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Column: Schuller makes bishop look humble - Even in bankruptcy,
Schuller is asking for $300,000 a year for the rest of his life
The bankruptcy record includes appalling insight into how the Crystal Cathedral Ministry founder and his kin have
lived for the last several years as the church was heading to ruination. In late 2005, according to a pleading filed by
creditors, Schuller was being phased out as leader and moved into a "roving ambassador" role. For this, according
to a transition agreement, he was to be paid $300,000 a year for "discretionary" spending plus a salary that wasn't
specified at the time, but was later shown to be as much as $257,000 in 2009. It's one level of avarice to be paid a
half-million a year by hard-working congregants for "roving." It's a whole 'nother to be paid that much while your
church is collapsing around you. The church filed for bankruptcy in 2010, a year that Schuller's total compensation
was at least $447,000, according to the creditors. Shocked yet? How about this: Even in bankruptcy, Schuller is
asking for $300,000 a year for the rest of his life. Schuller shamelessly defends the salary. The "ministry has reaped
great benefit from that agreement, far in excess of what it has paid, and it stands to receive even more in the coming
years," he said in a prepared statement last month. It's further untrue, he said, that ministry officials acted in bad
faith - by which I assume he means they had no idea they were in deep financial trouble when they were promising
salaries and health care for life for Schuller and his wife. But as early as 2002, the church started borrowing from
the special church Endowment Fund to which donors had contributed for a specific purpose. Instead, the money
covered salaries and general expenses. The amount of such borrowing ultimately totaled about $10 million. And in
2005, the creditors allege, the church had to stop paying the principle to its major creditor, Farmer & Merchants
Bank. If true, these developments would indicate the Schullers knew well before the bankruptcy, even well before
the national recession, that their financial plan wasn't working. Yet they kept spending.
Schuller "Lawsuit allegations unfair and untrue" - Robert H. Schuller
[Sr.] shot back in response to a lawsuit filed by creditors saying that
he and board members always acted in good faith and in the best
interests of the cathedral - Schuller the founder of the Crystal
Cathedral, called allegations made in a creditors' lawsuit that the
pastor and his family members greatly benefited from the church and
provided little in return, unfair and untrue - The complaint was filed
after Schuller family members refused to put their own financial claims
in bankruptcy court behind the unsecured creditors, primarily
**vendors, who are yet to be paid
Referring to his own agreement in 2005 in which the senior Schuller was given $300,000 and benefits, staff and use
of an office suite for life, the founder said the "ministry has reaped great benefit from that agreement, far in excess
of what it has paid, and it stands to receive even more in the coming years." Among other things, the creditors'
lawsuit filed in bankruptcy court Friday alleges that the Cathedral's board drew about $10 million from endowment
funds between 2002 and 2009. Money from those funds was used for church expenses and salaries when they were
donated for specific purposes such as caring for the Walk of Faith memorial stones. The lawsuit also specifically
names Schuller's daughters, son and their families as well as former Chief Financial Officer Fred Southard, saying
that they received lavish salaries, housing allowances and other benefits such as travel benefits and vehicles.
Schuller's daughters, Carol Schuller Milner and Jeanne Schuller Dunn, have said the lawsuit has inaccuracies and
misinformation. Milner said she and her siblings have always been a part of the church and contributed to the best
of their abilities, but that most never had a say in the decisions the board made. The complaint says Robert A.
Schuller, son of the founder, and his wife, Donna, were promised a $235,000 reserve fund and $1 million in seed
money for a new church. In addition, they also got a Mercedes Benz and occupied a condominium owned by the
church in Laguna Beach, the suit says. Donna Schuller, who has also been named in the lawsuit, said Tuesday that
the Mercedes mentioned in the complaint was a gift from a family friend in 2005. At the time, her husband
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