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11 unusual facts about Crystal Cathedral


Alton, Iowa

Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, was born and raised a few miles outside of Alton.

Crystal Cathedral

Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy in October 2010 and in February 2012 sold the building and its adjacent campus to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange for future use as the diocese's new cathedral.

On July 7, 2011, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, which had long been seeking to build a new and larger cathedral in or around Santa Ana, announced that it was "potentially interested" in buying the church campus for future use as its diocesan cathedral.

In 1961, the congregation moved to a new sanctuary designed by architect Richard Neutra.

The building, especially the interior sanctuary, is currently being renovated to accommodate the Roman Catholic liturgy and is due to re-open in 2016, at which time it is expected to be consecrated and formally renamed Christ Cathedral and become the seat of the Diocese of Orange.

Donald Neuen

He formerly served as the Artistic Director and Conductor for the Angeles Chorale, and was also the former director of the Cathedral Choir at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

Dorothy Benham

She has appeared in Broadway musicals, and regularly performs on the Crystal Cathedral television program, Hour of Power.

John C. Maxwell

On November 16, 2008, he began serving as a guest pastor at the famous Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California.

Linda Spevacek

Her works have premiered at conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the Music Educators National Conference and on The Hour of Power at the Crystal Cathedral.

Melissa Venema

She has since performed in numerous public broadcasts including an internationally-broadcast performance of Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

Robert Sims

He joined David Baker and Mercedes Ellington for Duke Ellington’s The Sacred Concerts and My People, and in 1997 toured Japan with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra singing Leonard Bernstein’s Opening Prayer. A favorite at Dr. Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, Sims has appeared on several Hour of Power international telecasts.


Fratelli Ruffatti

The company is well known for the high profile instruments it has installed over the years - such as the organ at the Crystal Cathedral, the organ at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Fátima, Portugal, and the 117-rank organ designed by Diane Bish for the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Heritage Singers

Celebratory reunion concerts have been held in 1979, 1986 (Anaheim Convention Center), 2001 (Ontario Convention Center), and 2005 (Crystal Cathedral).

Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange

In October 2010, Crystal Cathedral Ministries, the Protestant congregation that owned and worshiped in the eponymous Crystal Cathedral building in Garden Grove, filed for bankruptcy protection.