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Former Crystal Cathedral Pastor Launches New Church

ORANGE (AP) — A new church that broke away from the Crystal Cathedral has launched in a rented movie theater in Orange County.

The Orange County Register reports that Sheila Schuller Coleman held the first service of the Hope Center of Christ on Sunday, a week after announcing she was leaving the church her father, Robert Schuller, founded.

About 100 people attended the service, where popcorn buckets were passed for collection.

Coleman says a private donor paid the $845 cost of renting the theater.

For the next month, Coleman will hold services at an Anaheim hotel while a permanent location is found.

Coleman abruptly left Crystal Cathedral amid a financial shakeup and personality clashes that have dogged the megachurch over the past year.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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