Dr. Robert H. Schuller said “We were America’s first, weekly televised church service and our audience today is as strong as ever. … No doubt there will always be a need for this TV ministry to continue

The Southern California megachurch Crystal Cathedral Ministries will enter bankruptcy as it faces lawsuit-filing creditors and a rapid decline in donations because of the recession, church officials announced Monday.

An unspecified small number of creditors have sued the church and obtained writs of attachment, said church spokesman John Charles.

The church had sought a voluntary moratorium with vendors to allow “an equitable repayment plan” under the oversight of the Credit Managers Association of California, but negotiations didn’t move fast enough to satisfy creditors, Charles said.

The ministry in Garden Grove, California, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

The church will continue its usual Sunday services, weekly telecast Hour of Power, and the Crystal Cathedral Academy & High School.

“Challenging situations are nothing new to our 55-year ministry,” said Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman, senior pastor at the church.

“Many people said we’d fail when we started our church in a drive-in theater. But look how successful that was! Many said we’d fail in 1970 when we made the commitment to televise our first worship service in Los Angeles and then New York … but look how far we’ve come!” she wrote in a statement.

“In 1977, countless persons predicted that our plans to build a 2,800-seat all-glass church in earthquake-prone Southern California would never get off the ground, but we have made history,” Coleman added.

Read More: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/18/california.mega.church.bankruptcy/