[Episcopal News Service] The primary complainant in one of the two disciplinary cases against John Howard, former bishop of the Diocese of Florida, released a written statement Oct. 3 voicing strong disagreement with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe for his decision to end the cases against Howard before they reached a hearing.
The Rev. Elyse Gustafson had accused Howard of LGBTQ+ discrimination in a case that summarized broader complaints about how he had treated gay and lesbian clergy in the Jacksonville-based diocese, which he led for nearly 20 years. A separate, unrelated complaint had accused Howard of a series of financial improprieties during his tenure.
“The church had a chance to do something important. We had a chance to hear the truth,” Gustafson wrote. “The presiding bishop chose not to do so. It was his choice. I believe it was the wrong one.”
Florida Bishop John Howard stepped down in October 2023 after reaching the church’s mandatory retirement age of 72. Photo: Diocese of Florida
Rowe announced Oct. 1 that he had reached an accord with Howard to end those cases without disciplinary action and without Howard admitting any wrongdoing, though he later asked Rowe to remove him from ministry as a bishop and Episcopal clergy. Rowe said he had concluded that proceeding to a hearing, which had been scheduled for Nov. 10, would have subjected the diocese to more pain and unnecessary cost. Instead, he said he hoped the diocese would “continue the extraordinary progress you have been making in fostering unity, transparency and shared governance.”
Gustafson said she strongly disagrees with that decision, which ends efforts by critics of Howard’s leadership to hold him accountable under the church’s Title IV canons on clergy discipline. The accord between Rowe and Howard was approved by the Disciplinary Board for Bishops.
Gustafson expressed particular shock that the decision was made so close to Howard’s hearing, saying she and several other witnesses were prepared to testify against the bishop.
“Now we are left to the same confusion, distrust, and shame that we had before, characteristics that always, always embolden those willing to abuse power while leaving people like me without recourse or protection. Only it is worse now because I no longer have Title IV as an option. The disappointment is suffocating, and it is quickly and predictably evolving into fear.”
A church spokesperson, when asked for comment on the reaction, said Rowe sent Gustafson a letter Oct. 2 apologizing to her on behalf of the church and “acknowledging that she has borne an outsized share of the harm inflicted by an unhealthy past diocesan culture–and intimidation by a bishop who failed to acknowledge the equality and belovedness of LGBTQ+ people.”
Howard stepped down in October 2023, after reaching the church’s mandatory clergy retirement age of 72. The two Title IV cases against him were first revealed publicly in June 2024.
The Diocese of Florida’s Camp Weed & Cerveny Conference Center in Live Oak, Florida. Photo: Camp Weed
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. Eary on, Rowe had been in conversation with Howard on a possible accord, but in February 2025, Rowe announced that the cases would proceed to a hearing panel, marking a more public phase of the process.
“As the hearing panel processes have gained momentum, the pain of these last several years has been compounded by the human and financial toll of preparing for them,” Rowe said in his Oct. 1 letter to the diocese. “Even as the costs have mounted, it has become increasingly clear that any restrictions imposed by a hearing panel would have had little practical effect.”
Because Howard had reached the church’s retirement age, he was “unlikely ever to have sought or to have been granted leave to exercise active episcopal ministry again,” Rowe said.
Gustafson, however, argued in her response that it would have served a purpose to allow complainants and other witnesses to present evidence and testimony at a hearing. “None of that will happen now,” she said. “The loss takes my breath away. It would have helped us. It would have helped any future Bishop of the Diocese of Florida. Light and air would have done us so much good.”
The church spokesperson said Rowe, in his letter to Gustafson, invited her and “anyone else in the diocese who would find it healing” to “participate in a time of public story sharing.”
“He is committed to ensuring that her story and those of other LGBTQ+ people who have been harmed can be heard by the entire church in a forum that is not subject to the adversarial nature of a disciplinary proceeding,” the spokesperson said in written comments that did not specify when or where such a forum might be convened.
“Bishop Rowe has pledged that the church will make a substantial contribution to the diocese’s ongoing efforts toward healthier governance, greater accountability in financial matters, increased transparency, and full inclusion in matters of human sexuality.”
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.