Crystal Cathedral Not For Sale

The International Board of Directors for the Crystal Cathedral Ministries announced Sunday that it has voted to forgo choosing a buyer of its Crystal Cathedral property as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan.

“The Crystal Cathedral is not for sale,” said Walt Kallestad, founder and senior pastor for the Church of Joy in Glendale, Ariz., and Crystal Cathedral Ministries board member, from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral at its Sunday morning services.

In this vote, the board chose to step forward in faith believing that God, in his perfect timing, will provide all the funds necessary to pay every creditor in full and keep the ministry campus in the hands of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries.

“The board feels its great responsibility toward all of our vendors and other creditors, to pay them 100 percent of what is owed as soon as possible,” says Sheila Schuller Coleman, senior pastor, “but also a responsibility to the local members and viewers of our nationally and internationally televised Hour of Power to retain the ministry’s Orange County headquarters intact.

“Through our filing of Chapter 11 last October,” Coleman said in the pulpit Sunday. “I believe God has used it to turn the eyes of the world toward the Crystal Cathedral because He wants to make a big, bold statement, and as a faith-based ministry it’s important to put our faith in God in this matter. We cannot teach about faith without living out faith in our actions, especially as it concerns a decision such as this.

“Taking this kind of stand assures members and viewers that we are committed to them and to their spiritual well-being, now and into the future. The ministry has a commitment to our local congregations, our international viewers, Crystal Cathedral School’s students and parents, and the families of loved ones laid to rest in the Crystal Cathedral Memorial Gardens.”

The English-speaking, Spanish-speaking and Arabic-speaking congregations at the Crystal Cathedral are all combining in prayer to seek God’s blessing of a $50 million miracle. “We’re asking our people to ‘Walk by faith, not by sight,’” said Coleman, “and to believe God’s promise and plan as found in Jeremiah 29:11-14 , ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity.’”

Coleman also said: “We have been deeply touched by the outpouring of admiration for our beautiful 40-acre garden grounds and its world class architecture. Many of the potential buyers are community and faith leaders that have gone to great lengths to honor the ministry that my father devoted his entire life to serving, and to him personally, as their friend and colleague.

“We are truly humbled by their concern for us. More than ever, the Crystal Cathedral Ministry appreciates that our campus is a sacred treasure, and our reconstituted board has determined to ‘practice what we have always preached’ and to put into action the possibility thinking upon which this great ministry was founded 56 years ago.

“We fully understand as a board that by taking this stand of faith, the Creditors Committee will move on its own in the courts to initiate a sale process,” board member Jim Penner said, “but the final word on this campus and this ministry will be up to God Almighty.”

Kallestad concluded: “The Crystal Cathedral is a mission center God has built and God will sustain it. “I’m thrilled that our board has now chosen to set this example stepping forward in faith! I’m humbled and honored to stand with fellow believers who are willing to proclaim Jesus Christ as the head of this church. Get ready to witness a miracle. The best days for this ministry are ahead!”

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