Susan Meachen, a romance novelist in Tennessee, fell deeply into the online world of indie writers sometimes referred to as “Romancelandia.” As in any social media group, she found support but also toxicity. In 2020, a post on her Facebook page said that she had died. Many in her online community assumed she died by suicide and unleashed rounds of grief and introspection.
Two weeks ago, Meachen returned to her page to say she was back and now “in a good place” and ready to write again. Her “back from the dead” post shocked her writing community and prompted questions from police about faking her own death online.
In a series of interviews with The New York Times, she said it had become a treacherous place as she struggled with bipolar disorder. Her husband blamed the “book world” as a danger to his wife’s welfare. I won’t reveal all of the twists of the piece, but I found it to be such an interesting window into a slice of the literary world. Romancelandia is not a place I’d care to visit.
I enjoyed writing this essay adapted from my book about Rick Warren and Saddleback Church for Religion & Politics online magazine, a project of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Enjoy!
This week, debut fantasy novelist Chelsea Banning posted this tweet:
Only 2 people came to my author signing yesterday, so I was pretty bummed about it. Especially as 37 people responded "going" to the event. Kind of upset, honestly, and a little embarrassed.
Twitter showed that it could still be a force for good and her tweet went viral. Famous authors replied to Banning and shared similar horror stories. “I have sat lonely at a signing table many times only to have someone approach…and ask me where the bathroom is,” Jodi Picoult wrote. Margaret Atwood replied: “Join the club. I did a signing to which Nobody came, except a guy who wanted to buy some Scotch tape and thought I was the help. :)” And Neil Gaiman tweeted: “Terry Pratchett and I did a signing in Manhattan for Good Omens that nobody came to at all. So you are two up on us.”
I applaud Banning for being upfront about something I suspect many authors worry about but seldom discuss. Writing is a solitary activity and thus authors tend to be introverts. It can take years — or even a lifetime — to overcome self-doubt and summon the courage to bare your soul on the page. Sharing your writing, even with intimate friends and family, is extremely difficult. Your writing is subjected to additional layers of scrutiny if you take the traditional publishing route.
Then comes the terrifying prospect of being in the spotlight at a public event. Will people really come? Does anyone care about your book? I worry that the answers are often “no,” so I don’t do many solo events. (Panels are much less pressure. If no one comes, it’s the other guy’s fault!) I won’t buy a table and set up shop at book festivals or sit in front of a bookstore with a stack of my books. I realize it works for some, but it’s not for me.
I was fortunate to have a great turnout at Warwick’s that was timed to the book’s publication date. Even there I noticed two young women come in and sit in the back after I started speaking and left before the signing. The bookstore manager told me later that they said they were just killing time before their dinner reservation.
Here’s hoping Banning’s next event will be filled to capacity.
That’s the subject line of a fundraising email I received this week from Robert Schuller Ministries. I conducted a lengthy interview with ministry leader Robert A. Schuller, the eldest son of Crystal Cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller, and I was struck by how radicalized the pandemic had made him. (His words, not mine.) When we talked in August 2021, he insisted that COVID-19 vaccines were causing mass deaths and injuries that were being suppressed by the government and the media. That was not just a private belief, it was was a belief that he shared with his Orange County congregation and on social media. (Of course, it was the spread of such misinformation that contributed to many thousands of unnecessary deaths in the United States.)
Robert A. Schuller. (Photo from Robert Schuller Ministries)
I opened “Soul Winners” with the pandemic because it was a useful window into how evangelicals think and act. The mistrust of science runs deep in evangelical history, which helps explain the widespread opposition to masking and vaccines. There’s also an ingrained skepticism of government mandates, which are seen as threats to religious liberty. (This explains the vilification of Dr. Anthony Fauci, both a career government employee and a scientist.) And the movement values individualism over collective action, which undermines efforts to address a public health crisis.
As a younger man, Schuller had the reputation of being a bland version of his flamboyant father. The son was seen as a steady but starchy presence in the pulpit. After finally taking the reins from his ailing father, Schuller was pushed out by his family for trying to instill standard accounting practices for nonprofits. The ministry soon went bankrupt and the Catholic Diocese of Orange bought the Garden Grove campus.
