Weekend mornings call for the slow and sometimes intermittent multi-tasking of razor and remote control. The shaving is slower and often later than on weekday mornings.
So is my channel surfing, which usually lands on news and home improvement shows.
Since confession is good for the soul, however, let me admit to some brief pauses to watch televangelists.
Lately, I have noticed that the torch of prominent, pioneer television preachers is being passed to the next generation — namely, their sons.
In general, a preacher’s kid (or P.K.) can react to that unusual upbringing in a variety of ways ranging from strong church rebellion to following the ministry path of a parent. I guess the same is true of the better known TV pulpiteers of the recent past.
But there seems to be an strong emergence now of second-generation preachers who are sons of those who preach or have preached on the airwaves.
Some of it has to do simply with the passing of time. When Jerry Falwell died earlier this year, his son Jonathan took the reigns of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., as well as the responsibility for keeping Liberty University on the right doctrinal path.
His father’s insurance policy that paid off the church and school’s debt was thoughtful. A law school grad, Jonathan has a preaching style that is his own.
That’s not the case with Robert A. Schuller, son of Robert H. Schuller who gained fame with “The Hour of Power” television service from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif.
The younger Schuller’s dark hair and younger face are the only differences it seems — as he d-r-a-w-s o-u-t his words in dad-like emphasis.
San Antonio fireball preacher John Hagee is giving some airtime to his son-associate Matthew. The stocky, strong-voiced young man resembles his father a great deal.
Donnie Swaggart shows some of the same Pentecostal fervor of his dad, Jimmy. However, he seems to leave the tear-stained piano work to his father who got some of the same gifts as cousins Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley.
Of course, the aging Oral Roberts passed his evangelical empire over to son, Richard. Things have not gone well with that arrangement lately.
Some other current TV preachers out pace their dads in televised exposure. Joel Osteen (overwhelmingly) and
What does all of this mean? I don’t know. Just found the observation interesting.
Now back to the news or HGTV. I might need to know how to replace my gutters someday.
