Founder’s Family Cuts Ties to Crystal Cathedral Megachurch

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller is leaving the Crystal Cathedral, the Southern California church he led for more than half a century and built into a televangelism powerhouse, over a financial dispute arising from the institution’s bankruptcy case, according to the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.

The Rev. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, resigned Saturday from the ministry’s international board, citing an “adversarial and negative atmosphere.” Preaching Sunday from the pulpit of the house of worship her father built, head pastor Rev. Sheila Schuller Coleman said she was leaving to lead a new ministry under the name Hope Center OC.

Crystal Cathedral, which launched the Hour of Power religious broadcast and had 10,000 congregants at its 1980s peak, filed for bankruptcy in 2010 after years of aggressive expansion and dwindling membership gutted its finances. Last year it sold its famed church building and campus to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County for $57.5-million.

Repayment of creditors has been delayed as the church sorts through competing financial claims, including one from the Schullers, who contend Crystal Cathedral owes them money for unpaid contracts and copyright infringement. The family said the church terminated talks on their claim last week.