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Capital and the Cathedral: Robert H. Schuller's Continual Fundraising for Church Growth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2020

Gerardo Martí  and
Mark T. Mulder
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Abstract

Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, appeared to be the model of growth and stability among megachurches—until it imploded. Drawing on archival material and interviews, this article demonstrates how the seeming success of Schuller's church growth philosophy was built on a precarious structure that demanded the continual management of flows of capital. In Schuller's vision, a church's capacity must always exceed a leader's projected plan for growth. Large capital projects stimulate revenue, yet borrowed funds are required to accommodate growth in membership that will produce income to pay off loans later. As new members join, however, structures expand, placing increased strain on mobilizing the loyalty of a wider constituency to uphold the charisma-bearing enterprise. Ensuring the credibility of pastoral charisma requires ever expanding infrastructure, which, in turn, demands increased funding for programs, staff, and buildings—a vicious spiral, exacting enormous strains for sustaining the entire ministry.

Type
Research Article
Information
Religion and American Culture , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , Winter 2020 , pp. 63 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture

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References

Notes

We give special thanks to Edward J. Blum, Elesha Coffman, Timothy E. W. Gloege, Alison Collis Greene, Darren Grem, and Randall J. Stephens for valuable feedback on an earlier draft. For general encouragement and previous learning relevant to this path of our research, we also thank Kate Bowler, Heath Carter, Darren Dochuk, Kristin Du Mez, Philip Goff, Kevin Kruse, Amanda Porterfield, and James K. Wellman Jr.

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22 Letter from Robert H. Schuller to Members and Friends of Ivanhoe Reformed Church, no date, Robert H. Schuller Correspondence, Robert H. Schuller/Crystal Cathedral (hereafter RHS/CC), box 30, Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, Michigan (hereafter JAH).

23 Robert H. Schuller, “Profitable Living,” Ivanhoe RCA sermon text, no date. Robert H. Schuller Correspondence, RHS/CC, box 30, JAH.

24 GGCC Membership Mailing, September 30, 1964, CC—Membership Mailings, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH. Schuller had tendency to capitalize words somewhat unnecessarily. We have maintained his nonstandard capitalizations throughout.

25 CC—Anniversary Celebration, 10th, 1965, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH; GGCC-CC, “Community Church News,” October 27, 1965, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH; CC—Anniversary Celebration, 10th, 1965, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH.

26 CC—Anniversary Celebration, 10th, 1965, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH.

27 Letter from Robert H. Schuller to Note Holders, November 12, 1961. CC—Membership Mailings, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH.

28 Schuller, Robert H., My Journey: From An Iowa Farm to a Cathedral of Dreams (New York: Harper, 2001), 285–86Google Scholar.

29 George, God's Salesman.

30 Robert H. Schuller, “Make Them Want to Give,” Church Herald, November 22, 1968, 11.

31 Garden Grove Community Church Yearbook, 1975, 128, GGCC, RHS/CC, box 6, JAH.

32 Ron Kirkpatrick, “Pastor Parlays Drive-In Sermon into National Fame,” The Register, March 5, 1978, Dennis Voskuil Papers, Holland, Michigan (hereafter DVP), JAH.

33 Ronald Yates, “From Outdoor Theater to ‘Cathedral’—A Religious Success Story,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, July 27, 1980, 11, DVP.

34 Letter from Robert H. Schuller to Harold L. Hiemstra, December 11, 1968, CC—Correspondence, 1968–1973, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH.

35 Letter from Robert H. Schuller to Richard Detrich, November 27, 1968, CC—Correspondence, 19681973, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH.

36 All quotes from “Walk-In—Drive-In Church News,” June 1969, Shepherd's Grove Church Archive, Irvine, California (hereafter SGCA).

37 “Walk-In—Drive-In Church News,” SGCA.

38 Draft mailer from GGCC to Note Holders, November 1974, GGCC Stewardship Materials, RHS/CC, box 6, JAH. For more on the utility of “unworthy challengers,” see Paul Joosse, “Countering Trump: Toward a Theory of Charismatic Counter-Roles,” Social Forces 97, no. 2 (December 2018): 1–24, accessed May 15, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soy036.

