Rev. Schuller’s Ministry Sells Maui Property

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller announced Sunday that his ministry’s multimillion-dollar Maui property has been sold as a “family retreat” to former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon.

Schuller did not reveal the price tag for the lush retreat, which totals 43 acres, in his sermon to his congregation in Garden Grove’s Crystal Cathedral. But he said the transaction “has poured multiplied millions of dollars” into a $23-million Family Life Center, now nearing completion.

The Maui property was an obvious asset to sell in order to finance the new 147,000-square-foot family life building next door to the Crystal Cathedral. It is proposed to include offices for the “Hour of Power,” Schuller’s popular religious television program, as well as a gymnasium and rooms for Bible studies and youth activities.

With his ministry financially strapped and deep in construction costs, Schuller had been seeking a buyer for the prime acreage for more than a year. “We received an offer we just couldn’t refuse,” he told the congregation.

Simon, quoted in a press release from the church, said, “I always wanted a residence in Hawaii and bought it for my family. I am fortunate to be able to buy this magnificent estate and look forward with my family to enjoying it for many years to come.”

A former Wall Street bond trader, Simon was named by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974 as secretary of the treasury and chairman of the Energy Policy Council. He and his wife Carol have seven children.

The property, the century-old Baldwin Manor, was donated to the church as a pastor’s retreat in 1985 by Athalie Clarke, wife of the late James Irvine Jr. and a member of the Crystal Cathedral board of directors.

In 1985, Schuller told the Maui Planning Department that he planned to spend $500,000 to convert the estate into a renewal center. Last year, he received permission from the Maui Planning Commission to continue to hold seminars, weddings and meetings at the retreat for three more years.

“We put a couple of million into it,” said Chet Tolson, director of development, in an earlier interview. “It’s glorious. There’s nothing like it in the world.”

But it had become a “dead asset,” he said. It failed as a pastor’s retreat because “it’s too far for most conferences to be held there,” he said.

“It’s not like you can have 100 couples for the weekend, like you can at Rancho Capistrano,” said Tolson, referring to a sister church of the Crystal Cathedral run by Schuller’s son, Robert A. Schuller.

“As we look at the total ministry, we’re in the ministry business first, not the real estate business, and not in the international seminar business,” Tolson said.

Until a buyer was found, the ministry had been contemplating forming a limited partnership and inviting people to buy equity shares, he said.

Without naming Simon, he said, “Frankly, this offer came out of nowhere.”