A “faith filled” decision in July to raise $50 million to try to pay off its debt and maintain ownership of the church, have reportedly fallen short in their fundraising efforts. The Schullers have reportedly failed to raise even half of the funds needed to prevent the church from being sold.

Robert H. Schuller is defending himself and his family against allegations in a lawsuit filed by Crystal Cathedral creditors overseeing the Californiamegachurch‘s bankruptcy case, in which the Schullers are accused of drawing income from the ministry’s endowment fund to cover their own salaries.

Court documents related to the lawsuit were made available earlier this week and Schuller, founder of the Orange Grove church, insists the claims made against he and his family are false.

“This lawsuit makes serious and untrue allegations regarding myself and my family,” Schuller said Tuesday in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, which published a copy of the lawsuit on its website. “It is unfortunate that I will have to defend this lawsuit only to prove what is true.”

In a legal complaint dated Sept. 30, creditors allege that church administrators, which includes the Schullers, were borrowing money from Crystal Cathedral’s endowment fund, therefore receiving good salaries even as the church was experiencing financial malaise.

Schuller and his relatives allegedly borrowed about $10 million from the Endowment Fund between 2002 and 2009.

Based on the bankruptcy case, the Schuller family would be the last to receive money after the land on which the Crystal Cathedral stands is sold.

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