Congregation Gives Crystal Cathedral to TV Ministry

The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, now owned by its congregation, is being given free of charge to the Rev. Robert Schuller’s independent TV ministry in a move Schuller described Thursday as an attempt at “safeguarding and securing the beautiful church property.”

Ownership of the church complex, estimated to be worth $18 million to $32 million, will be transferred to Robert Schuller Ministries Inc. within the next few months, church officials said. Schuller Ministries then will give the congregation a renewable 99-year lease that for $1 a year allows the congregation to continue to use the property, church officials said.

Repayment of the $5-million mortgage on the property will remain the congregation’s responsibility, the officials said.

Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, founded the Garden Grove Community Church in 1955 and later created Schuller Ministries to produce the “Hour of Power” television show, which is broadcast internationally.

Collateral for Loans

Schuller still heads both organizations. Each has its own, independent board of directors, although some directors serve on both boards. The church’s 10,000-member congregation is part of the Reformed Church in America, but Schuller Ministries is not.

According to one church board member, Schuller Ministries needs the Crystal Cathedral properties as collateral for loans for its latest project, a $20-million training center for ministers to be built beside current church property.

But in a statement issued Thursday by his public relations spokesman, Schuller said the transfer of property puts the cathedral under the “umbrella” of Schuller Ministries, which has formed an endowment committee to raise funds “to guarantee the future security” of the cathedral and other ministries properties.

“The CC congregation will always have use of the property, which is guaranteed by a 99-year lease renewable in perpetuity,” Schuller said in his statment. “This is a move to assure these properties will not decay or deteriorate in the decades and centuries to come and will help lift the financial burden from the local congregation of responsibility for the future upkeep of all of the properties.”

The congregation ran an estimated $1.4-million operating deficit last year, according to John Joseph, one of the congregation board members.

Joseph said, however, that the congregation now is “running in the black.”

Before last year, the Crystal Cathedral property was debt-free, but the congregation borrowed $5 million for Schuller Ministries. Half of it was given to Schuller Ministries as the purchase price for an office building across the street from the church. Joseph said it was his understanding that the office building was being deeded back to Schuller Ministries as part of the transfer of the cathedral.

Joseph said the $5 million borrowed by the congregation for Schuller Ministries is, in effect, “its portion of the money to contribute to the construction of the new (minister training) property. That’s their target to raise towards that construction.”

Gains in Parking, Access

He said that even though the congregation loses title to the cathedral, “we gain parking and extra ground (at the training center). We gain access to buildings we wouldn’t otherwise have.”

Joseph said the vote by the church board of directors was taken last fall and was unanimous. No public announcement of the decision was made, however, and officials at the denomination’s headquarters in New York said this week that they had just learned of the decision.

Wayne Antworth, national communications director for the denomination, told the Associated Press he thinks the transfer of church property to any organization not a part of the Reformed Church “sets a dangerous precedent.”

If the cathedral went bankrupt, the Reformed Church normally would take over the property, Antworth said. That won’t necessarily happen if it is the property of Schuller Ministries, he said.

Schuller, however, said in his statement that there are other examples of situations in which congregations do not hold the deeds to their church properties.

“Such titles are held by an outside corporation to preserve and perpetuate these historic and landmark properties,” Schuller stated.

Secrecy Denied

Joseph denied that the transfer has been kept secret from the congregation, although he said he knew of no formal or informal announcement. “Nobody’s ever told me to keep it a secret,” he said.

The congregation’s consent was not required for the transfer. The congregation’s board of directors--10 members plus Schuller and his assistant pastor--are not elected by the congregation. Bylaws limit individual board members to two terms of three years each, but when vacancies occur the remaining board members elect the new members.

Joseph said that “all the parties” have given the required approval for the property transfer and that the necessary documents to effect the transfer will be filed in “several months.”

The denomination’s treasurer, Everett Hicks, told the Associated Press that the church board has followed the proper requirements for transferring the property. But, he added, “it would’ve been nice” if the board had notified the church’s national office before making its decision.

Joseph said the denomination’s regional authorities had given approval to the transfer, which was all that was required.