GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—The Crystal Cathedral megachurch said Wednesday it has hired Dante Gebel, an Argentinian evangelical preacher and TV and movie personality, to lead its Hispanic ministry.The 10,000-member congregation, which broadcasts the weekly “Hour of Power,” said in a statement that Gebel would reach out to the 850,000 Hispanics who live within a 10-mile radius of the Crystal Cathedral campus.
Gebel, 41, is known in Latin America for his Christian outreach events that attract thousands, as well as his TV program “DNT, The Show” and a radio program, “The Dante Gebel Show,” according to the statement. He has also written several motivational books.
The Crystal Cathedral was founded by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller in a Southern California drive-in theater in the 1950s.
Schuller, who still appears on the “Hour of Power” broadcasts, studied marketing strategies to attract worshippers and preached a feel-good Christianity that ballooned into a broadcast watched by millions worldwide.
The church’s main sanctuary is a landmark designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson, with a glass spire visible from afar amid Orange County’s suburban sprawl.
Joel Landon Watts is a Masters of Theological Studies student with a focus in Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific ideals of the past century. Currently, he is a TA for Old Testament at United Theological Seminary under Dr. Vivian Johnson, Associate Professor of Old Testament. His first book, Rhetorical Strategies of the Evangelist: Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark, is expected to be published by Wipf and Stock early next year. He is currently co-editing a book on moving from Fear to Faith (Energion, 2013).
