Robert H Schuller

On a recent Sunday morning in the Crystal Cathedral, Sheila Schuller Coleman, its co-leader, offered a sermon about the necessity of rising above turbulence in the storms of life. It is familiar ground for the Garden Grove megachurch, which is in the midst of its own financial turmoil. The church, founded by Robert H. Schuller in the 1950s, announced in late January that it is laying off dozens of employees, selling a 170-acre retreat, pulling its "Hour of Power" television show from seven stations and canceling its annual Glory of Easter pageant.

Chapman University increased its purchase price for the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral campus by $1.5 million to a total price of $51.5 million, and creditors officially designated the school as the preferred buyer of the Garden Grove property in court documents filed Monday. The filings made clear why the church and its creditors support Chapman's plan over a $53.6-million offer by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. In some documents, cathedral attorneys argued that the diocese offer, which would require the Crystal Cathedral to seek a new place for worship within three years, was financially risky to the ministry and the weekly "Hour of Power" broadcast.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, the Garden Grove televangelist, apologized Wednesday for "aggressively" grabbing a flight attendant--a public admission that cemented a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid trial on an assault charge.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, the Garden Grove televangelist, apologized Wednesday for "aggressively" grabbing a flight attendant--a public admission that cemented a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid trial on an assault charge. Schuller, who preaches to a worldwide television audience of 20 million each week, had previously denied wrongdoing in a dispute with a United Airlines flight attendant over a garment bag and an unwanted serving of cheese en route from Los Angeles to New York City.

The schism between the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his son at Orange County's Crystal Cathedral arose over a disagreement about broadening the church's long-running television show, "Hour of Power," beyond a single personality -- a move opposed by the younger Schuller, pastors involved in the matter said Sunday. The elder Schuller announced Saturday that he was removing his son, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, as the show's only preacher three years after turning the program over to him.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller has been ousted from the board of directors at the Crystal Cathedral, the Orange County megachurch he built into a televised empire after getting his start preaching at a drive-in theater, his son said Sunday night. Schuller, 84, stepped down from the pulpit five years ago and had long ago ceded day-to-day control of the Garden Grove ministry, largely to his children and other relatives. There were conflicting reports about precisely what had taken place between Schuller and the board members.

Embroiled in a legal dispute with the church he founded, Robert H. Schuller and his wife have resigned from the international board of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. The resignations are a result of a breakdown in negotiations over financial claims against the church that the Schullers filed in Bankruptcy Court. FOR THE RECORD: Crystal Cathedral: An article in the March 11 California section about Robert H. Schuller's departure from the board of the Crystal Cathedral said that he founded the church 42 years ago. The television ministry began 42 years ago, but Schuller founded the church 57 years ago, in 1955.

Iwas 7 or 8 years old, reading my way through my kiddie encyclopedias, when I infuriated my Sunday school teacher by suggesting that the miraculous parting of the Red Sea was simply low tide. At that age, Sheila Schuller was working for her father's fledgling church. On Sunday mornings, she thumbtacked the Sunday school lessons to the wooden picnic tables at the Garden Grove drive-in theater where the Rev. Robert H. Schuller preached sermons from atop the snack stand. Today, half a century later, Sheila Schuller Coleman and her dad share the pulpit at the Crystal Cathedral, heart of a vast faith empire that he founded.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller started his ministry more than 45 years ago, preaching from a tar-papered pulpit on top of a snack bar in Orange County. Now, almost 30 million believers in almost 200 countries tune in to his "Hour of Power" televised ministry.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, whose television ministry has long been symbolized by Garden Grove's towering Crystal Cathedral, will unveil his latest monument this weekend: the $40-million International Center for Possibility Thinking, designed by Getty Center architect Richard Meier. It took 13 years and the sweat of 183,000 workers to build King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.