Schuller's former ministry to leave Crystal Cathedral next year

The Crystal Cathedral ministry will leave its namesake home next year and move to a nearby Catholic church where it will continue to hold services, officials announced Thursday.

Congregants of the Crystal Cathedral along with its trademark show, the “Hour of Power,” will relocate to St. Callistus, a church about a mile away in Garden Grove, according to a statement. 

The move makes room for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, which purchased the cathedral last year for $57.5 million for use as its central worship space to accommodate the growing Catholic population in Orange County.

The move will be official June 1, 2013. As part of a bankruptcy deal in November 2011, the Catholic Church agreed to give the Crystal Cathedral free rent through December 2013.

In January 2014, rent will be $25,000 per month with increases every two years.

John Charles, CEO of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, notified Bishop Tod Brown of the move last week.

Charles remains optimistic for the ministry, which has seen tumultuous times in recent years, beginning with a bankruptcy filing in 2010 citing more than $50 million in debt, and culminating with the departure of the founder, Robert H. Schuller, and his family members because of a financial dispute.

"This is another important step in the revival that has been taking place at the Crystal Cathedral," Charles said in a prepared statement. "With attendance and donations up, the sky is the limit."

The new church seats about 1,200, about half of the Crystal Cathedral’s capacity.

A new name for the church and plans for the “Hour of Power” has yet to be announced.

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--Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: The sun sets over the Crystal Cathedral campus. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times.