Couldn'ta happened to a nicer bunch of Jesus pushers anywhere!! Reagan and Bush were guests at this megabusiness which capitalized on duping donors with visions of heaven, like most other religions. The heroic and visionary Al Gore was there once, too, unfortunately.
For decades, evangelist Robert H. Schuller's message of faith and positive thinking reached millions nationwide through his "Hour of Power" television show, broadcast from his towering glass church known as the Crystal Cathedral.
Now, it is the church's financial woes that are reverberating across the country.
Citing declining donations and $48 million in debt, Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy protection this week, leaving a trail of hundreds of unpaid creditors from California to Washington, D.C.
According to filings in U.S. bankruptcy court in Santa Ana, the Southern California church has 550 creditors with claims ranging from $2 million—owed to a Cincinnati-based bank that financed sound and stage equipment for the church's TV productions—to $200 owed to a Columbia, S.C., company that supplied ribbons and awards to the church's school.
"It's frustrating. It's not going to break us, but we don't like to lose anything," said Bob Small, chief operating officer of Eagles Wings, a St. Cloud, Fla., clothing company that supplied the church with religious-theme neck-ties for its gift shop, and is owed around $2,000.
In a sermon this year, Mr. Schuller talked about the church's future. Wearing his familiar lavender robes and gold medallion, his white hair swept back, Mr. Schuller told the congregation the church's survival "depends upon new people joining, making commitments and becoming members of this ministry by their financial support. And I need the help today like I needed it that first Sunday."
The church's debt underscores the elaborate style that came to define the Crystal Cathedral, often cited as progenitor of the American mega church. For example, holiday pageants featured live animals, hundreds of performers and live music.
"They had the top choreographers come in and work with the dancers, the top make-up artists too," said Joe Branam, owner of Branam Enterprises in Compton, Calif., which builds stages for rock concerts and movies and did work for the church. "I'd say the Christmas show in many ways could be more elaborate than a KISS concert."
"Man, the Pope ain't got sh*t on all my bling!!"
the catholic church has been spewing for 2000 years.