39 Schuller, Robert H., Your Church Has Real Possibilities! (Glendale, CA: Regal Books, 1974), 27Google Scholar.

40 Mimi Zeiger, “Johnson Fain's Church Swap,” Architect: The Journal of the American Institute of Architecture, November 2016, accessed May 22, 2018, http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/johnson-fains-church-swap_o.

41 Schuller, Robert H. and Coleman, James, A Place of Beauty, A Joy Forever: The Glorious Gardens and Grounds of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California (Garden Grove, CA: Crystal Cathedral Creative Services, 2005), 48Google Scholar.

42 Schuller, Robert H. and Dunn, Paul David, America's Declaration of Financial Independence (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1995), 34Google Scholar. Schuller indicated that he had been scarred by the debt his father had assumed in rebuilding the family farm in Iowa after it was destroyed by a tornado.

43 A Special Report from Robert H. Schuller to The Consistory, September 23, 1975, SGCA. In one of his first books, Schuller confidently wrote, “You can build a fortune on borrowed money.” See Schuller, Robert H., Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking (Old Tappan, NJ: Spire Books, 1967), 105Google Scholar.

44 In this statement, Schuller is likely adapting the well-known Methodist ethic, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

45 A Special Report from Robert H. Schuller to The Consistory.

46 Wayne Rice, “Big Spenders Department: How to Spend $15,000,000,” Wittenburg Door, August/September 1978, 13.

47 John Dart, “Schuller's New Center Faulted for its Secular Look,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1989, accessed May 22, 2018, http://articles.latimes.com/1989-11-25/entertainment/ca-304_1_crystal-cathedral.

48 Yates, “From Outdoor Theater to ‘Cathedral,’” 26.

49 Development mailer, n.d., SGCA; Schuller, My Journey, 397–98 (italics in the original).

50 CC–Anniversary Celebration, 20th, 1975, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH. American evangelist Dwight L. Moody used a similar technique in the 1850s to raise funds for his Sunday School class, designing and printing “shares” that mimicked stock certificates. See Gloege, Guaranteed Pure, 23.

51 CC–Anniversary Celebration, 20th, 1975, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH.

52 Letter from Robert Schuller to Jay Van Andel, May 27, 1976, Crystal Cathedral Correspondence, Howard Kelley, 1975–1990, RHS/CC, box 4), JAH.

53 Schuller to Van Andel.

54 Schuller to Van Andel.

55 Schuller to Van Andel.

56 Schuller, My Journey, 392.

57 Schuller, 393.

58 Personal interview with Michael Nason, January 2018.

59 Deepa Bharath, “‘It Was a Life Well-Lived’: The Reverend Robert Schuller Leader of Crystal Cathedral and ‘Hour of Power,’ Dies, at 88,” Orange County Register, April 3, 2015, accessed May 23, 2018, https://www.ocregister.com/2015/04/03/it-was-a-life-well-lived-rev-robert-schuller-leader-of-crystal-cathedral-and-hour-of-power-dies-at-88/.

60 GGCC-CC, “Community Church News,” October 27, 1965, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH.

61 Bella Stumbo, “The Time Muhammad Ali Asked for Robert Schuller's Autograph,” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1983, accessed October 28, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-schuller-1983-profile-20150330-story.html; “Retail Religion: Robert Schuller, An Entrepreneur of Televangelism and Megachurches, Died on April 2nd,” The Economist, April 11, 2015, accessed February 2, 2016, https://www.economist.com/news/business/21647976-robert-schuller-entrepreneur-televangelism-and-megachurches-died-april-2nd-retail.

62 Lloyd Billingsley, “A Crystal Cathedral Spectacular: Christmas Pageant Is Reputed to Be the Country's Largest,” Christianity Today, January 22, 1982, 34; “Hotline: General Program Council/Reformed Church in America,” January 22, 1982, DVP; attendance figures in Schuller and Coleman, A Place of Beauty, a Joy Forever, 48.

63 Paul Goldberger, “Architecture: Johnson's Church,” New York Times, September 6, 1980, C7; Jim Hinch, “Where Are the People? Evangelical Christianity in America Is Losing Its Power—What Happened to Orange County's Crystal Cathedral Shows Why,” American Scholar, Winter 2014, accessed April 2, 2018, https://theamericanscholar.org/where-are-the-people/#.

