Schuller was born a few miles outside of Alton, Iowa to a family of Dutch ancestry. He studied at Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1950 with a Master of Divinity degree. Upon graduating from Western Theological Seminary, he was ordained as a minister in the Reformed Church in America. He worked at the Ivanhoe Reformed Church in Riverdale, Illinois (south suburban Chicago), before moving to Garden Grove, California where, after humble beginnings, the Garden Grove Community Church was opened in 1955 in the Orange Drive-In Theater, which Schuller rented for $500. He has also since received numerous honorary doctoral degrees.

He also purchased two acres, located about four miles from the drive-in theater and built a new 300 seat chapel. Each Sunday, Schuller conducted a service in the chapel at 9.30 in the morning and then drove his organ to the drive-in to conduct a second service there.

As the size of both congregations grew, Schuller was able to raise enough money to purchase 10 acres in Garden Grove, just two miles from the new Disneyland. His vision was to combine both congregations into one church location, which could function as both a "walk-in, drive-in" church. Ground was broken for the new church on September 10, 1958, at 12141 Lewis Street.

The new church was designed by the famed international architect Richard Neutra and was completed in 1961 at a cost of $3,000,000. The first dedication service was held in that new building on November 5, 1961.

With a punch of one button, two 25-feet high glass doors slid open as Schuller mounted the pulpit to the sound of his choir singing Holy, Holy, Holy. That part of the design of the new church building enabled Schuller to preach his sermons to 1,500 worshipers in 500 cars at the same time that the indoor portion of the building was packed with additional members of his congregation. The newspaper advertisements described the church as a "walk-in, drive-in" church.

Three new associate ministers joined the Garden Grove Community Church during that period: Harold Leestma, minister of Evangelism, coming from Indiana, Kenneth Van Wyk, minister of youth and education, coming from Michigan and Dr. Henry Poppen, minister of visitation, coming from Singapore.

A new "Tower of Hope" building was added on the north side of the drive-in church building. It was completed in 1968 and rose 90 feet in the air with a cross on top. It became the highest structure in the county at that time. The building would become the setting for another church first a 24 hour suicide prevention hot-line called New Hope, in memory of an early church member that Mrs. Schuller had personally attempted to save from suicide threats, only to lose her on a night when Mrs. Schuller was unable to answer her telephone. In the words of the founder, Dr. Robert H. Schuller,

"New Hope is a light that never goes out,an eye that is never closed,an ear that is never shut,a heart that never grows cold."

During that same year, Schuller was able to purchase the 10-acre walnut grove which bordered the north side of the Garden Grove Community drive-in church. That land expansion enabled him to begin construction of the much larger "Crystal Cathedral." In 1975, Time magazine ran a story on architecture that featured Philip Johnson. Schuller met with Johnson in New York and cast his vision for the all glass cathedral. Johnson’s initial response was "Impossible! You can’t make a cathedral with glass walls and a glass ceiling in an earthquake zone!” Schuller persisted, “Why not? All you have to do is hire engineers that can do the impossible!” Then he added boldly to this architect master, “You need to cut the word impossible out of your dictionary!”

The first-ever all-glass church was dedicated on September 14, 1980 “To the Glory of Man for the Greater Glory of God.” At its dedication, Johnson called the Crystal Cathedral his “capilavori,” or “crowning achievement.”

As the Crystal Cathedral’s founding pastor, Schuller is seen and heard internationally every Sunday from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral on the world’s most widely watched hour-long church service, the Hour of Power. His local congregation at the Crystal Cathedral has more than 10,000 members. Schuller has filmed over 1500 Hour of Power shows in the Crystal Cathedral. USA Today reported in 2009 that dollar contributions and church members have been declining for several years. That trend accelerated when "...the cathedral's heir apparent, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller Jr., suddenly left in a bitter family feud", the newspaper said.

Schuller has chosen to focus on what he believes are the positive aspects of the Christian faith. He deliberately avoids condemning people for sin, believing that Jesus "met needs before touting creeds". Once in relationship with God, Schuller emphasizes, someone who is sowing positive faith in his heart and actions will discover that the by-product is a reduction of sin. He is known to say, "Sin is a condition before it is an action." Known by many as the father of the "dreamer" movement (a new surge of inspiring preaching that has catapulted in popularity in the last decade), Schuller encourages Christians (and non-Christians) to achieve great things through God and to believe in their dreams. He authored the line, "If you can dream it, you can do it!"

On June 15, 1950, Schuller married Arvella De Haan, a church organist who later became instrumental in developing the music department at the Crystal Cathedral and was the original producer of the Hour of Power television show, a role she filled for over 40 years. They have one son and four daughters.

On January 22, 2006, his son, Robert A. Schuller, took over as senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral, but was removed from that position on October 25, 2008, by his father, who cited "a lack of shared vision". In a prepared statement, founder Robert H. Schuller stated that "different ideas as to the direction and the vision for this ministry" with his son "made it necessary ... to part ways in the Hour of Power television ministry".

On June 11, 2009, Schuller announced that church leadership would pass to his daughter, Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman. Coleman, aged 58 as of 2009, is the oldest of the five Schuller children and the former head of family ministries at the Crystal Cathedral. Since her brother's departure, she has been the Director of Ministry and Mission. She has said that the Hour of Power will no longer have the kind of ministry that places the attention "on one pastor". The Hour of Power will be populated with "a stable of up to six ministers, including herself and her father".. After a year as interim senior pastor, Dr. Schuller Coleman was elevated to senior pastor in July 2010.

Another daughter, Jeanne Dunn, and husband Paul Dunn oversee The Glory of Christmas and The Glory of Easter. Jeanne has assisted in various editorial contributions to various printed works and for Schuller's books. Her husband, Paul David Dunn co-authored The Possibility Thinker's Bible and Living Debt Free with Dr. Robert H. Schuller.

A third daughter, Carol Schuller Milner (husband Tim Milner), was the writer, director, and producer of Creation: Once Upon All Time that debuted in 2005 to an audience of 70,000. She was the creative overseer of Schuller's autobiography, My Journey, (contributing substantially to the writing) and is author of various other works of print. Carol was in a motorcycyle accident at the age of thirteen that resulted in the amputation of her left leg. In 1986, she was interviewed on The Today Show.

Son-in-law James Penner, husband of fourth daughter, Gretchen, is producer of the Hour of Power telecast. Gretchen is director of programming for the ministry.

Schuller is the author of numerous self-help books including:

• Way To The Good Life (1963)
• Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking (1967)
• Self-Love (1975)
• You Can Be The Person You Want To Be (1976)
• Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (1982)
• Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do (1983), Thomas Nelson ISBN 978-0840-75287-1
• Toughminded Faith for Tenderhearted People (1979), Thomas Nelson, ISBN 0-8407-5329-2
• Prayer: My Soul's Adventure with God (1995), Doubleday ISBN 978-0385-48505-0
• Living Positively One Day At A Time (1986)
• My Journey: From An Iowa Farm To A Cathedral Of Dreams (2001)
• Hours of Power (2004)
• Don't Throw Away Tomorrow (2005)
• Success is never ending,failure is never final (1990)

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