Sunday, August 14, 2011

Church Reiterates Desire To Purchase Crystal Cathedral

Despite repeated insistence by Crystal Cathedral officials that the 30-achre Garden Grove campus was not for sale, one organization reiterated its interest in purchasing the property Friday.

Pastor Mark A. Thomas of My Father’s House Church held a press conference to reaffirm a bid of $50 million for the Crystal Cathedral.

The Christian church, based in Norco, is one of several organizations that have shown interest in the property, including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Orange and Chapman University.

The board of the financially strapped Crystal Cathedral released a statement Sunday that Crystal Cathedral Ministries will raise the money to help pay the church's $36 million mortgage and nearly $10 million in unsecured debt.

On its website, Crystal Cathedral is asking its congregation and supporters to donate on to help pay down the debt, in what it called the ministries “most urgent and greatest challenge.”

An open bidding process for the 30-acre campus was announced in June after a federal bankruptcy court hearing. 

Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, 2010.