Schuller dabbled in business and hosted a radio show before returning to ministry when the pandemic took hold in early 2020. The closure of churches angered Schuller, and he responded by conducting drive-in services in Newport Beach — much like his father did when he moved to Orange County in the 1950s. Robert A. Schuller integrated his personal political beliefs into his sermons to a degree no one in his family had done before. Robert H. Schuller was undoubtedly conservative, but he largely kept his opinions to himself in favor of spreading his upbeat “possibility thinking” message.
Schuller’s email, coming just a week before the midterm elections, mentions the pandemic as a wake-up call for him. “In this election year it is more important than ever that we vote for candidates of faith. We are in a war against religion,” he writes, with the second sentence highlighted in yellow. The message continues with a broadside against modernism in all of its forms:
The battles are ones of ideology; Faith vs Science; Planet vs Humanity; Mechanistic vs Vitalistic Health; Propaganda vs Free Speech; Woke vs Awake; Technocracy/Dictatorship/Socialism/Totalitarianism/Communism vs our Republic, the United States of America. Before they can take the world, they have to take down the one thing that is stopping their plan, The Constitution of the USA and its foundation on GOD!!
As the World Economic Forum, The United Nations, and The World Health Organization, are pushing their agenda, they are using every tool at their disposal; Critical Race Theory, Gender Identity, The Green New Deal, The Digital Gulag, ESG (Ecology, Social, Governance) financial scores, DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), Corporate Marxism, Medical Tyranny, Technocracy, Mass Formation Psychosis, Eugenics, Ordination of Sin, Transhumanism, Propaganda, Speech Suppression and DNA manipulation, and the list goes on.
But all of God’s creation was created for YOU!! Globalists hate that. They see humanity as a scourge on the planet. They want to reduce world populations through infertility, abortion, starvation, war, and any other means necessary.
Schuller discussed some of these themes in our interview, but to see his worldview laid out in such detail is stunning. The tenor of it resembles unhinged emails I’ve received for years as news editor that end up in a junk folder. The most obvious inaccuracy is the idea that the Constitution has its “foundation on God.” The document pointedly does not reference God or Jesus or Christianity. Instead, the framers wanted a free marketplace for religion where no sect would dominate, thus they did not establish an official religion. The Constitution also bans religious tests for public office, which runs counter to Schuller’s call to “vote for candidates of faith.”
Schuller’s statement is shot through with paranoid thinking rather than possibility thinking. His warnings against “Globalists” and the U.N. evoke Pat Robertson’s apocalyptic screeds against “the new world order” and the coming of “a world government” in the 1980s and 1990s. The ideas that God is under attack and that America must be saved echo the sermons of evangelical figures of the past such as Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and Jerry Falwell.
And yet Schuller’s message is very much of the moment. His references to the “Green New Deal,” “Critical Race Theory” and “Gender Identity” are pitched to consumers of Fox News and right-wing social media. His crusade to “fight for truth” puts him squarely in league with conservative leaders who are always summoning their followers to the ramparts. The “truth” that Schuller is peddling consists of discredited conspiracy theories. His overheated rhetoric about cultural embattlement is untethered to reality. Schuller’s swerve to the right may be profitable for his ministry, but it fuels the polarization plaguing our country.
I had a fun, wide-ranging conversation about “Soul Winners” with Corey Nathan, host of the “Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each Other” podcast! We also talked a little about sports near the end, namely my lifelong challenge to find an NFL team to root for. Here’s link to the main site; it’s also available on Apple and Spotify, among other outlets.
Herschel Walker, the former football star who is the Republican nominee running for a critical U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, has been a magnet for controversy. First came revelations that his ex-wife accused him of physical abuse and violent threats to the point that a restraining order and a gun-owning ban were placed on Walker. Then came reports that Walker had two additional sons and a daughter than he had not publicly acknowledged after condemning “fatherless” households. Finally, a report emerged last week alleging that Walker impregnated a woman and paid her to have an abortion in 2009. Walker, who as a candidate opposes abortion under any circumstances, initially said he did not know the identity of the accuser. Days later, Walker was forced to acknowledge that he had a child with the woman in 2012.
Herschel Walker is the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia.
