The family told their pastor, the Rev. Cindy Voorhees, that they wanted to honor Knight's wishes by holding her service at the church, where she had served as a volunteer for about 60 years. Three weeks after they made that request, the family heard from the diocese through an email: "This is not going to work."

Diocesan officials did not give a reason why it wouldn't work but offered to help the family find a different location. A spokesman for the diocese did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

The St. James the Great congregation was evicted from the building on Via Lido in June 2015 after Bishop J. Jon Bruno decided to sell the property to a developer who wanted to build luxury condos there. Though the sale fell through almost immediately, Bruno has refused to allow the congregation back into the property and in March faced an unprecedented misconduct hearing before national church officials.

A decision on that disciplinary hearing is pending.

The congregation has led a nomadic existence since June 2015, first holding services and Sunday school in a park across the street from the church building and later moving to a leased space in the Gray Matter Museum in Costa Mesa.

For about the last year, they have been meeting in a community room at the Newport Beach Civic Center.

Voorhees said an image of the stained glass panel from their home church is projected onto the walls of the community room -- something Knight enjoyed seeing when she attended on Sundays. Knight, who practiced personal injury law in Orange County, was a respected member of their church community, Voorhees said.

"She was someone people looked up to," Voorhees said. "She was extremely popular and we loved her. She continued to come to Sunday services even when she was not doing very well."

Knight was hoping to see the congregation get its church back, her daughter said. Gordon said she even played a YouTube video of the bishop's March testimony on her cellphone as her mom lay on a bed in the emergency room during her final days.

"She really wanted to know what was going on and was hoping we'd get that church back," Gordon said. "That church really means a lot to all of us. My siblings and I were baptized and married there. My grandparents were members there and their funerals were held there."

Knight, who had two daughters and two sons, served as a junior and senior warden. And when her mother died, she took her place on the flower guild, crafting flower arrangements for Sunday services and on other special days.

The family forged lifelong friendships at the church, and they treasure memories of midnight Christmas Eve Mass and decorating the cross for Easter with flowers plucked from their garden, Gordon said.

Knight wanted her ashes to be interred in the church's columbarium, which she helped design and raise funds for, her daughter said.

If the building comes back to the congregation, the family would still be able to honor her wishes. But if the national church decides that the building should be sold, they would have to make other plans, Gordon said.

Gordon's sister, Betsy Scuderi, said she intends to write a letter to the diocese expressing her disappointment.

"It took them three weeks just to tell us 'no,'" she said.

Gordon said they were shocked because the diocese had made exceptions and opened up the church allowing a few other families to hold weddings and funerals.

"I thought they would allow it because there is no reason not to," she said.

The family has scheduled Knight's memorial service for June 24 at Newport Beach City Hall.

Meanwhile, they are holding out hope that the national church will give the building back to the St. James the Great congregation before that date. They are hoping that, if that happens, they can hold Knight's service in the building and place her ashes in the columbarium, just as she wished.

END