Televangelist ROBERT SCHULLER ankles his “Hour of Power” HQ the Crystal Cathedral amid controversy!
Robert Schuller and his wife have left the board of the California uber-church that they founded amidst a financial battle royale with its leaders.
The resignation of Robert and Arvella Schuller from the Crystal Cathedral board follows the $57.5 million bankruptcy sale in February of the towering, glass-walled pillar in the Southern California community of Garden Grove to a Roman Catholic diocese.
"We cannot continue to serve on the board in what has become an adversarial and negative atmosphere, especially since it now seems that it will not be ending anytime soon," Schuller’s wife Arvellar said.
The Schullers and their daughter, Carol Schuller Milner, charged in bankruptcy court that the church owes them money for copyright infringement, intellectual property violations and unpaid contracts.
The Schullers departure from the board marks the end of an era for the congregation which launched 56 years ago in 1955 when they began holding services in a rented drive-in theater.
With the success of Robert Schuller's "Hour of Power" broadcasts, his congregation in 1980 opened the Crystal Cathedral church, far famed for its 10,000 panes of glass.
Robert Schuller retired as senior pastor of the church in 2006.
"Hour of Power" remains firmly entrenched in re-runs as the church faces declining donations.
