Leaders of Crystal Cathedral have announced that selling the California church, laden with nearly $50 million in debt, is no longer an option and say they believe that God is going to turn the church’s situation around for good.

The Crystal Cathedral announced over the weekend that members would fight to keep the historic California church, currently in bankruptcy, from being sold.

Surprising even church founder Robert H. Schuller, Crystal Cathedral Ministries Board Member Walt Kallestad revealed Sunday that church leaders had done a one-eighty, deciding that the Orange County church “is not for sale” after all, no matter what the Creditors Committee tasked with settling the church’s debt have in mind.

The Creditors Committee is responsible for ensuring that Crystal Cathedral’s debt is settled and has been going by a bankruptcy reorganization plan that includes sale of the church.

Church members are hoping the judge overseeing their case will grant them permission in court Monday to move ahead with a plan of their own to raise the necessary funds to dig Crystal Cathedral out of debt.

Schuller called the announcement, issued by Kallestad from the church’s pulpit, “unexpected,” but added that he was delighted to know board members had decided to step out in faith to battle the church’s financial woes.

“It’s time to focus on rescue, not abandonment,” Schuller said in a statement. “It’s time to face our mountain.”

At a bankruptcy court hearing to be held Monday, church representatives are expected to seek permission to carry out a fundraising plan to raise $50 million in the next 120 days, reports the Orange County Register.

No matter the court’s ruling, board members say, they know God will have the final word and are certain that He will “provide all the funds necessary to pay every creditor in full” and use the church’s bankruptcy for good.

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