GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA – Canadian viewers of the Hour of Power television show from Crystal Cathedral will play a role in determining the future of the program.
Sheila Schuller Coleman, Crystal Cathedral’s senior pastor, said in a telephone interview that Canadian donations declined when the church encountered financial problems and her father and church founder, Dr. Robert Schuller, was less involved in the Hour of Power.
“We’ve seen a serious drop in revenue in Canada,” Coleman said.
How serious? According to Crystal Cathedral Ministries (Canada) CRA 2010 return the ministry received 2.5 million dollars from Canadians in 2010. The ministry has been operating in Canada since 1978. Returns are online since 2000, and show a high of giving in 2006 of 3.9 million. Giving dropped below 3 million in 2009.
The Hour of Power is broadcast on Global and Vision in Canada, the US website can’t spell Newfoundland correctly.
Sheila Schuller Coleman attempts to put a positive spin on a really poor program on the Canadian site as she explains the show is downsizing. Production values of The Hour of Power remain high, but the content of the bankrupt ministry is, well, just plain awful.
Canadian Hour of Power supporters are older, a given as celebrity mega ministries die off; looking at random pictures from a 2011 Canadian fund-raising visit to four cities by Schullers daughter. If Coleman believes mediocre music and preaching is going to attract a younger audience, as per her new vision, good luck to her. According to Alexis the US main Hour of Power site has an average of 2 visitors a day, and the younger audience isn’t clicking over. Same for the Crystal Cathedral website. The Hour of Power now looks like any So Cal half-baked consumer seeking religious program, and whether it’s an hour or a half hour, I don’t know if any influx of money, optimism or sale pitches can save it, nor can I think of any reason this show should be saved. It will be interesting to see how much longer the Canadian operation will limp along. The Hour of Power pulled out of several US markets as revenue dropped in 209-2010.
The Hour of Power has 13 international branches, it would be interesting to know how viewers in the UK, Russia or Australia are giving.
Buying air-time doesn’t make what is now a bankrupt local church an international ministry. An hour of bad religious programming or an half hour of bad programming isn’t going to change the reality of why this ministry is over or how it died.
The Crystal Cathedral Half-hour of Power announcement.
Take Flight With Us in 2012! from Crystal Cathedral Ministries on Vimeo.
Look! She is crazy!!!
$2.5M is nothing to sneeze about. I wish I was crazy enought to raise that kind of money from the unsuspecting.
Can you imagine what that money could do if it was instead given to food banks or used to assist people in getting an education or in re training or some sort.
They may not been fleecing Canadians as much this year as in the past but rest assured that someone else will enter stage left to take up the ‘slack’.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_involving_evangelical_Christians
@flc
Valid points. Seems to be a never-ending supply of people willing to be parted from their money. and a never-ending supply of people who would greatly benefit from a little help. Why do you suppose so many haven’t heard?
|Too much trust, too little verification.
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