is a personal friend of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton who headed the United States delegation. A staunch defender of Roman Catholic doctrine, Mother Teresa appeared on Schuller's nationally-televised "Hour of Power" broadcast in 1989 and used her interview as an opportunity to promote relief to the poor as well as opposition to abortion. NR #1997-097: For Immediate Release: Pastor of Largest RCA Church Attended Mother Teresa Funeral in Calcutta as Part of Official United States Delegation by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service (September 13, 1997) URNS -- Mother Teresa spent much of her life with death, dying, and funerals. "I picked up a man from a drain, then I brought him to our home, full of worms, full of dirt, and what did he say, 'I've lived like an animal in the street, but I'm going to die like an angel, loved and cared,'" said Mother Teresa in a 1989 television interview with Rev. Robert Schuller, senior pastor of the 9400-member Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. This morning, Schuller participated in Mother Teresa's own funeral as a member of the official United States delegation to the event in Calcutta, India. Schuller, a graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary who pastors the largest congregation in the 313,000-member Reformed Church in America, is a personal friend of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton who headed the United States delegation. Schuller, whose "Hour of Power" television program counts over 20 million viewers worldwide, first met Mother Teresa in Mexico in 1989. The Roman Catholic nun, known worldwide as founder and head of the Missionaries of Charity order devoted to poverty relief among the "poorest of the poor" in India and eighty other countries, gave Schuller a prayer at that time that still hangs in his office. "Be all and only for Jesus," reads the prayer. "Let him use you without him having to consult you first." In a statement issued by Schuller's press office, Schuller said Mother Teresa was the "first lady of the twentieth century." Mother Teresa "taught us that God has given us a responsibility to our brothers and sisters to look after and care for them," said Schuller. A staunch defender of Roman Catholic doctrine, Mother Teresa used her appearance on Schuller's program to promote relief to the poor as well as opposition to abortion. "People are so preoccupied with the things of the earth that they have no time for God," said Mother Teresa in the interview, which Schuller said was broadcast to all 50 states and 22 European countries. "I always say one thing: if a mother can kill her own child through abortion, what is left for others to kill and to destroy? That's where love and peace have been destroyed in the very heart." Schuller was one of 16 members of the official US delegation. In addition to Schuller and Mrs. Clinton, delegates included five congressmen and state legislators, a top state department official, two bishops, two nuns, and others involved in Catholic, interdenominational, or private philanthropy. Cross-References to Related Articles: [No related articles 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 Rev. 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: nr97-097.txt .