Vendors Stiffed by Crystal Cathedral

The Los Angeles Times is running a story, Vendors say Crystal Cathedral owes them tens of thousands of dollars, about how the 10,000-member Crystal Cathedral is so financially strapped it has failed to pay nearly $100,000 to the vendors responsible for producing the mega-church's mega-popular Christmas and Easter pageants. (Both shows have been canceled for this year; it would have been the Christmas show's 30th anniversary).

An AP article, Crystal Cathedral in Calif. Owes Money to Vendors, states the church is staggering under $55 million of debt.

According to the Wikipedia page on Crystal Cathedral, the church's televised Sunday morning service, The Hour of Power, "is said to be" the most watched Christian television program in the world, with over 20 million viewers a week.

Here's a quote from the Crystal Cathedral's website:

Hearing from pastors eager to replicate the church's success, [the church's founder Robert] Schuller, in 1969, began the first ever series of training sessions for pastors in church growth. Today, Schuller and his Institute for Successful Church Leadership are regarded consistently ... as the catalyst of the mega-church movement.

If that's true, then I'm sure Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, James McDonald and many other mega-church leaders will soon be rushing to Shuller's aid.

One year I went to the CC's "The Glory of Christmas" show. I had an aisle seat. In the dark, during the show, a camel dressed in full Three Wise Men regalia was quietly led down the aisle, until it was standing directly behind me. I had no idea it was there. Suddenly, the animal let loose a roaring sneeze that instantly covered the back of my head and neck with a thick spray of warm camel snot. I found it exceedingly difficult to enjoy the rest of the show.

Update: here's a photo of the actual camel who sneezed on me! Be afraid.

 

 

 

Follow John Shore on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnshore

Comments

[heariam]

10:53 PM on 03/28/2010

It surprises me that a church puts on a huge extravaganza that wastes money that could be spent doing good for the poor. In fact , is this not what they claim to do with all the money that the public sends to them.... They spend 47 minutes begging for money and the rest of the hour is commercials.
Looks like they might have to go through bankruptcy to restructure the church and start from scratch. the church has been there long enough to be paid for.
I don't think people should send their money to TV preachers , if they want to give then there are plenty of places to give close to home to keep the money in your own neighborhood and see the results of it.
Just my thoughts...

[skstewart]

08:10 AM on 03/29/2010

I had a similar thought about the extravagant use of money when I wander the Cathedral campus a bunch of years ago.

"Looks like they might have to go through bankruptcy to restructure the church and start from scratch"

But, is Crystal Cathedral too big to fail?

[TheModernBunny]

06:21 PM on 03/28/2010

$55 million in debt?! Sorry, it's just that it bears repeating.

[rf dude]

05:05 AM on 03/28/2010

If I were one of them flying angels in the (now cancelled) show, I'd like to be sure

that the wire-supplier had been paid for LAST year's suspension rigs...

[andygaus]

06:12 PM on 03/27/2010

One thing I have to say about the camel in the picture is that it makes me feel just a little bit better about Joe Camel. Some people said that Joe Camel had a penis-and-testicles face for no good reason that had anything to do with a camel's actual face. But gee, the camel in the picture has pretty close to a penis-and-testicles face, as well as a general in-your-face face.

[ShellyintheWest]

03:46 PM on 03/27/2010

None of this surprises me. I have an advertising business, and only two bad accounts in 12 years. Both were from Evangelical churches who think everyone should donate to their cause. Screw them. They are screwing everyone else around them. The LDS Church on the other hand paid within 10 days every time. If the Evangelical thieves only knew they are being measured.

[John Shore]

05:32 PM on 03/27/2010

Gosh, that's awful. I don't understand how people think they're going to attract others to their brand of spirituality when they behave in such manifestly immoral ways. It's ridiculous.

[VinylVenus]

02:14 PM on 03/27/2010

John, unless someone within the Crystal Cathedral has absconded with the money (and that includes the late pastor/proprietor, Tildon really "I'm taking it with me when I go"), that only leave the possibility I blogged about in May, 2007: churches are losing their shirts in today's economy, just as businesses and families are.

From my post: "We believe the annual financing opportunity for the church construction market currently stands at $28 billion annually. We anticipate this market will grow at a rate in excess of 40% over the next five years to $40 billion by 2010, according to our proprietary church finance market (CFM)™ model."

And: "In 2005, church attendance hit a 7-year high at 45% of the domestic adult population, a net-positive for church giving trends. According to our estimates, annual giving to U.S. protestant churches is $93 billion."

AND: "Oh – why did I google “US+church+income+2005“? Only because Falwell was up in arms about the $8billion porn industry…"

http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/05/17/by-the-numbers-93/

[DANOSC]

11:47 AM on 03/27/2010

I live in So Cal so when a visitor asked me to take her to the Crystal Cathedral, being the good host, I obliged. Before the service began, fountains sprung up in the aisles between the rows of pews. It was pure P.T. Barnum. Whatever message of love and hope was delivered that day (I don't remember a message of love and hope) was dwarfed by the theatrics. It was the gospel versus Cirque du Soleil and Cirque won.

[John Shore]

12:03 PM on 03/27/2010

That is too funny. In a totally sad way.

[DANOSC]

02:51 PM on 03/27/2010

At least we left the church unbaptised by camel snot.

[MJinCanada]

04:51 PM on 03/26/2010

I used to flip past Hour of Power in a vain attempt to find something on television on a Sunday morning. Every time I randomly hit that program they were asking for money. I got the impression that's all they did.

[John Shore]

07:38 PM on 03/26/2010

What I can't believe is the $55 million dollars in debt.

[JohnFromCensornati]

08:24 PM on 03/26/2010

It's hilarious that they won't post your response to my comment. It's OK. I saw it.

[larry278]

07:40 PM on 03/28/2010

Did you ever turn off your telly on Sun, AM or use a VCR, radio or computer or read in silence or go outside, or sleep? Even if you're addicted to TV, cable TV gives you a great number of choices on Sun, AM's. But then some people don't like cable TV, object to the price, or don't have access to cable.
A great many tele-evangelists run informercials & avoid preaching. For example, they speak endlessly of the $400.00 miracle prayer cloth but avoid speaking of Jesus for more than 15 seconds. That isn't preaching; it is pitching schlock.

[MJinCanada]

09:10 PM on 03/28/2010

A bit preachy yourself, Larry dear? I do find plenty to amuse myself without television. I spent this morning working on a newsletter for a historical study group, for that matter.

Believe me, when a so-called religious program makes more hits for cash than a telethon for sick children, I know what's up.

[redcelt]

12:55 PM on 03/26/2010

Maybe they should rename it the Crystal Pyramid Scheme.

[JohnFromCensornati]

12:55 PM on 03/26/2010

"In the dark, during the show, a camel dressed in full Three Wise Men regalia was quietly led down the aisle, until it was standing directly behind me. I had no idea it was there. Suddenly, the animal let loose a roaring sneeze that instantly covered the back of my head and neck with a thick spray of warm camel snot. I found it exceedingly difficult to enjoy the rest of the show."

I think you should have enjoyed the show anyway. You should have reflected upon God. God is everywhere manifested: in all nature; in all people; in all the shapes, forms, colors, textures....and camel snot.

[MJinCanada]

04:49 PM on 03/26/2010

LOL.

I think it takes someone with the qualities of a saint to reflect on the manifestation of God in things like camel snot.

It only takes good old human wit to make people laugh about it.