A panel of officials from the national Episcopal Church issued its recommendation on misconduct charges against J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, on Friday, July 21, nearly ending a two-year battle during which he tried to sell the St. James the Great church in Newport Beach and displaced its congregants.

Panel members voted 4-1 to suspend Bruno for three years, restore the congregation and halt efforts to sell the 40,000-square-foot building and surrounding property at 3209 Via Lido, which includes a rose garden where the ashes of 12 former parishioners are buried.

The decision comes after panel members presided over a three-day disciplinary hearing in March.

“The hearing panel has concluded that the scope and severity of Bishop Bruno’s misconduct … have unjustly and unnecessarily disturbed the ministry of a mission of the church,” the ruling reads.

Panel member the Rev. Michael G. Smith dissented, saying the “resolution of property disputes properly resides within local diocesan entities,” adding that it should not have been “adjudicated through the disciplinary process.”

The complainants have until Wednesday, July 26, to offer comments on the recommendations, which will be considered when Michael Bruce Curry, the presiding bishop of the national Episcopal Church, makes a final ruling.

The charges against Bruno stemmed from his attempts to sell the church property for $15 million to developer Legacy Partners, which had planned to build luxury condominiums on the site.

The sale fell through but the congregation has been locked out of the church since July 2015, forcing them to hold services in a Civic Center community room.

“I’m euphoric,” said congregation member Sue Rawlings upon hearing of the ruling. “This congregation is very strong. We’ve stayed together, but we deserve to be back in our church.”

The saga has led to several lawsuits involving congregants, the diocese, Bruno and the Griffith Co., the group that gave the Via Lido land to St. James in 1945. Griffith Co. previously had filed a lawsuit saying the property’s deed included a clause requiring the land to remain a church. Bruno countered that the restriction had been lifted decades ago and a court ruled in his favor.

During the Episcopal panel hearing, Bruno said he was merely fulfilling his fiduciary duty by selling off a church that was “under-performing” and trying to recover millions of dollars spent on prior legal disputes over the property.

St. James the Great Rev. Canon Cindy Voorhees declined to comment, Friday.

In June, the panel issued an emergency order prohibiting Bruno from selling the property after he entered into a confidential sale agreement with Newport Beach-based Burnham-Ward Properties LLC, upsetting congregants.

Bishop Coadjutor John Taylor, who will head the Los Angeles diocese when Bruno retires, said he looks forward to what the national church decides and that “we can then encourage reconciliation and find an equitable solution that serves the interests of all the members of our diocesan community.”

Curry has at least 40 days to make a final determination on the matter.