I just read a fun and, sometimes to me, funny article. I am sure it was not meant to be funny. I call it funny in an appreciative sense, rather than a destructive joking sense. The article was entitled, “Crystal Cathedral, home to the ‘Hour of Power,’ transforms into Catholic seat.” Heather Adams writes the article, but I do not know her. I can imagine many folks---especially my younger friends have no idea what the Crystal Cathedral is---or was. I will use that church as a story of transformation, which is for me quite interesting and suggestive of all sorts of possibilities.
For anyone who is older, the Crystal Cathedral was well-known. This would be particularly true for non-Catholics. In many ways the Crystal Cathedral epitomized robust mid-twentieth century Christianity---especially evangelical Christianity. And if you knew the Crystal Cathedral, you surely knew the name of the pastor of the Cathedral, Robert Schuller. Schuller was born in Iowa in 1926. His family were part of the Dutch contingent who called Iowa home. Dutifully Schuller was baptized into the Dutch Reformed Church.
The story goes that Schuller was convinced when he was five years old that he would be a pastor. To that end, he studied for the ministry and was ordained in the Reformed Church in America. As part of that denomination, he would have been a Calvinist in theology. His first church was in Illinois. After leaving Illinois, he moved to Garden Grove, California in the 1950s. That part of California would still be close to the orange groves and rural life. But all of southern California was changing---particularly with an onrush of Midwesterners, like Schuller.
In 1955 Schuller began the Garden Grove Community Church at a rented drive-in movie theater. He also had a former Baptist church to hold indoor services for his new church. His congregation continued to grow and in 1980 Schuller moved into the newly completed towering glass structure called the Crystal Cathedral. It was vintage southern California. I visited it a few times in my travels to that part of the country. I actually knew a former Quaker minister who was on the pastoral staff at the Crystal Cathedral.
As the twentieth century gave way to the twenty-first century, the glory days of the Crystal Cathedral were waning. Schuller’s son could not sustain the ministry, demographics were changing and American culture was changing. In 2010 the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy. Simultaneously, the story of Roman Catholics in the area is a different story. A huge influx of Catholics came into the area. So the Catholics bought a used cathedral! The Diocese of Orange has remodeled a sacred (or is it to a Catholic?) space to make it a sacred Catholic space. And it is almost ready to open as the diocesan headquarters and cathedral.
It is now called Christ Cathedral. It has been remodeled, but it is still Christian. It has a new name, but I am assuming the same God. There will be new parishioners, but different languages---four languages for Mass in the beginning. I think this is a cool story---a story of transformation. So often, we talk about God working transformationally in the world to change the hearts and lives of people. Usually this means God somehow works directly on those hearts and lives.
Perhaps this is a story of indirect transformation. Somehow God is working through a building to fashion transformation. So often old churches are remodeled into museums or art studios. Sometimes they become community centers or, even, apartments. This is a very nice story about the transformation of a church into a church---from Crystal to Christ. It replicates the basic Christian message of life-death-life. Perhaps the words of the construction leader, who happens to be a local Catholic, put it best. “The building is going to continue its journey and its purpose of meeting the spiritual purpose of the people,” comments Richard Helm.
Schuller died in 2015. I wonder what he would think of his old place in its new life? If he were a Buddhist or Hindu, perhaps he could understand it as reincarnation! As a Christian, I prefer transformational language. God has done a new thing with an old thing. That indeed is the story of our faith. It happens to people’s lives, as well as with buildings.
Transformation happens in human hearts, just like it has happened to Crystal Cathedral. From worn-out, misguided, lost and seemingly useless human beings, God works to remodel and to transform. Usually the outward appearance does not change remarkably. When I go to visit Christ Cathedral, I expect it still to look quite a bit like I remember. But it’s new---or, at least, renewed. And so with human hearts. Cold hearts become warm hearts. Hard hearts become compassionate hearts.
Transformation should be at the center of human hope. It is hope grounded in grace, as much as human effort. It is the core of my theology.
For anyone who is older, the Crystal Cathedral was well-known. This would be particularly true for non-Catholics. In many ways the Crystal Cathedral epitomized robust mid-twentieth century Christianity---especially evangelical Christianity. And if you knew the Crystal Cathedral, you surely knew the name of the pastor of the Cathedral, Robert Schuller. Schuller was born in Iowa in 1926. His family were part of the Dutch contingent who called Iowa home. Dutifully Schuller was baptized into the Dutch Reformed Church.
The story goes that Schuller was convinced when he was five years old that he would be a pastor. To that end, he studied for the ministry and was ordained in the Reformed Church in America. As part of that denomination, he would have been a Calvinist in theology. His first church was in Illinois. After leaving Illinois, he moved to Garden Grove, California in the 1950s. That part of California would still be close to the orange groves and rural life. But all of southern California was changing---particularly with an onrush of Midwesterners, like Schuller.
In 1955 Schuller began the Garden Grove Community Church at a rented drive-in movie theater. He also had a former Baptist church to hold indoor services for his new church. His congregation continued to grow and in 1980 Schuller moved into the newly completed towering glass structure called the Crystal Cathedral. It was vintage southern California. I visited it a few times in my travels to that part of the country. I actually knew a former Quaker minister who was on the pastoral staff at the Crystal Cathedral.
As the twentieth century gave way to the twenty-first century, the glory days of the Crystal Cathedral were waning. Schuller’s son could not sustain the ministry, demographics were changing and American culture was changing. In 2010 the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy. Simultaneously, the story of Roman Catholics in the area is a different story. A huge influx of Catholics came into the area. So the Catholics bought a used cathedral! The Diocese of Orange has remodeled a sacred (or is it to a Catholic?) space to make it a sacred Catholic space. And it is almost ready to open as the diocesan headquarters and cathedral.
It is now called Christ Cathedral. It has been remodeled, but it is still Christian. It has a new name, but I am assuming the same God. There will be new parishioners, but different languages---four languages for Mass in the beginning. I think this is a cool story---a story of transformation. So often, we talk about God working transformationally in the world to change the hearts and lives of people. Usually this means God somehow works directly on those hearts and lives.
Perhaps this is a story of indirect transformation. Somehow God is working through a building to fashion transformation. So often old churches are remodeled into museums or art studios. Sometimes they become community centers or, even, apartments. This is a very nice story about the transformation of a church into a church---from Crystal to Christ. It replicates the basic Christian message of life-death-life. Perhaps the words of the construction leader, who happens to be a local Catholic, put it best. “The building is going to continue its journey and its purpose of meeting the spiritual purpose of the people,” comments Richard Helm.
Schuller died in 2015. I wonder what he would think of his old place in its new life? If he were a Buddhist or Hindu, perhaps he could understand it as reincarnation! As a Christian, I prefer transformational language. God has done a new thing with an old thing. That indeed is the story of our faith. It happens to people’s lives, as well as with buildings.
Transformation happens in human hearts, just like it has happened to Crystal Cathedral. From worn-out, misguided, lost and seemingly useless human beings, God works to remodel and to transform. Usually the outward appearance does not change remarkably. When I go to visit Christ Cathedral, I expect it still to look quite a bit like I remember. But it’s new---or, at least, renewed. And so with human hearts. Cold hearts become warm hearts. Hard hearts become compassionate hearts.
Transformation should be at the center of human hope. It is hope grounded in grace, as much as human effort. It is the core of my theology.
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