"We'll leave the light on...
Posted on 08/01/2011 9:30:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Leaders of Crystal Cathedral have announced that selling the California church, laden with nearly $50 million in debt, is no longer an option and say they believe that God is going to turn the church’s situation around for good.
Surprising even church founder Robert H. Schuller, Crystal Cathedral Ministries Board Member Walt Kallestad revealed Sunday that church leaders had done a one-eighty, deciding that the Orange County church “is not for sale” after all, no matter what the Creditors Committee tasked with settling the church's debt have in mind.
The Creditors Committee is responsible for ensuring that Crystal Cathedral's debt is settled and has been going by a bankruptcy reorganization plan that includes sale of the church.
Church members are hoping the judge overseeing their case will grant them permission in court Monday to move ahead with a plan of their own to raise the necessary funds to dig Crystal Cathedral out of debt.
Schuller called the announcement, issued by Kallestad from the church’s pulpit, “unexpected,” but added that he was delighted to know board members had decided to step out in faith to battle the church’s financial woes.
“It's time to focus on rescue, not abandonment," Schuller said in a statement. “It's time to face our mountain.”
At a bankruptcy court hearing to be held Monday, church representatives are expected to seek permission to carry out a fundraising plan to raise $50 million in the next 120 days, reports the Orange County Register.
No matter the court’s ruling, board members say, they know God will have the final word and are certain that He will “provide all the funds necessary to pay every creditor in full" and use the church’s bankruptcy for good.
“Through our filing of Chapter 11 last October, I believe God has used it to turn the eyes of the world toward the Crystal Cathedral because He wants to make a big, bold statement, and, as a faith-based ministry, it's important to put our faith in God in this matter,” Sheila Schuller Coleman, senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral, said in a statement.
“We cannot teach about faith without living out faith in our actions, especially as it concerns a decision such as this,” Colemand added.
Just last week, Schuller’s daughter, Carol Schuller Milner, told the Orange Country Register that her father was “open to all proposals” from prospective buyers.
Two of the four purchase proposals for the church’s 40-acre property include an offer from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange for $50 million and a $46-million offer from Chapman University, a private university near the church.
In addition to dealing with bankruptcy, church leaders have also been dealing with a battle indoors stemming from allegations of nepotism by elder members of the church.
In an online petition, members have accused church leaders of not having an objective board and are calling on Schuller’s family members to step down from the board of trustees.
Jim McDonald, who organized the online petition, told the Orange County Register Saturday that he had collected nearly 800 signatures from Crystal Cathedral members who want an independent board without any of Schuller’s family and friends.
McDonald also expressed doubt that the necessary funds to dig Crystal Cathedral out of debt could be raised in the next 120 days.
“If you hadn't been able to do it in 10 months, how are you going to do it now,” McDonald told the paper.
Crystal Cathedral, located in Garden Grove, Calif., was founded in 1955 by Schuller and his wife, Arvella, as the Garden Grove Community Church. The church claims over 10,000 members.
where will they get the money?
their parish is old and dying,
they are disillusioned with the schuller family, and
mexicans and vietnamese predominate in the area.
Can someone please humor me here and explain how a church is $50 million in debt??
"We'll leave the light on...
Have you seen what the Shuler family and other hangers on have been getting for salaries? There might be one reason.
Sounds like they need to raise their debt ceiling.
Maybe because they do not want to see it become a Catholic cathredral?
Salaries of principal Crystal Cathedral employees
OC Register | October 23, 2010 | RONALD CAMPBELL
Robert A Schuller, $196,478, Hour of Power
Fred W. Southard, $156,710, Hour of Power
James W. Coleman, $156,710, Hour of Power
James B. Penner, $156,710, Hour of Power
Louise Dunn, $154,731, Church
Charles L. Smith, $135,519, Hour of Power
John A. Townsend, $125,027, Hour of Power
Carol Milner, $108,415, Hour of Power
Robert H. Schuller, $108,415, Hour of Power
Donna Schuller, $80,308, Hour of Power
Gretchen J. Penner, $69,792, Hour of Power
Sheila Coleman, $69,792, Church
Churches can definitely be slow to react and many have been caught unprepared for the depth of this “recession”.
Ha! It’s always been for sale.
Schuller and his family do not behave very g-dly in their private lives. G-d must shake His head and cry real tears at the way they treat others.
RE: Can someone please humor me here and explain how a church is $50 million in debt??
The Cathedral has a $36 million mortgage to pay off and a total debt of $48 million. About $7.5 million of that debt is to unsecured creditors – a majority of them vendors and laborers whose bills have gone unpaid (a lot of them contractors who worked on the humongous building ).
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VENDORS OF THE CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL AND HOW MUCH THEY ARE OWED :
http://www.ocregister.com/news/-272563—.html?cb=1287986971
The church has sold several assets, cut about 150 of its staff members and slashed air time by 50 percent.
It did not help that its congregation has shrunk to about 5,000. According to bankruptcy filings, donations fell by 24 percent in 2009.
The church, at this point, owes money to about 550 creditors. The Cathedral lost $16.8 million over three years on total revenues of $70.8 million.
The mortgage includes the cost of two more buildings on campus – the Family Life Center and Welcoming Center – which were added in 1990 and 2003 respectively. The mortgage also covers the cost of other refurbishments on campus and parking lot expansion as well as funds to acquire neighboring properties.
For the last two years, the church has tried to refinance its mortgage to a manageable level, but has not been successful. The 10-acre property in Garden Grove is valued between $55 million and $60 million.
The bankruptcy was the direct result of the Cathedral not having sufficient liquid cash flow to pay off the vendors.
Also, A major financial debacle, according to Robert Schuller’s son and many congregants who were interviewed, came in 2005 when the Cathedral spent between $13 million and $15 million on a lavish production called “Creation.” The show not only lost about $5 million, but was never staged again.
Looks like they can’t stomach selling to the Catholic Church. I wonder what Chapman University would do with it, and where would they get the $46 million for their bid. At least the Catholics would fill it every weekend. Have no idea how often Chapman would fill it outside of graduation ceremonies.
I was flipping through the channels on Sunday and came across Rev. Schuller speaking at their service. It was quite sad to see this wonderful preacher who now is well past the time at which he should have retired. He essentially did retire but was forced to come back when his son and all subsequent preachers failed to cut the mustard. I don’t know how they can keep their TV audience.
That is a lot of overhead every year.
RE: Schuller and his family do not behave very g-dly in their private lives. G-d must shake His head and cry real tears at the way they treat others.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Robert Schuller’s “empire” began and flourished because he preached a positive message of a loving God – a message of hope for the hopeless. He prided himself on being a “possibility thinker,” a man of faith who dwelt on the unlimited possibilities before him. He did not believe that Jesus Christ viewed all of mankind as “sinners.”
This new, uplifting message inspired hundreds of young people.
But a church that had its humble beginnings in the dreams of one inspired man soon became a symbol of wealth and power — lacking an equally charismatic successor to take over leadership of what it is now — a megachurch.
A church built on the charismatic power of one man is a church built on sand. IT WILL NOT LONG STAND.
Happened to catch a little of his show Sunday. Seemed to me there were a lot of empty seats.
How he started out sounds really good. Too bad he does not keep to these aims in his private life. His whole family is known to be very selfish and unkind in their interactions with neighbors. Trust me.
the air
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