SCHULLER'S CHURCH CUTS STAFF

The current ebb in the nation's economy seemingly has had a negative impact on "possibility thinker," the Rev. Robert Schuller and his Southern California church. The Crystal Cathedral announced in July that it cut the jobs of 37 of its staff in an effort to offset substantial financial deficits in recent months.

The layoffs represent six percent of the church's entire 600 member work force and affects both church staff and employees at its popular television broadcast, "Hour of Power." The cutbacks have forced the closing of the church's infant care nursery and terminated 12 positions within its executive pastor's staff.

The mega church, located in Garden Grove, averages 8,000 in attendance each Sunday, having grown from humble beginnings in the 1950s when the "self esteem" minister began preaching from the roof of a drive in theater's snack bar. The Dictionary of Christianity in America says Schuller "attempts to recast the gospel in a positive form that appeals to the human quest for a positive self image."

-- MKG

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