Crystal
Cathedral to be Sold to Pay Millions in Debt
By DEEPA BHARATH
THE ORANGE
May 26, 2011
GARDEN
GROVE Crystal Cathedral Ministries will sell its gleaming glass sanctuary and
tower that have been an
The
church plans to sell the campus to a real estate investment group with a
guaranteed 15-year leaseback and an exclusive four-year, fixed purchase buyback
option on the core church campus, which includes the iconic glass sanctuary and
Crystal Cathedral Ministries announced that it will sell the
Crystal Cathedral and tower that have been an
LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE
Marc
Winthrop, the attorney representing the cathedral in bankruptcy court, said the
plan will ensure that the church can continue its ministry and other programs
unhindered.
"The
purpose of this plan is to generate funds to repay creditors without affecting
the ability of the ministry to operate," he said.
No
details have been released about the purchase price or the identity of the
investor. But
Church
administrators say the cathedral will continue its local worship services,
community outreach programs and its weekly "Hour of Power"
broadcasts. Also, the plan will immediately eliminate both the church's
mortgage and the majority of its vendor debt, they say. Any remaining vendor
debt will be repaid over the next 42 months, officials say.
Senior pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman, who took over leadership of the megachurch from her father, founder Robert H. Schuller, said this plan was picked over other proposals
because it repays the vendors quickly without interrupting the ministry's work.
"We are pleased that we are able to honor the
debt that we have incurred and to honor the creditors who are due their
payment," she said in a statement. "To pay them back 100 percent has
always been a top priority and we are grateful to God for providing the
resources to be able to do just that."
Kristina Oliver, who is owed $57,000 for supplying
livestock for the church pageants, said she is optimistic that the church will
pay her. Oliver's home went into foreclosure after the church refused to pay
her what was due.
"I would just be relieved to put all this
behind me and move on with my life," she said.
Anne
Waltz, who joined the church 57 years ago as a member of its first choir at
the Orange drive-in, said both she and her husband, Ken, were shocked to hear
their church was being sold.
"This church needs a dynamic preacher to
survive at this point," she said.
Ken Waltz said he is saddened to see the fall of a
church that was built from the ground up by the elder Schuller,
who wowed
"The church has done so much good for the
world," he said. "We hate to see it all muddied up like this in the
end."
Ken Waltz also questioned the viability of the
church's plan to emerge from bankruptcy.
"If they don't have the money now, how will
they have the money to buy back the church four years from now," he said.
"There are a lot of questions here."
He added that a church needs three elements to be
successful – a powerful message in the form of a dynamic preacher, fellowship
and divine music.
"The fellowship's still there at the
cathedral," he said. "But they've lost their preacher and the music.
They need to get that back in order to be successful."
Anne Waltz said she misses the music led by artists
such as pianist Roger Williams and choir director Don Neuen.
Both Williams and Neuen left over differences of
opinion with Schuller's daughters, who are in charge
of the cathedral's programs.
"The music we had was starting to rival the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir," she said. "Now we've lost that and we've
lost our 'glories' that brought tens of thousands of people through our
doors."
The Crystal Cathedral, over the past three years,
has been torn by a family feud that saw the exit of the founder's son Robert A. Schuller. In the year leading up to its bankruptcy filing Oct. 18, the church sold many of its assets, cut about 150 of
its staff members and slashed air time by 50 percent. Its congregation has
shrunk to fewer than 5,000. According to bankruptcy filings, donations fell by
24 percent in 2009.
The church, at this point, owes money to about 550 creditors.
Among the unsecured creditors are vendors who provided their services to the megachurch's popular "Glory
of Christmas" and "Glory of Easter" pageants – both of which
have been suspended as a result of the church's financial troubles. 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