Bankrupt Crystal Cathedral to rely on faith; new suitor emerges
The bankrupt Crystal Cathedral will step aside while its creditors committee works on a plan for the church to exit bankruptcy, lawyers said in a hearing Monday.
On Sunday, the church announced that it would back away from considering proposals to purchase the Garden Grove campus in favor of attempting to raise more than $50 million to repay creditors through donations.
Marc Winthrop, the cathedral’s bankruptcy attorney, reaffirmed that the church is relying on a "faith-generated belief" that funds will be generated, while recognizing that the creditors committee will move forward with a plan to exit bankruptcy.
If the church is able to raise funds before a creditors plan is approved by bankruptcy judge Robert Kwan, it will file an exit plan, Winthrop said.
Winthrop said the church has a duty to make "our best efforts to make sure" all creditors are paid.
The creditors committee could file a proposal in the next week, and a hearing regarding the plan is scheduled for Sept. 14.
Nanette Sanders, the lawyer for the creditors, said the committee is currently "fine-tuning" a plan but did not name a potential buyer.
She added that she had been approached before the hearing by a new potential buyer, Robert Lee Tran Truong of Garden Grove.
After the hearing, Truong told The Times he wants to purchase the church and its grounds for $99 million to use as a ministry and for his organization, the nonprofit God’s Way Institute, a church and a school.
Truong also suggested he might use the campus for commercial purposes, mentioning a mall as one possibility.
Fred Southard, the church’s former chief financial officer, attended Monday's hearing. He retired in January after his $132,000 tax-exempt housing allowance was questioned by the U.S. trustee in court.
He had his doubts about the church being able to raise $50 million.
"I don’t know how you contact enough people to pull this off," he said.
ALSO:
Woman falls to death at Yosemite's Half Dome
Wife of man who tried to fix hernia with knife seeks help
Body in shallow grave identified as Rancho Cucamonga woman
-- Nicole Santa Cruz
Photo: The Crystal Cathedral. Credit: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times