GARDEN GROVE – A website launched by several longtime Crystal Cathedral members was shut down Saturday morning because of copyright issues, according to the site’s webmaster.
Jim Kirkland, who started crystalcathedralmusic.net earlier this year, said the church’s administration complained to the domain name company about unauthorized use of its copyrighted name.
Kirkland said on Wednesday that he had to take down several YouTube clips he had posted on the site of the cathedral’s choir performing – once again, because of copyright concerns raised by the church’s administrators.
“I started this website because, like many other members who left the ministry and many others who still remain, I love the traditional choir and music as presented by Don Neuen and Roger Williams,” he said.
The cathedral recently moved toward more modern praise music, which was vehemently opposed by longtime congregants.
Crystal Cathedral spokesman John Charles was not available for comment Saturday.
Kirkland and other congregants, who also launched a petition drive and collected close to 1,000 signatures through the site, said they are “extremely upset” at the church’s actions.
They are trying to move content from the website to a new site, pens-opinion.org.
The congregants in their petition are seeking an international church board without anyone from the family of founder Robert H. Schuller. They are also asking that the cathedral’s board contain independent legal and financial advisers who do not have conflict-of-interest issues with the Schullers or the cathedral.
The Crystal Cathedral filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Oct. 18 after struggling financially for nearly four years. So far, the church has received purchase offers from several parties including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange and Chapman University.
But the cathedral’s board had said the 40-acre campus is not for sale and that they will raise $50 million by Thanksgiving to save the ministry.
To read recent stories about the Crystal Cathedral, visit ocregister.com/common/archives/?catID=22521db=ocregister.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com
