The
Crystal Cathedral will become a Catholic cathedral, now that a federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that the megachurch will be sold for $57.5 million to the
Roman Catholic Church.
The ruling shocked
Chapman University, which had fought hard to purchase the property, even upping their bid to $59 million.
The Crystal Cathedral's founder,
Rev. Robert H. Schuller, 85, said he could not live with the thought of Chapman University using the cathedral for secular purposes.
Roman Catholic Church leaders vowed to continue preaching the
Gospel of Christ in the Crystal Cathedral, and that was what tipped Schuller in favor of selling the church to the
Catholic Diocese of Orange at the last minute.
Under terms of the bid, the Schullers can pay rent for the use of the Crystal Cathedral for 36 months, but then they must vacate the property.
Ultimately,
The Pope will be Robert Schuller's landlord.
Church members, who attended the six-hour bankruptcy court hearing, pleaded with the judge to let them remain in their Protestant church.
Devastated at the news that their time worshipping in the Crystal Cathedral would soon come to an end, church members began sobbing in the courtroom.
Some Crystal Cathedral members are angry and resentful of what is perceived to be a lack of humility on the part of televangelist Robert H. Schuller.
One such member did not hold back her feelings.
Maria has faithfully driven from Los Angeles County to Orange County to attend Spanish language services at the Crystal Cathedral for years. She expressed to
Californiality her sadness and frustration with church policies and attitudes that she feels drove the ministry off a cliff.
"You know, things should not end like this. Yes, I am a little angry, especially at the pride. I have never seen so much
machismo and false pride. It saddens me."
"Many believers sent their ideas to your blog about what needs to happen for a miracle to take place, and I'm sure a lot of Christians read that
Crystal Cathedral Salvation Plan. Those ideas were correct and easy to understand, but I guess some people just did not understand."
"That article was so true, and God bless you for publishing it, but I think maybe our suggestions and your work were for nothing. I really hate to say that. It breaks my heart. Pastor Schuller, well, I don't think he took the ideas to heart, and he should. It's scriptural."
"The part about publicly asking for forgiveness? That never happened, but the part about asking for emergency donations? Sure, that happened, but what did it get? Not much. Not enough to stop the bankruptcy court mess. I hate pride. False pride. It destroys everything. It is humiliating."
"The ultimate was the email from Pastor Schuller, asking for food donations. Don't get me wrong, we are loving people who help others, but a
limousine? The food donations would be picked up and delivered to his house by
LIMOUSINE? We could not believe it. That was unbelievable."
"Yes, God is still the God of miracles, even for our mess, but the Lord expects a certain attitude, you know. We have to be humble. We have to admit where we have failed. We have to take responsibility. Did Pastor Schuller think this way? I don't know. I really don't know. We still have to trust in the Lord, no matter what."
"What would I want to say to all your readers? Oh, that's easy.
Get pride out of your church. Our Crystal Cathedral has been there, and what did it get us? Pride comes before a fall. Take it from us. We are living it," said Maria.
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The local Garden Grove, California television news report (below) does a superb job at explaining exactly what went down inside the
Ronald Reagan Federal Building. Heart-wrenching video.
Many wonder what will happen to the Crystal Cathedral ministry, which tried to dig itself out of $50 million in debts with a "miracle" fundraising campaign that raised only $200,000.
There is a new video on the Crystal Cathedral website, in which
Sheila Schuller-Coleman urges members not to give up hope for a miracle. "There is still time for God to step in and rescue Crystal Cathedral Ministries," she said.
Without a last-minute miracle, the Protestant
Crystal Cathedral will be sold to the Roman Catholic Church, where
Pope Benedict ultimately calls the shots.
CATHOLIC CHURCH BUYS CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL
