THE FAMOUS CHRYSTAL CATHEDRAL OF THE BORN AGAIN IN GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA IS NOW BANKRUPT!

Crystal Cathedral not for sale, announces church board 

Garden Grove, Calif., August 1 (CNA/EWTN News)
.- Despite the Diocese of Orange recently making a $50 million bid for
the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, church board members
announced on July 31 that the building is no longer for sale.

"The
board feels its great responsibility toward all of our vendors and
other creditors, to pay them 100 percent of what is owed as soon as
possible," senior pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman said from the pulpit
Sunday.

Coleman
also cited a "responsibility" to local church members as well as
viewers of the televised "Hour of Power" to keep the ministry's
headquarters "intact."

The
news comes after the Diocese of Orange announced in early July that it
was considering buying the Crystal Cathedral as an option to meet the
needs of the 1.2 million Catholics in Orange County, the 11th largest
diocese in the nation.

Although
it has been planning for over 10 years to build a new, 2,500-seat
cathedral in Santa Ana, the diocese has only hired an architect for the
project and was considering converting the bankrupt church into a
Catholic cathedral.

The
Crystal Cathedral was appealing to the diocese because it provided an
instant solution to its building needs and would have cost roughly half
the $100 million price tag for the planned cathedral.

Though
the diocese made an official $50 million bid for the Crystal Cathedral
on July 22, the church board voted against selling it and decided to
appeal to church members and viewers to donate the funds  instead.

The
cathedral, founded by pastor Robert H. Schuller, filed for bankruptcy
last October, after some of its creditors sued for payment.

Documents
from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana show that hundreds of
creditors could be owed between $50 million and $100 million, the Los
Angeles Times reported.

"Through
our filing of Chapter 11 last October," Coleman said, "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."

Coleman
also said the board was "deeply touched by the outpouring of admiration
for our beautiful 40-acre garden grounds and its world class
architecture," noting that many "of the potential buyers are community
and faith leaders that have gone to great lengths to honor the
ministry."

According
to the Orange County Register, four official offers were made for the
glass church: two $46 million bids from the developer Greenlaw Partners
LLC and Chapman University, and two $50 million offers from the Diocese
of Orange and My Father's House Church International.