Schuller was born in Blue Island, Illinois and raised in Garden Grove, California until 3rd Grade, when his family moved to Santa Ana where he attended Santa Ana High School. He graduated in 1976 from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, with a bachelor's degree in ancient civilization. He was also employed at the Crystal Cathedral, leading worship services on Sunday evenings, developing a 24-hour prayer group and organizing small group fellowships and appearing on the "Hour of Power" reading scripture and occasionally preaching. In 1980, Schuller became an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, after receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He received an honorary doctorate degree from National Hispanic University in San Jose, California in 1996. He received another honorary doctorate from the California Graduate School of Theology in 2008.