Schuller Says Court’s Dismissal of Pageant Suit Vindicates Him

With the theatrical set of the Crystal Cathedral’s Christmas pageant as a backdrop, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller on Monday declared himself “completely vindicated” in a $55-million lawsuit over ownership of the production.

The suit, filed by two directors of “The Glory of Christmas” pageant who were fired by Schuller in 1986, was dismissed Friday in Santa Ana by U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts, who strongly rebuked the plaintiffs.

Letts’ written order accused the former directors, Michael Coleman and Conwell Worthington, and their attorney, Irving Meyer of Los Angeles, of having “perpetrated a fraud on this court by intentionally making . . . false allegations” supported by “a bogus contract.”

Meyer on Monday declined to comment on Letts’ assertion that a false contract was knowingly offered as evidence. But, he said, “if it would have been done, it was done entirely by mistake in that the (wrong) last page was attached to the contract. That’s the way it came out of my clients’ file.”

He said he did not know who might have attached the wrong page, or whether an authentic signed page exists.

Schuller, who said Monday that the popular productions belong to the Garden Grove church and its congregation, stood on stage, beneath an acrylic Star of Bethlehem, to read a brief statement. He then turned and exited through the set, ignoring questions from reporters.

‘Falsehoods Revealed’

“As you know, independent television evangelists and even ministers of established denominations, like myself, have received more than their share of adverse publicity over the past year,” Schuller said. “We are, therefore, most grateful that the falsehoods perpetrated on the court, press and public by the plaintiffs have been revealed for public scrutiny.”

More than 120,000 tickets have been sold for this year’s religious extravaganza, performed through Christmas in the cavernous glass-paneled church. Income from the pageant is particularly important to Schuller in light of cuts announced earlier this year, including a 25% reduction in the $1-million budget for Schuller’s “Hour of Power” broadcast ministry and the layoffs of about 40 of the weekly show’s 250 staff members.

Schuller’s attorney, Arthur Nakazato of Newport Beach, who also spoke during the press conference, called the plaintiff’s contract and lawsuit “an outrageous fraud.” He said Coleman and Worthington presented as evidence a phony contract that granted them copyrights on the cathedral’s Christmas and Easter productions, power to veto changes in the pageants and severance pay of more than $240,000 each in the event of their dismissal.

The last page of the purported 1984 contract, which bore the signature of William Underwood, former director of Schuller Ministries, was actually lifted from the 1983 production contract, Nakazato said.

“In looking at it, you could tell it was an identical copy of the signature page signed almost a year earlier,” he said. “It was an outrageous fraud perpetrated on the court, coupled with their intent to extort.”

Nakazato stopped short of calling for a criminal investigation but said, “I would be very surprised if the district attorney did not follow up.” The Orange County district attorney’s office has not opened an inquiry into the allegations, according to Maurice Evans, assistant district attorney in charge of special operations. Evans said criminal investigations generally begin when victims contact a police agency. Police, in turn, ask the county prosecutor to review the case.

Coleman and Worthington, who were in charge of the pageants from 1983 to 1985, sought $55 million in damages in a breach-of-contract suit that alleged that they were fired without cause and replaced with the current director, Paul David Dunn, Schuller’s son-in-law. The federal court suit further alleged that Schuller and his ministry reneged on promises to buy out their interest in the productions.

Neither Coleman nor Worthington, who are partners in a production company in Orange that bears their names, could be reached for comment Monday. But Meyer, their attorney, said they will appeal the decision and insisted that they legitimately own the script.

“It has been and still is my clients’ contention that they do, in fact, own that material, and we definitely intend to fight for what is due them,” Meyer said. “They did all of the staging. They wrote most of the material.”