Rev. Robert H. Schuller Dies -- Original 'Hour of Power' Minister Dead from Cancer

Rev. Robert H. Schuller -- the minister behind TV's "Hour of Power" -- died from esophageal cancer Thursday morning.

Schuller was at a nursing facility in Artesia, CA when he passed away. He'd been diagnosed with cancer in 2013.

Schuller was one of the early televangelists ... launching the "Hour of Power" in 1970 -- and he continued to preach on the program until 2010.

The reverend was also famous for building the 2700-seat Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA ... which opened in 1981. He retired as senior minister there in 2006. His son initially took over, and eventually his daughter became the church's leader.

The Cathedral filed for bankruptcy in 2010, but Schuller's legacy continues on TV -- one of his grandsons took over the "Hour of Power" in 2013.

Schuller was 88 years old.