...they've chosen Chapman University, which is just down the road in the city of Orange ..I was HOPING they would go with the Catholic Diocese so that IN CASE they cannot come up with the money needed to BUY BACK the church, the church will nonetheless still remain a church, even if not protestant, ..albeit I'm not sure what the terms of the Catholic offer included, whether buying back the Cathedral itself was part of the terms or not..I got more of a feeling that the Catholic Diocese was intent on relocating the Crystal Cathedral ministries (CCM) to another venue (at which point I suppose it would cease to be called Crystal Cathedral) ..if that's the case then I suppose Chapman is the better offer, but. if the Cathedral does not come up with the money needed to buy back the church, then the crystal cathedral simple becomes a "historical landmark" ?...is chapman going to use it for graduation ceremonies ? maybe use it for conferences? guest speakers, etc? for that matter, crystal cathedral could or should start doing that sort of thing already? there's SO MANY alternative ways to use the cathedral IN ADDITION TO Sunday worship. 6 days per week it goes unused except for tours & occassional special church days? the catholic church has mass every day and so for that sake alone it would be used every day as a house of worship. ....there's also the huge arboretum, big enough for a church alone (it was the original church before the crystal cathedral)..there is SO MUCH SPACE going unused at the moment..if the cathedral were smart they'd start leasing out space to other similar ministries & charities & non-profit organizations,..and the list goes on..the cathedral itself could do what the real estate company wanted to do with it...commercialize parts of it..albeit the cathedral could keep it more "sacred" to a certain extent, opening it only to those organizations that are, in general, in unity with the theme & mission statement of the Crystal Cathedral & Christian principles in general ..there's LOTS OF POSSIBILITIES...seems that Mr POSSIBILITY THINKER (Senior Schuller) either isn't practicing what he preaches or isn't being consulted or allowed to give input, or there are limitations/obstacles that I am not aware of, ...in any case, it appears the sale is imminent within weeks & will go thru, but the church will continue pretty much as-is, according to the current status quo..for the next 5 years...at which point they have the funds to buy back most of the buildings, or that's it (albeit I reckon there will be some sort of agreement for the Hour of Power to continue taping every Sunday with a small audience..in fact, that's the atmosphere already..almost like the congregants are a TV audience & there's a "cryer" (whoever's in thepulpit) of sorts trying to get applause and amen from them, along with a plea for an offering...I can see this could go on in perpetuity even if the cathedral is not bought back..essentially the crystal cathedral will become a "stage"...that's basically how its being used now..with two services per Sunday, from which they produce the Hour of Power, which is really, I believe, the real interest & passion of the Schullers..& u have a few loyal parishioners who smile, laugh, say "amen", & pray on cue ..I myself have followed & supported the crystal cathedral since 1984...but also have my own ministry & other churches.b/c I believe ALL CHURCHES, collectively, constitute the Body of Christ. Pastors want loyalty to one congregation for mostly economic reasons..& that's fine if u r content with such, but truth be told...the FULL BODY of CHRIST are all the churches worldwide..& u should feel free to go to more than one church..& in fact I recommend it so that u get a diversity of experiences & a message from more than one or a few preachers..