The Walker abortion story and the timing of it bears resemblance to when The Washington Post obtained behind-the-scenes footage of Donald Trump on Access Hollywood and published it in October 2016. During a taping in 2005, Trump bragged about hitting on a married woman and groping other women. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said. “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” Trump’s campaign looked finished, with some suggesting Trump should drop out and be replaced by running mate Mike Pence, an evangelical favorite. But Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, advised the faith community to stick by Trump. It was impractical to switch candidates so late in the race, he counseled. Reed surmised that the tape, as vulgar as he believed it to be, would be low on the list of voter concerns.
Of course, we know now that Reed’s intuition was correct. In a poll released after the tape’s release, 72 percent of white evangelicals agreed that “an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life.” Only 30 percent of white evangelicals said that was true five years earlier, during Obama’s presidency. Conservatives who say that “character counts” during Democratic administrations develop amnesia during Republican ones.
We are seeing a similar evangelical movement to rally around Herschel Walker, a Christian who has assiduously courted white evangelicals. Reed, a Georgian, has been vocal in his support for Walker even after the abortion story emerged, as have other leading evangelicals. See this New York Times article. (The race has another interesting religious dimension in that his opponent, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, is senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Jr.’s former pulpit.) Evangelicals are again excusing behavior that they would swiftly condemn if the candidate had a “D” after their name. But when political power is on the line, we see how little character really counts.
After five years, my book finally emerged into the world! I was fortunate to have a an event at Warwick’s in La Jolla on the eve of my pub date. Warwick’s was founded in 1896 and is the country’s oldest family-owned and operated bookstore.
The author and his baby.
The store does an outstanding job hosting events for local and big-name authors, sponsoring book festivals, and fostering a literary community. Warwick’s hosts after-hours events at its store in the heart of La Jolla and hosts larger-scale appearances at places like the University of San Diego and Coronado. During the pandemic, Warwick’s hosted online events and continues to do so. It’s a great option for authors who don’t want to incur traveling expenses and for booklovers who have difficulty making it to physical locations.
Solo book events are nerve-wracking for authors, though. Even for friends and family, it’s asking a lot for people to drive out to a bookstore on a weeknight. Work demands, family obligations, needing rest — so much can get in the way. There’s always that fear that no one will show up, and it’ll be just you and the bookseller. Fortunately, I had a great crowd of family, friends, and current and former colleagues — many I haven’t seen in person in several years. Plus, there were a few people I didn’t know!
Warwick’s gives presenting authors a branded bottle of wine!
I had an event at Warwick’s nearly five years ago for my first book, so I already knew the events manager and one of the booksellers. They are so gracious and easy to work with. One of the booksellers said she started reading “Soul Winners” and felt the style of writing was similar to a book that won a Pulitzer Prize recently, which is very high praise indeed. Another bookseller remarked on the quality of the book’s production values. I felt like I had plenty of time to make my presentation, answer questions from the audience, sign books, and take pictures.
Many evangelical churches and media ministries are husband-and-wife or family operations, so it’s fascinating to watch the power dynamics during times of transition. The founding pastor is typically a headstrong person who built the enterprise from the ground up. He (and it is almost always a “he” in the evangelical world) is a driven leader accustomed to calling the shots and getting his way. Like any family business, it is difficult for the patriarch to surrender control to the next generation, especially when there are competing claims to the throne. Advanced age and declining health can force a change, but sometimes the leader stays around too long and the ministry suffers.
In 1980, Robert H. Schuller opened the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif. The ministry fell into bankruptcy and sold the campus to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. (David Clary photo)
The most notable example of that was the Schuller family in Orange County. The founder, Robert H. Schuller, was a skilled but headstrong pastor who built the Crystal Cathedral and ran the “Hour of Power” TV ministry. I interviewed Schuller’s eldest son, Robert A. Schuller, who was the heir apparent. The elder Schuller made disastrous financial commitments such as building a $40 million welcoming center designed by Richard Meier. Meanwhile, the ministry was seeing a decline in TV viewership and attendance. Robert A. Schuller said his father was suffering from dementia by 2000 but was still chairing board meetings until the son took over in 2006.
Robert A. Schuller attempted to impose standard practices for governing nonprofits. That meant removing some family members and in-laws from the board who had conflicts of interest because they were also employees. They rebelled and diminished his role, forcing him to resign. In 2009 the board announced the family’s eldest daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, would become senior pastor.
