Former Ohio Bishop J. Clark Grew II/ Facebook

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. J. Clark Grew II, who was bishop of the Diocese of Ohio from 1994 to 2004, died Dec. 22, 2025, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 86.

The diocese said in announcing his death on its Facebook page, “We in the Diocese of Ohio are grateful for his faithful ministry with and for us during his episcopacy. He will always be remembered and honored here.” It added, “In our prayers, we surround the family with love and commend Bishop Grew to God’s eternal care.”

Grew was born in New York City on Dec. 20, 1939, and was named after his great uncle, Joseph Clark Grew, who was the U.S. ambassador to Japan during World War II.

After graduating from Harvard in 1962, he served in the U.S. Navy for five years, including as the 52nd commander of the U.S.S. Constitution, which was first launched in 1797. He then taught in private schools until entering Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1978.

He served churches in Westwood, Massachusetts, and Lake Forest, Illinois, before his election as bishop of Ohio in 1993 and his consecration in 1994. During his tenure as bishop, he was known for his support for greater inclusion of women and LGBTQ+ people in the church.

He also served as head of Episcopal Divinity School’s board, and he received an honorary doctorate from the seminary in 1997 for his pastoral and prophetic leadership

In retirement, he returned to Boston and was involved with Epiphany School and with St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island.

He is survived by Wendy, his wife of nearly 53 years; three children; eight grandchildren; one great-grandchild; a sister and a brother.

His funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. on Jan. 31 at Emmanuel Church in Boston.

Frazer has served as rector of the Church of the Ascension since 2018 and has held numerous diocesan leadership roles, including president of the Standing Committee, dean of the Montgomery Convocation and deputy to General Convention. Lawson has served as dean and rector of St. John’s Cathedral since 2017 and previously served parishes in Memphis, Tennessee, and Decatur, Alabama, and has longstanding ties to the Diocese of Alabama and Camp McDowell.

A meeting with both candidates will be held Jan. 3 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook. The electing convention will take place Jan. 24 at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham.

More information is available at www.dioala.org.

Bruce was bishop suffragan in the Diocese of Los Angeles from 2010 to 2021, and from there she served as bishop provisional in the Diocese of West Missouri until earlier this year. She currently serves on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, where she is chair of the Joint Budget Committee and vice chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Finance.

“Bishop Bruce takes a relational approach to her work of oversight, deepening trust through listening and partnering with other leaders,” Texas Bishop Suffragan Kathryn M. Ryan, chair of the Southwest Board of Trustees, said in the announcement. “She understands the role of an interim to strengthen the institution during a time of transition and will be a thoughtful and wise support and guide for our whole community. Her financial expertise and gifts as a seasoned leader in multicultural ministry make her well-suited to lead Seminary of the Southwest in this season.”

Bruce said of her appointment, “I am thrilled to join the students, staff and faculty at Seminary of the Southwest and to walk with them and the board through this time of transition. I have long admired the work and direction of this fine and forward-thinking institution and am excited to be a part of it.”

The seminary has been without a dean and president since Sept. 4, when the board terminated Scott Bader-Saye after he admitted to developing an inappropriate relationship with an employee he had supervised. He had been in that role since January.

The news release also said the seminary has hired the Isaacson Miller firm to assist with the search for its next dean and president. It noted that Ernest Brooks III, the primary consultant for the seminary’s search, recently has worked with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City on its dean’s search and is currently engaged with Berkley Divinity School at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on a search for its next dean.

The candidates are:

• The Rev. Paul Canady, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, North Carolina, in the Diocese of East Carolina.
• The Rev. Karin MacPhail, rector of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Roanoke, Virginia, in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.
• The Very Rev. Becky McDaniel, rector of Westover Episcopal Church, Charles City, Virginia, in the Diocese of Virginia.
• The Very Rev. Grant Stokes, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, Virginia, in the Diocese of Southern Virginia.

In its announcement, the committee said it had accepted the candidates recommended by the Search Committee, which it noted had “spent the last several months hard at work identifying and discerning … candidates to serve as our next bishop.”

The committee also announced three meet-and-greet opportunities for people of the diocese to engage with the candidates. Those will take place Jan. 6-8, 2026, in Lexington, Lynchburg and Marion. More information is on the diocesan website.

The committee also announced the start of the petition process by which additional nominees may be added to the final slate. The deadline to submit petition materials is Dec. 5.

The bishop election will take place during the diocese’s annual convention, set for Jan. 30-31, 2026.

The next bishop will succeed the Rt. Rev. Mark Bourlakas, who had led the Roanoke-based diocese since 2013 and who resigned in June to become an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Virginia.

Former Nebraska Bishop Joe Goodwin Burnett. Photo: School of Theology at the University of the South/Facebook

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Joe Goodwin Burnett, who was bishop of Nebraska from 2003 to 2011, died on Nov. 14 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was 77.

“Bishop Burnett is remembered as a pastor who came to deeply love the people of Nebraska,” said Nebraska Bishop Scott Barker, in a Nov. 18 statement on the diocese’s Facebook page announcing Burnett’s death. “He was a tireless shepherd and champion for his clergy, beloved for his kind heart and caring.”

Burnett was born on May 15, 1948, the youngest son of a United Methodist minister, and raised in Mississippi. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Millsaps College in Jackson in 1970. In 1974, he earned a Master of Divinity from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas.

