Former Florida bishop absent as disciplinary panel hears arguments about his unresponsiveness
Craig Merritt, right, the church attorney in two Title IV disciplinary cases against former Florida Bishop John Howard, speaks Aug. 20 at a motion hearing before the hearing panel in the Howard cases. The panel’s chair is North Carolina Assistant Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson. Howard did not attend.
[Episcopal News Service] Former Florida Bishop John Howard “sort of fell off the radar” and has not been heard from since February, a church attorney told a disciplinary hearing panel Aug. 20 in the Title IV cases against Howard, who is accused of discrimination and financial impropriety.
More than 40 people, including several clergy and lay leaders from Howard’s diocese, attended the motion hearing on Zoom. Howard was not among them.
“It’s important for the record to show that the church attorney and the hearing panel itself have taken every opportunity and taken every reasonable step that we can to be sure that Bishop Howard has notice of all of the proceedings that are taking place and that he have an opportunity to appear and participate,” Craig Merritt, the attorney for The Episcopal Church, said while outlining his motion. It asks the hearing panel to compel Howard to respond or else allow the case to proceed without his cooperation.
North Carolina Assistant Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson, who chairs the hearing panel, agreed that Merritt’s description of Howard’s unresponsiveness is “consistent with what the hearing panel has seen.” The last procedural contact between Howard and the hearing panel was in February, when the two sides met through their attorneys and agreed on a scheduling order.
“It has been six months since we have heard anything from him,” Brooke-Davidson said.
Florida Bishop John Howard retired in October 2023 after reaching the church’s mandatory retirement age of 72. Photo: Diocese of Florida
Howard served the Jacksonville-based Diocese of Florida for 20 years until his retirement in October 2023, after reaching the church’s mandatory clergy retirement age of 72. One of the two cases filed under the church’s Title IV canons alleges that the diocese, under Howard’s leadership, engaged in a pattern of discrimination against LGBTQ+ clergy and aspirants to ordained ministry, as well as their supporters. The second case is unrelated and centers on three diocesan financial matters during his time as bishop.
Howard submitted written responses to these allegations in August 2024. He affirmed many of the underlying facts but denied all wrongdoing. Episcopal News Service has been unable to reach him for a more recent response.
The Episcopal Church’s Title IV disciplinary canons apply to all clergy, though cases involving bishops follow a separate process from those at the diocesan level. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe had been in conversation with Howard on a possible accord, or agreement, to resolve the matter, but in February 2025, Rowe announced that the cases would proceed to a hearing panel, marking a more public phase of the process.
A Title IV hearing, similar to a civil trial, had been scheduled to begin at the end of April but was postponed to allow time for both sides to pursue discovery, the process of gathering evidence, requesting documents and deposing witnesses. Howard, however, has not participated in the discovery process, and in June, Merritt filed a motion seeking to compel Howard to provide documents and answer written questions. The bishop still has not responded, Merritt said at the Aug. 20 hearing.
“We are working diligently to not let this turn into some sort of ad hominem attack on the bishop personally,” Merritt said, but Howard has given no reason for the sudden lack of cooperation, leaving the church to conclude that it is “intentional and by design.”
In addition to Brooke-Davidson, the members of the hearing panel include the Rev. Mally Lloyd, a Diocese of Massachusetts priest; former Michigan Bishop Wendell Gibbs; Bill Fleener Jr., chancellor of the Diocese of the Great Lakes; and Bethlehem Bishop Kevin Nichols. Brooke-Davidson said the panel plans to issue a ruling on Merrit’s motion by Aug. 25.
Howard’s Title IV hearing now is set to begin Nov. 10 in Jacksonville, according to a separate scheduling order. The current deadline for both sides to comply with requirements for disclosure of evidence is Aug. 29.
Merritt has asked the hearing panel to rule that Howard, by his lack of participation, has waived his right to object to any of the church’s requests for documents, testimony or other evidence. To allow Howard to resurface at a later date and raise objections “would be prejudicial to the process,” Merritt said, and could turn the proceedings into an “expensive side show.”
It also is unclear whether Howard is currently represented by an attorney in the cases. His former attorney, Stephen Busey, told the hearing panel in April that he had to step down from representing Howard “citing personal reasons.” Busey told ENS by email that he was not sure whether anyone else is representing Howard.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.
