Crystal Cathedral
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CrystalCathedral.jpg
The Crystal Cathedral campus is a Christian religious center in the city of Garden Grove, within Orange County in Southern California. The Center was founded in 1980 by Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella. It is dedicated to the creed, "Find a need and fill it, find a hurt and heal it." The church is known for its world-famous architecture by Philip Johnson, most prominently the main sanctuary building which was constructed using over 10,000 rectangular panes of glass.
The Crystal Cathedral broadcasts its church services around the world on a television show called The Hour of Power and the campus provides facilities for those of a similar faith to congregate. The campus services include support groups, Sunday school classes and daily gatherings with other Christian followers.
In the spring of 1991, shortly after the end of the Gulf War, Schuller, the minister of the Crystal Cathedral, in a Sunday sermon, prayed to thank God that no one had been killed in that war. This prayer of thanks, if accepted as being meant to be literally true, ignores the demise of several tens of thousands of Iraqi military and perhaps 2,000 civilians, as well as several hundred U.S. and allied soldiers. Schuller's critics cited this as being an example of his being out of touch with reality.
Early on December 16, 2004, 57 year old Johnnie Carl, the cathedral's orchestral conductor for 29 years, fired several rounds in the cathedral, shortly before the annual Glory of Christmas program was about to begin. The shots were fired in the vacant concourse area and no one was injured. Carl then locked himself in a bathroom alone where he later shot himself before police could intervene. Carl reportedly suffered from clinical depression. The December 16 performances of the "Glory of Christmas" program was cancelled as a result of Carl's suicide.
The very name "Crystal Cathedral" is technically a misnomer: Schuller's religious denomination is more Presbyterian than anything else, meaning that it is governed by elders and does not have bishops, while a cathedral is by definition the church where one finds a bishop's official seat. (Some denominations which have bishops have no churches designated as cathedrals, however).
The Crystal Cathedral is occasionally referred to by the punning and derisive nickname, "Silica Basilica."
External links
- Crystal Cathedral official website (http://www.crystalcathedral.org)
- Google satellite photo (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=crystal+cathedral,+garden+grove,+CA&ll=33.786896,-117.897495&spn=0.007800,0.011727&t=k&hl=en)