Story: Iconic glass-paned Protestant church converted to Catholic cathedral

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Seen from the inside, it’s a spectacular building. No doubt about it. But… that’s a lot of square feet of glass exposed to the weather. Did the buyers remember to ask the previous owners how much they were spending each year on keeping it clean? We don’t want the new owners to follow in the previous owners’ footsteps, into bankruptcy.
 
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Hi @7_Sorrows. The Diocese of Orange website has a lot of pictures of the new cathedral. Scroll down to where it says, “Come be a part …”

https://www.rcbo.org
 
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There have already been a number of threads and news stories about this, and the diocese determined that the purchase of this building was cheaper than building a new cathedral. Presumably they took upkeep into account as one factor. If anything bankrupts the diocese, it’s more likely to be settlements than building upkeep.
 
BartholomewB said:
Did the buyers remember to ask the previous owners how much they were spending each year on keeping it clean? We don’t want the new owners to follow in the previous owners’ footsteps, into bankruptcy.
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Yes it doesn’t seem very practical and there would be a lot of upkeep and high insurance cost. I am pretty sure part of the problem with the previous owner and the financial issues started with a theology disagreement and a splitting of the congregation.
 
I don’t have any inside information, but it looks to me like one more case of succession problems in a business. Robert Schuller Sr. retired at the age of 79 in 2006, leaving his five children – four daughters and a son, Robert Jr. – to keep the family business going. But they quarreled among themselves and couldn’t agree on what to do or how to do it. Whether it was a question of theology or money doesn’t really make a difference, I think. Schuller Sr. was a spellbinding preacher and his Crystal Cathedral Ministries was essentially a one-man church. When he grew too old to carry on, there was no one to take over who had the right gifts or the right qualifications. I’m not seriously arguing that the cleaning costs were the cause of his bankruptcy, but it’s pretty clear that once Schuller Sr.’s charisma became dimmed with age, the building became a white elephant. A shrinking business could no longer afford such a luxurious head office building.
 
There were few possibilities for a site for a new cathedral in Orange County, and the one the diocese had selected was not as centrally-located as this one. The previous cathedral had been deemed seriously under-sized for the needs of the diocese. This site came not only with the main church, but also a campus with additional office and gathering spaces, making the purchase even more practical, actually.
 
The news also reported that when Schuller built the cathedral there, a lot of people in the local area practiced the Evangelical faith that he promotes, so his cathedral got good attendance and donations from the area. However, at this point in time many people have died off and many of the new people moving in are Catholic - presumably Hispanic and possibly some Vietnamese.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
many of the new people moving in are Catholic - presumably Hispanic and possibly some Vietnamese.
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That’s encouraging. For Schuller and his family, the cathedral quite suddenly went from being an asset to a liability. Let’s hope the new arrivals mean there’ll be enough Catholics to fill the pews from now on.
 
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Thanks. Where is the tabernacle? I don’t know if I would want to be in there if there was a 6.7 earthquake.
The organ is huge. How many years was it Crystal
Cathedral?

I pray their congregation continues to grow.

Do churches pay property taxes?

Maintenance, utilities and salaries will be a big expenditure.
 
I don’t think it’s all that practical for the Liturgy, that’s for sure. An impressive building nonetheless. And that organ is incredible.

I don’t like what they did with the window shades. Are they retractable? They make everything look white and bland inside. I like how it looked before the renovation in that sense.
 
BartholomewB said:
Let’s hope the new arrivals mean there’ll be enough Catholics to fill the pews from now on.
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The Diocese of Orange is the fastest growing diocese in the US, which is part of the reason it outgrew the previous cathedral. I think they’ll be okay, at least in the short- and medium-term.

I spent about half my childhood in the Diocese of Orange; my parents and sister still live there. I’ve been in this building once, shortly after it opened.

The organ is indeed impressive. In its current configuration, it’s the fifth (I think) largest in the world.
 
Amazing! A CAFer with first-hand knowledge of the (former) Crystal Cathedral! Did you ever see the window cleaners at work? I suppose there must be a mechanism of some kind that enables the cleaners to do their job in safety, but whatever it is, it seems to be very well concealed from view.
 
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