Sheila Schuller Coleman, Crystal Cathedral Flock Set up Church in Shopping Mall

By Ivana Kvesic, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sheila Schuller Coleman, daughter of Crystal Cathedral founder the Rev. Robert Schuller, will be setting up her temporary breakaway church at an AMC movie theater at a shopping mall in Orange County, Calif., this coming Sunday.

Schuller Coleman, former senior pastor at the Crystal Cathedral church, announced last Sunday that she would be leaving the congregation, founded nearly 60 years ago by her parents, and would be transitioning with some members and forming a new church, called Hope Center of Christ.

The Hope Center OC already has a website and a Facebook page, where it announced Wednesday that services would be taking place March 18 at the AMC Theater at The Outlets at Orange.

Schuller Coleman departed the Crystal Cathedral after a highly public conflict between the church board and the Schullers ensued over the past 10 days regarding intellectual property rights, financial, and theological concerns.

Within the past several days, all members of the Schuller family have either cut ties with the church or were fired, leading the Los Angeles Times to call the situation the "end of an era" for the megachurch.

Schuller Coleman released a video announcement Monday offering some insight into plans for the new Hope Center OC.

The video included former "Hour of Power" executive producer Jim Penner, who will serve as Teaching Pastor at Schuller Coleman's new church.

"We've been busy working and I'm excited to announce our new name for our new church and it's this: Hope Center OC (of Christ)," Schuller Coleman said in Monday's video announcement.

"We have some very exciting possibilities pending for our new location. We should know within the next week or two exactly where our new home will be," she added, suggesting that the new church would be close in proximity to the Crystal Cathedral.

The Crystal Cathedral, which is now led by John Charles, will continue to carry out normal worship services despite the shake-up and will also continue to air its popular "Hour of Power" segment.

The megachurch had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2010 and its landmark campus was sold on a bankruptcy court's order this past February to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County.