64 Stumbo, “The Time Muhammad Ali Asked for Robert Schuller's Autograph”; Susan Power Bratton, ChurchScape: Megachurches and the Iconography on Environment (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016), 125–26.

65 Ardis Whitman, “Four Remarkable Churches,” Reader's Digest, October 1980, 45–50.

66 Leslie Berkman and Mark I. Pinsky, “$42-Million Budget: Schuller Sheds Light on Finances,” Los Angeles Times, July 17, 1987, accessed June 11, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-17-mn-2554-story.html.

67 Stumbo, “The Time Muhammad Ali Asked for Robert Schuller's Autograph” (italics in the original).

68 Herman Wong, “Arts Plans Reflected Schuller's Optimism,” Los Angeles Times, May 4, 1983; Herman Wong and Richard C. Paddock, “Schuller Church Stripped of Its Tax-Exempt Status,” Los Angeles Times, May 4, 1983, CC-Tax Situation, 1983, 1984, RHS/CC, box 29, JAH.

69 Jerry Bowen, Transcript of CBS Evening News, December 21, 1982. Luce Press Clippings. CC-Tax Situation, 1983, 1984, RHS/CC, box 29, JAH.

70 Robert Lindsey, “Evangelist's Cathedral Loses Tax Exemption,” New York Times, May 4, 1983; Gary Hauna, “Schuller to Pay Cathedral Taxes,” Anaheim Bulletin, July 29, 1983.

71 Press Release, “Crystal Cathedral Borrows Money to Pay Taxes Under Protest,” August 30, 1983, CC-Tax Situation, 1983, 1984, RHS/CC, box 29, JAH.

72 Radio Broadcast transcript, KFWB News, August 30, 1983, CC-Tax Situation, 1983, 1984, RHS/CC, box 29, JAH.

73 Martí, Gerardo, “White Christian Libertarianism and the Trump Presidency,” in Religion Is Raced: Understanding American Religion in the Twenty-First Century, ed. Yukich, Grace and Edgell, Penny (New York: NYU Press, 2020)Google Scholar; Martí, Gerardo, American Blindspot: Race, Class, Religion, and the Trump Presidency (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2020)Google Scholar; Kruse, One Nation Under God.

74 Press Release, “Crystal Cathedral, Under Protest, Borrows Money to Pay Taxes,” August 31, 1983, CC-Tax Situation, 1983, 1984, RHS/CC, box 29, JAH. For more background on conservative Christians in Orange County and their antistatism, advocacy for privatization, and favoring of low taxes, see McGirr, Suburban Warriors.

75 Robert H. Schuller, “Tax Church Properties?!” Church Herald, March 13, 1964, 12; Letter from Robert H. Schuller to Members of the Crystal Cathedral Consistory, December 28, 1982, SGCA.

76 Leslie Berkman, “Church's Tax Dispute Reflects Trend,” Los Angeles Times, May 4, 1983; Schuller, Robert H., Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do (New York: Bantam, 1984), 120Google Scholar; “Crystal Cathedral to Pay Back Taxes on Concert Receipts,” New York Times, August 31, 1983.

77 Clark Morphew, “Schuller's Dreams Crystal Clear,” St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch, September 21, 1985; Yates, “From Outdoor Theater to ‘Cathedral,’” 11.

78 Ronald Campbell, “Trying Times: Empire Shows Signs of Financial Strain,” Orange County Register, August 9, 1987, M2.

79 For a listing of the most prominent ministry expenses in 1986, see Berkman and Pinksy, “$42-Million Budget.”

80 Raymond J. Elson, Casey Kennedy, and Mark Wills, “The Crystal Cathedral and Its Demise,” Journal of Business Cases and Applications 18 (September 2017): 1–13, accessed October 1, 2017, http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/172634.pdf.

81 Nason and Nason, 166.

82 Robert H. Schuller, “My Mission, My Ministry, My Methods,” 1987, Promotional Material, RHS/CC, box 3, JAH.

83 “Getting It Done in ’91!,” Stewardship Materials, 1980–1991, RHS/CC, box 3, JAH.

84 Bylaws for The Positive Christian Singles, August 1978, CC-Nyematic, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH.

