Bankrupt Crystal Cathedral Aims for $50M in Donations

Seeking to fight its way back from bankruptcy, Crystal Cathedral’s board is trying a new, “faith-generated” approach: It hopes to raise $50 million in donations, the Los Angeles Times reports. Meanwhile, the creditors committee at the church founded by Robert Schuller will continue its effort to sell the megachurch’s Garden Grove campus. Offers made so far include two $50 million offers from religious groups and $46 million offers from both a real estate farm and a local university.

The biggest offer, however, has been an informal $99 million one from a local man who says he’s a billionaire. Robert Lee Tran Truong says he’d like to use the campus as a ministry, church, and school—and possibly a mall. But “I haven't seen anything that actually shows he is a billionaire,” says a local editor of Vietnamese news. Meanwhile, the cathedral’s former CFO thinks raising $50 million is unlikely. But Schuller's daughter says “it's doable” with $500 donations from just 2% of viewers of the church’s TV show, Hour of Power. (More Crystal Cathedral Ministries stories.)