Televangelist’s funeral to be in Catholic church

Ceremony for Robert H. Schuller will be at his former Crystal Cathedral

April 9, 2015

Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founder of Crystal Cathedral and “Hour of Power,” passed away on April 2. (Hour of Power/ Crystal Cathedral Ministries)

The following comes from an April 7 Christian Post article by Michael Gryboski:

Services for Crystal Cathedral founder, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, will be held in the very iconic sanctuary that his ministry created.

While it’s now under the ownership of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange and named Christ Cathedral, the large southern California church building will be used for the famous televangelist’s funeral.

In 1951, Schuller and his wife founded the Crystal Cathedral church in Garden Grove, Orange County, California.

In 1970, Schuller started the influential and popular “Hour of Power” religious program, which remains on the air today and is helmed by his grandson.

Ten years later, the pastor started services in his new Crystal Cathedral, an imposing glass and steel sanctuary with approximately 10,000 windows and thousands of regular attendees.

Christ Cathedral, formerly known as Crystal Cathedral. (Diocese of Orange)

By 2010, however, Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral Ministries found itself deep in debt. The ministry filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing over $7 million to creditors.

The Crystal Cathedral building was eventually sold to the Diocese of Orange for $57.5 million, and later renamed the Christ Cathedral in 2012.

Last week, Schuller died at age 88, at a nursing home in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer that had been diagnosed back in 2013.