There is charity and then there is a demand for fealty . . .

Why the Schullers lost their empire.

An email sent out to members of the Crystal Cathedral congregation requesting meals for founder Robert H. Schuller's wife Arvella, who is ill with pneumonia, is creating mixed feelings of sadness and outrage among members.

According to longtime member Jim McDonald, an email was sent out by administrators to Bible study groups as well as church elders, asking that meals for the reverend's wife be dropped off at the cathedral's Tower of Hope where the Schullers' limo drivers will be waiting to pick them up at the designated time.

When I was a child, I recall a jingle in New York City for one of the first "fast food" restaurants, Chicken Delite, that went:  "Don't cook tonight/call Chicken Delite!" 

If you can afford limo drivers, call Chicken Delite . . . or send them a few miles away to Katella Deli to pick up some great Jewish chicken soup.  But to demand the faithful bring you food seems somewhat feudal.

Seriously, the debtors board perfers Chapman University's offer because it gives the Schullers another chance at running the Crystal Cathedral?  These people?!  I mean, I once brought chicken soup to the pastor of my church but that was because he was a friend at the time and had no friggin' limo driver - hell, as a celibate priest had no one, really - to get him the classic bowl of Jewish penicillin (and for the record, it was wonton soup from Peking Kitchen on 17th Street because as much as I like him, I'm not driving over to Los Alamitos to go to the Katella Deli, so don't think my charity is limitless . . .).