Garden Grove -- The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who cut off all ties in recent days to the megachurch he founded, says his "financial future may be at risk" due to the bankruptcy of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries.
In a four-minute video posted on his Facebook page, Schuller's voice is publicly heard for the first time in a long while, indirectly addressing his battle with the cathedral's board of directors over who owns the rights to materials he generated as the founder and leader of the now-bankrupt ministry.
"Many have told me that I redefined the Christian message. I had to. And it resonated," he said.
"God flourished my ministry and my career of creative thinking, communicating and writing back 50 years. Many advised me to use these materials to amass wealth. I believed the better course was to allow my works to generate revenue for the ministry," Schuller, 85, says in the video posted Saturday, the same day he announced he and his wife, Arvella, were resigning from the cathedral's board of directors.
"My family and I would never receive royalties on the revenue that my materials brought into the church; materials that were created on our own personal time. Then, when I stepped out of active management of the ministry in 2005, in exchange for continuing to use my materials, the ministry granted my wife and me retirement pay that was intended to provide for us for the rest of our lives," he said.
While Schuller lays out his case in the video – titled "Financial Security Uncertain for Aging Founders" – Crystal Cathedral officials released an announcement Tuesday disputing the Schuller family's statements in recent days that their offer would satisfy all the parties, including the many vendors who have not been paid. At least one of the vendors lost her home after the cathedral failed to pay her.
"The Schuller settlement proposals have consistently demanded the same amount of money – $3.5 million – which, if paid, would leave the Crystal Cathedral Ministries with virtually no funds to continue its ministry," the news release states.
The elder Schullers, along with daughter and son-in-law Carol and Timothy Milner, originally filed a breach of contract claim seeking "immediate cash payments in excess of $5.5 million, a claim to ownership of all of the ministry's intellectual property and for unspecified monetary damages for infringement," the release states.
In an interview last weekend, Carol Schuller Milner said the multimillion dollar claim is to cover both octogenarians through the rest of their lives. The agreement between her parents and the ministry included a housing allowance of up to $120,000 annually and $198,000 in license fees annually.
The board, Schuller Milner said, is "putting the Schullers in a real predicament. They're saying the Schullers have to sacrifice more."
For many decades, her parents donated their materials to the ministry, she said.
Meanwhile, the dispute between the Schullers and the ministry's board is holding up payment to the vendors, who are owed $12.5 million, Kristin Cole, a Crystal Cathedral Ministries spokeswoman, said Tuesday. Many of the vendors had been working with the cathedral for years.
In another development, cathedral employees face a one-day-a-week furlough beginning in the next few weeks, Cole said. The furlough will not affect part-time employees or those who work in the cathedral's school, she said.
On Sunday, the last of the Schullers to have a role in the ministry – Senior Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman – announced at the end of her second sermon that she was leaving the Crystal Cathedral. She said she would be leading the congregation to a new facility under the name Hope Center of Christ and asked congregants to regularly check a new website, www.hopecenteroc.org, for the location of services next Sunday.
At the end of Schuller Coleman's speech, a cathedral minister immediately addressed the crowd to say that worship services will continue at the cathedral on Sundays at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday's news release said the services will feature what many long-time congregants say they have been missing since Schuller Coleman took over: "traditional music and message which is synonymous with the Ministries' legacy."
The dueling announcements signaled a potential split in the congregation, leaving members to decide whether they will follow Schuller Coleman or stay at the Crystal Cathedral.
In their announcement Tuesday, cathedral officials reiterated that the ministry is not leaving the Garden Grove campus and will also continue to air the "Hour of Power" television program, which catapulted Robert H. Schuller onto an international stage decades ago. The board recently fired the Schuller family members who produced the Hour of Power and said the program would go into reruns for a few weeks.
In e-mails and comments posted online, many expressed anger at Schuller Coleman for giving the impression that the congregation was vacating the campus. One local blog that focuses entirely on the Crystal Cathedral – www.pens-opinion.org – said three local TV news channels "bought the Sheila spin."
On Sunday, the Crystal Cathedral will feature Lawrence Wilkes, president of the California Graduate School of Theology. Wilkes will preach for the next three weeks as the ministry looks for a new pastor, said Cole, the ministry's spokeswoman.
Eventually, the Crystal Cathedral will have to find a new home. It was sold to the Catholic Diocese of Orange last month under the bankruptcy agreement.
In his Facebook video, Schuller briefly addresses the bankruptcy, calling it "a humbling experience for this dreamer who never quits."
"I have been known for declaring positive messages like: If you can dream it, you can do it. When faced with a mountain, I will not quit."
In his second reference to the bankruptcy, Schuller said: "The church and the ministry have defined my life. Though we cannot know God's plan, it's comforting to know that the assets and liabilities he tracks are much different than from those tallied by the federal bankruptcy code."
The video concludes with: "We need our community of friends, like you. No matter what, you are still all important to us. No matter what, God is still God. No matter what, God is still a good God. God loves you and so do I."
