Crystal Cathedral files for bankruptcy protection
Unable to satisfy creditors owed millions of dollars, the ailing
Crystal Cathedral ministry in Southern California has filed for
bankruptcy protection.
The once-influential megachurch founded by
Robert H. Schuller in recent years has reduced its purchase of
television time, laid off staffers and sold some of its real estate
holdings, but the combination of a recession, an aging congregation in
Garden Grove and pastoral succession problems within the Schuller
family have tested the founder's optimistic outlook.
"Tough times
never last, but tough people do," current senior pastor Sheila Schuller
Coleman told a news conference October 18, repeating a motto of her
famous father. The church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that morning,
declaring that it could not reach a settlement with some vendors who
sought court action against the church.
