Book Description

The story of Christ Cathedral is alive with examples of the work of the Holy Spirit, from its literal foundation to its art and architecture. This work of narrative nonfiction first explores the life of Dr. Robert Schuller, a man who was inspired to grow a humble church on the rooftop of a drive-in theater into an international ministry that broadcasted around the world from a glass church in California. Dr. Schuller named his massive, 10,000 glass pane church the Crystal Cathedral. The see-through ceiling and walls gave the impression of preaching under the open sky. Crystal Cathedral Ministries always had what it needed to fulfill its goals, outreach, and expansion, until Schuller's age pulled him out of full-time ministry and the church collapsed financially.More than thirty acres of land with five buildings of architectural significance faced liquidation in bankruptcy proceedings. Using court transcripts and personal interviews with those directly involved, this book explores how the Diocese of Orange emerged as the likely buyer. For more than a decade, Bishop Tod Brown had struggled to build a cathedral, and this option seemed to fulfill that need and save the campus as a place for Christians. Remarkably, it was the 84-year-old Schuller who urged his Board of Directors to accept the Diocese of Orange's offer so that the cathedral would be preserved as "a place of Christian worship." Dr. Schuller called the Catholic Church his "Mother Church."Each phase of the story introduces new and critical players who served their own roles, from fundraising to the restoration of the new campus. The redesign of the Crystal Cathedral brought dedicated people, both Catholic and Protestant, together to renew it as a catholic place of worship. From the restoration of the Hazel Wright Organ to the mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the innovative white ceiling quatrefoils to the marble altar, the result is a cohesive, singular Cathedral.Following the theme that the tapestry is woven from the back, this story details the large and small, often inexplicable, ways that the Lord lights the way without revealing the true destination.