Diocese of Florida releases reports from listening sessions as it prepares for new bishop search

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Florida Standing Committee on Aug. 13 released two reports from listening sessions in 2024 and 2025 that were intended to heal internal diocesan tensions while establishing a more solid foundation for launching a new bishop search.

The reports were drafted by Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves, who has been working with the diocese as a consultant in its healing process, since its last two bishop elections drew objections and did not result in a consecration. Gray-Reeves, trained in conflict resolution, is the former bishop of El Camino Real in California.

A special meeting of the Florida Diocesan Convention was held June 14 at the diocese’s Camp Weed and Cerveny Conference Center in Live Oak, Florida, to advance the process of launching a bishop search. Photo: Camp Weed

“The convocations for listening and sharing with one another have supported transformation, healing and reconciliation happening on many levels in the diocese,” Gray-Reeves said in a joint statement with the Rev. Sarah Minton, chair of Florida’s standing committee. “The path has not been easy, and we still have work to do. We trust the Holy Spirit as we continue to faithfully create space for the healing work that Christ is bringing among us.”

The 2025 report summarizes participants’ responses at six gatherings across the Jacksonville-based diocese in April, May and June. The report includes a six-page summary by Gray-Reeves followed by a long compilation of participants’ written responses at table groups. The 2024 report follows a similar structure and is based on three gatherings in January and May that year.

“Overall, there was support for moving forward with the election of the next bishop,” Gray-Reeves wrote in the 2025 report, “and a desire to see continued improvement in communication, transparency and greater engagement across the diocese in order to continue improving healthy, ethical, trustworthy and canonical functioning in all aspects of being a diocese of the Episcopal Church.”

The gatherings were not intended primarily to enable a new bishop election, though diocesan leaders previously had indicated healing would be necessary before a new election could be held. In March 2025, the standing committee announced it had initiated a series of steps that would allow for an election in 2026 and a consecration in early 2027.

The diocese has been without a diocesan bishop since the October 2023 retirement of former Florida Bishop John Howard, who had served for nearly 20 years. Howard, known as one of The Episcopal Church’s more theologically conservative bishops, had drawn criticism from more progressive leaders in the diocese, particularly for his resistance to LGBTQ+ inclusion.

In 2022, the diocese twice tried to elect Howard’s successor, but both times the elections were successfully blocked by objections filed by some Florida clergy and lay leaders, leaving Florida unable to consecrate a new bishop.

Gray-Reeves’ work with the Diocese of Florida has included multiple convocations, a clergy conference, a clergy day and a day of prayer. In addition, retired Georgia Bishop Scott Benhase agreed to serve Florida as a part-time assisting bishop with help from retired New Jersey Bishop Chip Stokes.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.