The Diocese of Orange, California, has fallen short in a bid to purchase the Crystal Cathedral.
The massive structure and surrounding campus in Garden Grove, California, established by the televangelist Robert Schuller, were purchased by Chapman University.
The school agreed to pay $50 million for the property and lease it back to the Protestant ministry, with the expectation that the church, which is currently in bankruptcy, would eventually buy back the property.
The Orange diocese had offered a higher price--$53.6 million--for the property, but had included a provision for the ministry founded by Schuller to continue there.