The Rev. Ernst Gerhart Schmidt, church founder

The Rev. Ernst Gerhart Schmidt, 84, of Huntingdon Valley, founding minister of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and a writer, TV preacher, and creator of senior communities in the Philadelphia area, died Friday, Jan. 15, at Luther Woods Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Hatboro.

He died of complications from a stroke, his family said.

Born in Chicago, at the start of the Great Depression, he moved with his family to Olney when his father, the Rev. Ernst Schmidt, a well-known German Lutheran pastor, was assigned to Philadelphia's Tabor Lutheran Church.

Mr. Schmidt graduated from Olney High School in 1949, attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1956.

Just five months out of seminary, he conducted his first service for the newly formed Gloria Dei Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Huntingdon Valley Fire Hall. There were only a handful of worshipers present.

By 1974, Mr. Schmidt's joyful style of ministering had caught on; church membership had risen to nearly 3,000. Worshipers met at the 12-acre church campus on Huntingdon Pike at Welsh Road in Lower Moreland.

At his retirement in 1999, Gloria Dei had more than 4,000 members, and its offerings included preschool education, counseling, and youth ministry.

In 1977, Mr. Schmidt began a television ministry with a series of programs called Make It Happen that were shown on Channel 29 and syndicated for broadcast on other channels. He also hosted a weekly radio ministry on WFLN-FM.

In 1978, he was featured in Today: The Inquirer Magazine as "one of the most successful churchmen in America." In 1994, the Poor Richard Club awarded him the Great American Award.

He was author of a series of inspirational and motivational books titled Make It Happen, Choose to Win, and Me: Do I Really Matter?

He was the founder and CEO of Gloria Dei Communities Corp., a nonprofit that founded, built, and operates seven community facilities for seniors: Gloria Dei Towers, Gloria Dei Manor and Manor Court, Gloria Dei Estates, Gloria Dei Plaza, Gloria Dei Farms, and Luther Park, an assisted-living facility.

He was a longtime champion of the elderly, whom he liked to call "the chronologically gifted," his daughter Lynn McLaughlin said. In home visits to seniors early in his career, he had observed they were isolated. He created the senior communities to keep them safe.

Throughout his pastoral career, he preached to many parishioners, whether at Gloria Dei, the Ocean City (N.J.) Tabernacle, or other places of worship throughout the country. He performed thousands of weddings and funerals, and he counseled many, using his unique style.

"The magic was how he applied the Scriptures to everyday life, and everyone. He made the Bible applicable," his daughter said.

In private life, Mr. Schmidt was very engaged in the activities of his children and grandchildren. He hunted, fished, and traveled widely.

His wife of 50 years, Jane Oliver, died in 2007. Besides his daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Julie Kanto; a son, Mark; and seven grandchildren. A brother died in 2012.

Services were private.

Donations may be made to Philadelphia Corp. for Aging Emergency Fund, 642 N. Broad St., Philadelphia 19130.

bcook@phillynews.com

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