The Capstone Cathedral

The Capstone Cathedral, also known as the “Green Pyramid”, is a weird sight in Phoenix. How did it get here, and why is it still standing today?

Origins

Photo of Neal Frisby

The Capstone Cathedral was founded in 1968 by a preacher named Neal Frisby. He grew up in a small farm town in central California called Paso Robles, where he married young and had two kids. He never finished high school and mainly worked as a barber.

Neal suffered from alcoholism and tragically lost his teenage wife after she committed suicide. After a few setbacks he decided to move to Phoenix after he heard a message from God, telling him to:

“Settle in the desert and build a cathedral.”

The finished cathedral / Photo by Neal Frisby

This motivated him to construct a 4000 seat auditorium on the corner of Tatum and Shae, which at that point was positioned on the outskirts of the city lacking any real infrastructure, with his family as his only followers.

At one point the capstone would glow green, visible from miles away on the I-17

Neal eventually was able to build a large Pentecostal congregation after posting to billboards and the newspaper Arizona Republic. He was able to gather followers from Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Nigeria. You can even see some of these historical sermons on YouTube.

Pentecostals believe in spiritual and physical healing / Photo by Neal Frisby

He was very successful in his endeavors, amassing a net worth of more than $20 million by the 80’s. However, by the end of the decade, only about 150 followers remained in the congregation. Some claimed he was positioning himself to the status of prophet, and left in droves.

Succession

The church began to fall apart and had no one in line of succession. Neal’s son Curtis was next in line to run the church. He was told at an early age:

“One day, if the call is there, you’ll run this place.”

Photo of Curtis Frisby

However, two major events struck the family in year 2000. The first was the passing of Neal’s wife, Margaret. A few months later, while the family was still trying to process this loss, Curtis’s wife filed for a divorce. Pentecostals don’t believe in this behavior, so this drove a wedge even further between Curtis and his father.

Tension Rises

Leroy Jenkins / Photo by Delaware Gazette

After his wife’s passing, Neal began to grow more sick and in need of assistance. The church needed someone to fill the role, so Neal reached out to his friend Leroy Jenkins. He was a famous televangelist from Ohio who already had a decent sized congregation. After discussions with Neal and some legal paperwork promoting him to executive vice president, he agreed to move his ministry to Phoenix at the Capstone Cathedral.

3 months later, the board of directors terminated his role. Leroy was barred from entering the church when they made this decision, and he promptly filed a lawsuit against the Frisby’s, who in turn filed a counterclaim. This legal battle would continue, but in the meantime, Neal met the person who he felt could truly take over the church.

Handing over the torch

Neal met a former wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers - Robert Brooks, who had just retired from the NFL.

Robert Brooks / Photo by The Mike Holmgren Show

In a shocking turn of events, Neal handed over his house, cathedral, and two acre plot of land over to Brooks just five months before passing away. Robert filed paperwork with the Arizona Secretary of State to form Men of God Ministries. His impression of Neal was that:

“This is a man who God had told that he was about to depart. And there were some things he intended to make right before he did.”

- Robert Brooks

Capstone Cathedral in 2005 / Photo from Google Maps

Brooks sold the plot of land, and although Neal promised his sons an inheritence, only a fraction went to them from the sale. This was due to outstanding fees from the Leroy Jenkins lawsuit.

Today

Today, the cathedral is in pretty rough shape. It used to be maintained with the pyramid portion painted gold, and the capstone on top bright green. Now all the colors have faded and there is graffiti underneath the capstone.

In the past year or so the building was repurposed as a summer camp. The area surrounding the church contains a Starbucks, Bank of America, and is across the street from a Trader Joe’s. It stands tall amidst a slew of commercial developments, although it is a shell of its former glory.

Further reading

If you are interested in further reading, I highly recommend the article by Sarah Fenske in the Phoenix New Times, titled “The Frisby Legacy” that provides further details omitted for brevity here.