In 2010, the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy protection, reporting a $43 million debt. The filing revealed hefty salaries and benefits for Schuller family members on the church’s payroll. Sheila Schuller Coleman broke away to found her own church. The elder Schullers cut their ties with the Crystal Cathedral, leaving them with few assets and little income. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange purchased the forty-acre campus and converted the Crystal Cathedral into Christ Cathedral.
The Schullers are buried on the grounds of the former Crystal Cathedral. Their gravestone is inscribed with the words “God loves you and so do we.” (David Clary photo)
Robert H. Schuller died in 2015 at the age of 88. Schuller’s daughter, Carol, issued an appeal through a GoFundMe account to help pay for the funeral on the plaza outside the church he had built. The campaign raised about $6,100 from forty-four donors. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, are buried together on the cathedral’s grounds. Robert A. Schuller left ministry to pursue business projects and to host a daily radio show. He now runs a drive-in church in Newport Beach. His son, Bobby Schuller, pastors a small church in Orange County that is considered to be the successor church to the Crystal Cathedral.
The Schullers violated one of management guru Peter Drucker’s lessons: Never choose your own successor. Rick Warren followed that rule in August when he stepped aside from Saddleback and handed it off to someone who was not a family member or associate. Too many evangelical entrepreneurs are fixated on maintaining their hold on power that allows them to keep the money flowing to the family.
Many critics of evangelicals (and of religion in general) object to the tax breaks that ministries receive. “Tax the churches!” is a frequent response on Twitter to stories about wealthy or politically inflammatory pastors. The feeling is understandable, but the vast majority of churches in America are small and would not survive without breaks like the “parsonage exemption,” which is a federal tax deduction for ministers’ housing expenses.
Kenneth Copeland is one of the oldest and most aggressive prosperity-gospel preachers. (Wikipedia)
It is true, though, that rich televangelists like Kenneth Copeland take advantage of tax breaks. Copeland operates a ministry compound outside of Fort Worth, Texas, that includes a private airport and a church-owned lakeside mansion appraised at nearly $11 million. The mansion is designated a church parsonage, which makes Copeland’s annual housing allowance about $1.3 million when fair rental value is applied, according to a 2020 report by the Trinity Foundation watchdog group. The ministry owns the entire complex, which is not subject to local property taxes. Copeland, who was a pilot for Oral Roberts, owns a Gulfstream V jet thanks to his contributors. Used models of the 14-seat luxury aircraft sell for $12 million and up.
Reports of preachers enjoying high-flying lifestyles raised flags in Congress. In 2007, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, opened an investigation into six media-based ministries: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries; Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International; Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church; Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church; Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries; and Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, led an investigation into media-based ministries and whether they were abusing their tax-exempt status. Staffers received minimal cooperation and no legislative action resulted. (Official Senate headshot)
Grassley, who was then the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, requested detailed information from the ministries to determine if their expenditures ran afoul of their tax-exempt status. The ministries headed by Meyer and Hinn cooperated and promised to reform, but the others provided only partial information or refused to cooperate on the grounds that the inquiries were intrusive and violated their religious freedom. Senate staffers said potential informants worried about retaliation from the ministries if they cooperated. Investigators concluded that they didn’t have the time or resources to issue and enforce subpoenas.
A final report released in January 2011 showed no evidence of wrongdoing by any of the ministries and recommended no legislative remedies. But Grassley’s staffers voiced general concerns. “This lack of governmental, independent or denominational oversight is troubling when considering that churches can reach the size of large taxable corporations, control numerous taxable and non-taxable subsidiaries, and bestow Wall Street-size benefits on their ministers,” the staff memo said. They received financial statements showing how ministries dissolved charitable organizations into a church to avoid having to file IRS Form 990 required for other nonprofit groups. The report detailed the existence of business entities affiliated with church ministries.
Today, Congress has no appetite to force greater transparency and seems content to let churches police themselves. Grassley recommended that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability form a commission to follow up on the Senate report. Members of the council, founded by Billy Graham and others in 1979, appoint independent boards and release financial documents. But churches like Lakewood are ineligible to join because the Osteen family controls the board. Many evangelical churches are husband-and-wife operations that include their children and in-laws in leadership roles. The lines between the family and the church are blurred or nonexistent. That has also led to succession problems for many high-profile ministries. More on that next time.
