Schuller to Hold On to Maui Retreat

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller this week received approval from the Maui Planning Commission to continue to operate his 14-acre Hawaiian retreat for three more years.

The extension of a special use permit will also allow the Garden Grove-based Schuller ministry to hold weddings, seminars and meetings for no more than 100 people on the property, said Ann Molina, a planner with the Maui County Planning Department.

Reports that Schuller was considering selling the property led to many offers “in the seven-figure” category, Schuller said. Schuller traveled to the Hawaiian Islands to assure planning commissioners that the property, surrounded by farmland, would continue to be used as a religious retreat. “We have no intention to sell,” he said.

The property, called Baldwin Manor, was given to the Schuller ministry three years ago by Athalie Clark, wife of the late James Irvine Jr.

Rumors began to circulate last month after Schuller told Maui planners that he would have to consider selling if he could not use the property for its intended purpose as a religious retreat.

As a result of reduced contributions to the television evangelist, Schuller has in recent months made budget cuts in the ministry’s Crystal Cathedral and “Hour of Power” television program.

“No way could we hold on to an expensive piece of property when money could be used for other things in the ministry,” he said. “These are days when we look very carefully at our costs. We are monitoring our expenses.”