85 Organizational sociologists have long known that greater organizational size increases the infrastructure required to operate, supervise, and coordinate a more complex organization. See Blau, Peter M., “A Formal Theory of Differentiation in Organizations,” American Sociological Review 35 (April 1970): 201–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

86 Internal memo from Paul Nunn to All Crystal Cathedral Employees, November 16, 1989, Eugene Coffin Papers, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH.

87 Elson, Kennedy, and Wills, “The Crystal Cathedral and Its Demise.”

88 “Lay Ministers Training Center Opens Wednesday,” Community Church News, January 18, 1976, GGCC-Community Church News, RHS/CC, box 5, JAH.

89 Wilfred Bockelman, “The Pros and Cons of Robert Schuller,” Christian Century, August 20–27, 1975, 732–35.

90 Crystal Cathedral Visitors Center Handbook, 1987, Eugene Coffin Papers, RHS/CC, box 4, JAH. Procedural rules are commonly found among revivalists. For example, Schuller likely knew the Billy Graham Crusade Handbooks, which included explicit detail on interpersonal interactions for working with new converts. See Grem, Blessings of Business, 65–66.

91 “Crystal Cathedral Tax-Exempt Situation,” January 16, 1983, CC-Press Clippings, RHS/CC, box 29, JAH.

92 Robert H. Schuller, “Message for Possibility Thinkers at the Meadow Spring Extravaganza ’93,” transcript, March 6, 1993, RHS/CC, box 30, JAH.

93 “Retail Religion: Robert Schuller, an Entrepreneur of Televangelism and Megachurches, Died on April 2nd,” The Economist, April 11, 2015, accessed February 2, 2016, https://www.economist.com/news/business/21647976-robert-schuller-entrepreneur-televangelism-and-megachurches-died-april-2nd-retail.

94 Vanderbloemen, William and Bird, Warren, Next: Pastoral Succession that Works (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 101, 102Google Scholar.

95 Year End Report of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries, December 31, 1988, SGCA.

96 Year End Report of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries, December 31, 1988.

97 Dart, “Schuller's New Center.”

98 Schuller and Coleman, A Place of Beauty, A Joy Forever, 120–27.

99 Schuller, My Journey, 474–76.

100 Vanderbloemen and Bird, Next, 101.

101 Kevin Sablan, “Action Picks Up for Filming in OC,” Orange County Register, April 29, 2013, accessed May 24, 2018, https://www.ocregister.com/2013/04/29/action-picks-up-for-filming-in-oc/.

102 Schuller and Coleman, A Place of Beauty, A Joy Forever, 149.

103 Schuller and Coleman, A Place of Beauty, A Joy Forever, 142.

104 Laurie Goodstein, “Dispute over Succession Clouds Megachurch,” New York Times, October 23, 2010, accessed May 25, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/us/24cathedral.html;Deepa Bharath, “Rifts, Debt Tear at Crystal Cathedral,” Orange County Register, October 24, 2010, accessed May 15, 2018, https://www.ocregister.com/2010/10/24/rifts-debt-tear-at-crystal-cathedral/.

105 Bharath, “Rifts, Debt.”

106 Schuller, Your Church, 158.

107 Bharath, “Rifts, Debt.”

108 Deepa Bharath and Ronald Campbell, “Crystal Cathedral Plan: Lease Its Way Out of Debt,” Orange County Register, May 27, 2011, accessed June 4, 2018, https://www.ocregister.com/2011/05/27/crystal-cathedral-plan-lease-its-way-out-of-debt/.

109 “Crystal Cathedral: The State of Our Church and Global Ministry,” May 2009, 14, Ronald Keener Papers, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

110 Vanderbloemen and Bird, Next, 102.

111 For more on ephemeral “products,” see Lofton, Kathryn, Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011), 21–25Google Scholar.

112 Deepa Bharath, “Crystal Cathedral Was an Icon of Tradition,” Orange County Register, October 21, 2011, accessed June 4, 2018, https://www.ocregister.com/2011/10/24/crystal-cathedral-was-an-icon-of-tradition-2/.

113 Daniel Vaca, “Believing within Business: Evangelicalism, Media, and Financial Faith,” in The Business Turn in American Religious History, ed. Porterfield, Grem, and Corrigan, 26–27.