Buyer Pursues Crystal Cathedral

Despite repeated insistence by Crystal Cathedral officials that the 40-acre Garden Grove campus was not for sale, one potential buyer won't take no for an answer.

Mark A. Thomas senior pastor of My Father’s House Church said Friday that he has more than 100 religious and business leaders available to back his plan to acquire the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral Ministries for $50 million.

The event, held at a hotel in Orange County, was billed as a press conference, but the room was largely filled with Thomas' supporters. 

Thomas told the crowd that his church's interest in the cathedral was not about real estate, but about worship. He said his bid for the property and assets is superior to other bidders because he wants to maintain the cathedral and later expand it.

His non-denominational church, based in Norco, is one of several organizations that have shown interest in the property, including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Orange, which also made a $50 million offer; Chapman University which entered a $46 million bid; and Greenlaw Acquisitions LLC, which wants to build homes on the campus.

An open bidding process for the 40-acre campus was announced in June after a federal bankruptcy court hearing.

After initially putting the cathedral on the market, the leadership of the organization abruptly changed course.

In a statement released by the board of the financially strapped Crystal Cathedral on Sunday, the group indicated that Crystal Cathedral Ministries will raise the money to help pay the church's $36 million mortgage and nearly $10 million in unsecured debt.

Thomas said that he respects the Schuller family, founders of the Crystal Cathedral, and that he wants to purchase the land for his congregation to ensure it continues to serve as a place of worship.

If the cathedral is able to pay off its debt and keep the land, Thomas said he would support them.

"Let them have it, we'll celebrate with them (if they're successful)," he said after the meeting at the Doubletree Hotel.

On its website, Crystal Cathedral is asking its congregation and supporters to help pay down the debt, in what it called the ministry's “most urgent and greatest challenge.”

If Crystal Cathedral's leaders fail, U.S. District Judge Robert Kwan is likely to turn to plans to liquidate the ministry.

Thomas insisted his bid is just "an option" or alternative to liquidation.

Thomas declined to offer specific names of his backers, but he said they hail from across the country.

"In Texas, I have some strong support," he said.

Thomas emphasized that he would try to work with Crystal Cathedral's leaders to smooth the transition if his church wins its bid. He noted the power struggle among the founder and others in his mega-church have taken its toll with attendance at services declining, along with contributions.

Thomas also wants to maintain as much of Crystal Cathedral and its traditions as possible while also expanding it, he said.

"We're not there to ruffle fathers," Thomas said. "We're very interested in meeting all of those pastors and breaking bread with all of those pastors."

Chapman University President James Doti said he would give the Crystal Cathedral the chance to buy back half of the property in a lease deal, but Thomas said it's doubtful they could afford those terms.

Work to settle about $12.5 million in Crystal Cathedral's debt began in April 2010, but when those efforts failed, the church filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last Oct.18.

The 10,000-member church was founded by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller in 1955. It fell on hard times in 2008 when the economy collapsed.

The Crystal Cathedral, which opened in 1980, sits on a 40-acre parcel in the 12000 block of Lewis Street in Garden Grove.