Church attorney accuses Bishop John Howard of not cooperating in Title IV cases
Bishop John Howard led the Jacksonville-based Diocese of Florida from 2004 until his retirement in 2023. Photo: Diocese of Florida
[Episcopal News Service] The church attorney representing The Episcopal Church in the disciplinary cases against former Florida Bishop John Howard has accused Howard of failing to cooperate in the proceedings and has asked the hearing panel to compel the retired bishop to produce documents and written responses to questions.
“There is no plausible reason to conclude that [Howard] is unaware of the deadlines,” the attorney, Craig Merritt, said in a motion, which will be taken up in an online proceeding at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 20. The motion and the scheduling of oral arguments on the motion suggest that Howard has refused for months to cooperate in two parallel cases, one alleging anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and the other alleging financial impropriety when he was a diocesan bishop.
“The task of requesting a time extension is not daunting,” Merritt wrote. Howard “has demonstrated his ability to communicate with a Hearing Panel when he chooses, and it is likely that his failure to make such a request is anything but unintentional.”
Howard is facing potential discipline under the church’s Title IV canons, which apply to all ordained clergy. Such cases sometimes are resolved through an accord, or negotiated agreement, in which some or all details remain confidential. In this case, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced in February that his discussions with Howard had not yet resulted in such an accord, and the case would proceed to the more public phase, before a Title IV Hearing Panel.
Howard’s cases previously had been scheduled for a hearing April 30-May 2, but the week before the hearing, the church announced it had been delayed to an unspecified future date.
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. Howard, while affirming his conservative theological beliefs, has denied the claims of discrimination.
The second case is unrelated and centers on three financial matters. Howard is accused of improperly benefiting from a home loan provided by his Jacksonville-based diocese that the diocese eventually forgave, and he is accused of spending money from a bishop’s discretionary account on home improvements. The case also details concerns about the transparency and propriety of an arrangement between Howard, an anonymous donor and an independent diocesan foundation to boost the bishop’s salary while also fulfilling corresponding pension obligations in the years before his retirement.
Howard, in his written responses to these allegations, affirmed many of the underlying facts but denied all wrongdoing.
After the church attorney alleged lack of cooperation, Episcopal News Service sought comment from Howard through his attorney, who responded that he was no longer representing Howard in the matter. Since April, no other attorney for Howard has been listed in case documents posted to the church website. ENS also reached out to Howard by email and will update this story if a response is recieved.
In April, the Hearing Panel had issued an updated scheduling order, giving both sides a series of new deadlines, including for providing requested documents and conducting depositions with possible witnesses. On April 21, the church issued a request to Howard for that evidence, known as “discovery,” but since then, Merritt said Howard has openly refused to cooperate with those requests.
“It is 53 days since service of the written discovery; and two weeks past the deadline for a response,” Merritt said in his June 13 motion, which was filed in the case related to financial matters. Merritt added that Howard had “advised the Hearing Panel that he decided to disengage from this and the other pending Title IV proceeding until August 10, 2025. He has not signaled his intentions after that date.”
Merritt has asked the Hearing Panel to order Howard to comply and, if he doesn’t, to allow the church to proceed with the case without his cooperation if necessary. Merritt also cautioned against allowing Howard’s unresponsiveness to disrupt the case’s timely advance.
“The church does not want to be caught in a trap, whereby the respondent, having withdrawn from the process, returns only to claim that actions taken in his absence were somehow unfair,” Merritt said.
Under the most recent scheduling order, depositions were to be concluded by Aug. 18. With that and other deadlines missed, it is unclear when the two cases might proceed to a hearing.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.
