Following a special meeting on June 14, the Diocese of Florida released special rules for the election of its ninth bishop, a sign that its third attempt to select a chief pastor is finally underway. A new webpage has launched, marking the Standing Committee’s March 31 call for an election as the formal starting point of the process.
The Rev. Jon Davis of St. Mark’s Church in Palatka, who coauthored a resolution with the Rev. Matt Marino of Trinity Parish in St. Augustine during the September 2024 diocesan convention, had called on the Standing Committee “to act with haste” in devising a pathway to elect a bishop. Davis expressed optimism about the recent developments.
“I walked away there, for the first time in a while, very encouraged,” Davis told TLC of the June 14 meeting. “The rules passed by 100 percent, there were no nay votes.” He takes this as a sign that “the diocese is ready.”
Davis said diocese now speaking with one voice on the election “says a lot to the healing that’s already taken place.” During the most recent diocesan convention, small-group feedback revealed disagreement on whether the diocese was ready to proceed with a bishop election.
The 25-county diocese’s search for a bishop has been a protracted series of events that began in 2022, after two failed elections of the Rev. Charlie Holt. TLC reported that Holt’s views on traditional marriage dominated the conversation across the church. After Holt’s second failed election, objectors claimed that 11 clergy exercising ministry in the diocese had been denied canonical residency because of their progressive views on same-sex marriage.
That claim led to a Title IV disciplinary case against Bishop John Howard, who has since retired.
Davis said that because there had been “some chaos” around the earlier election, the special meeting focused on clarifying who is eligible to vote and what constitutes a cure.
According to diocesan canon, congregations with an average Sunday attendance of 1 to 150 may send two lay delegates to the election. Each congregation may send an additional lay delegate for every additional 150 people, or fraction thereof.
All clergy in good standing who have cure in the diocese are eligible voters, according to the special rules, which cite Canon 1, Section 4, to define cure:
For the purposes of Canon 1, cure refers to the leadership and pastoral responsibility undertaken by clergy within the Diocese. Eligible clergy include: heads of diocesan congregations and ministries who are canonically resident or licensed by the Ecclesiastical Authority; full- and part-time associate priests who participate in at least 12 Eucharists per year in the Diocese and are canonically resident or licensed; deacons assigned to diocesan congregations and ministries by the Ecclesiastical Authority; and military chaplains canonically resident in the Diocese.
The special rules also establish that a Bishop Search Committee will be appointed and charged by the Standing Committee. Applications for the Search Committee are now open, with a deadline of June 29.
“We desire a search committee committed to prayerful and faithful discernment as they look forward with hope, seeking God’s guidance to identify a leader who will shepherd the diocese into a future shaped by the love of Christ,” the Standing Committee noted, as it outlined the gifts and skills desired in committee members.
Those gifts include a deeply grounded and active faith, knowledge of Episcopal polity, and strong diocesan and churchwide networks.
“We hope to fill both committees with members who reflect the heart and diversity of our diocese,” a diocesan communication said, as the Standing Committee opened nominations for the Transition Committee, which will take over once a slate of candidates is announced.
The first draft of the newly adopted rules was posted to the diocesan website on May 15, with a comment period that closed June 4.
The June 14 special meeting was held at Camp Weed & Cerveny Conference Center in Live Oak, which will also serve as the site of the bishop election on September 11, 2026.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