After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Burnett was ordained as an Episcopal deacon, then as a priest in 1975. He spent his first 25 years as a priest serving congregations throughout the Jackson-based Diocese of Mississippi. including St. James’ Episcopal Church in Jackson, Episcopal Church of the Creator in Clinton, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Gulfport and Trinity Episcopal Church in Hattiesburg.

“The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi gives profound thanks to God for the life and ministry of Bishop Joe Burnett, a Jackson, Mississippi native who has served the church faithfully since his ordination in 1974,” Mississippi Bishop Dorothy Dorothy Sanders Wells told Episcopal News Service in a written statement. “We commend his soul to our loving God, grateful for the ways in which he has shared his tremendous ministry gifts with us and with God’s people throughout our country.”

In 1999, Burnett moved to Sewanee, Tennessee, to serve as a professor of pastoral theology at the University of the South’s School of Theology.

“Bishop Burnett brought 25 years of parish experience to the seminary, teaching pastoral theology, pastoral care and congregational leadership in both the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degree programs,” the School of Theology said in a Nov. 17 Facebook post. “Please keep Joe and his family in your prayers.

Burnett was elected as the Omaha-based Diocese of Nebraska’s 10th bishop in 2003. He spent much of his episcopate committed to interfaith work and was an early supporter of the Tri-Faith Initiative, an interfaith center in Omaha that permanently houses a church, a mosque and a synagogue in one space. Burnett also helped establish missional partnerships with the Diocese of the Dominican Republic and the Episcopal Church of Sudan. As bishop, he also focused on clergy development, congregational growth, liturgical renewal, racial reconciliation and global mission.

As bishop, Burnett was affectionately known as the “bishop of all outdoors,” according to his Legacy.com obituary.

After retiring as bishop of Nebraska in 2011, Burnett was appointed assisting bishop in the Diocese of Maryland. He also served as interim rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Meridian, Mississippi, All Saints Episcopal Church in Tupelo, Mississippi, St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., and St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. He later served as an instructor in the advanced degrees program at Sewanee’s School of Theology.

“In my opinion, Bishop Joe provided me one of the finest examples of humility in a clergy person and was nothing but supportive to me personally in my ministry – a dear friend,” the Rev. J.D. Barnes, rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City, said in a Nov. 15 statement on the church’s Facebook page. “While he is greatly missed in our earthly realm, we can be confident he is now present in the heavenly one to which we should all aspire.”

South Dakota Bishop Jonathan H. Folts called for prayers for Burnett and his family:

“I give thanks for Bishop Joe’s mentorship when I came on board in August 2019. His encouragement, wisdom and quiet support were gifts for which I remain profoundly grateful,” Folts said in a Nov. 14 statement to the diocese. “We join our prayers with those of the Diocese of Nebraska, the Burnett family and all who mourn his passing.”

Outside of clerical duties, Burnett was passionate about church music. He was chaplain for the Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy and served on the executive board of the Association of Diocesan Music and Liturgy Commissions.

In 2004, Burnett earned an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from General Theological Seminary in New York, New York.

Burnett is survived by his three sons and four grandchildren.

Burnett’s livestreamed funeral will take place Jan. 9 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Omaha.

“The prayers of all Nebraska are lifted to heaven this day in thanksgiving for Joe’s life and ministry,” Barker said. “May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”

The Rev. Antonio Gallardo, rector of St. Luke’s / San Lucas Church in Long Beach, was elected eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles on Nov. 8. Photo: Diocese of Los Angeles

[Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles] The Rev. Antonio Gallardo, rector of St. Luke’s / San Lucas Church in Long Beach, was elected eighth bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles on Nov. 8 by Diocesan Convention, meeting in Riverside, California.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Gallardo, 58, was elected on the eighth ballot by 134 votes in the clergy order and 187 votes in the lay order. The election required a two-thirds majority from both orders on the same ballot, in accordance with the diocese’s constitution.

“I am grateful for your trust in electing me as your next bishop,” Gallardo told delegates, who welcomed him to the convention podium with a standing ovation. “I promise to do my very best to be a faithful pastor, and a wise steward of the resources that God has given us…. I have heard your desires to be united with a common purpose, to share the good news in Christ with many more people, to be an element of resistance and a source of hope in the country and the world that we live in, and to find ways to finance the great work we do, among other things.”

Rector of St. Luke’s / San Lucas, Long Beach, since 2023, Gallardo is the first Latino to be elected bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles. He was previously vicar of St. Luke’s of the Mountains, La Crescenta, and served on the clergy staff of All Saints, Pasadena. Ordained to the priesthood in 2019 in the Diocese of Los Angeles, he holds a doctorate in business and economics from Lehigh University, as well as degrees from Venezuela’s Universidad Experimental Politécnica and Universidad Centro Occidental Lisandro Alvarado, Claremont School of Theology and Bloy House Episcopal Theological School.

Further biographical information about Gallardo, with statements of his vision for mission, is here.

Other nominees on the ballot were the Rev. Monica Burns Mainwaring, rector of St. Martin in the Fields, Atlanta, Georgia, and the Rev. Melissa McCarthy, canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Los Angeles. McCarthy withdrew her name from consideration after the fourth ballot.

The bishop-elect will succeed Bishop John Harvey Taylor, who will retire in 2026 after nine years in office.

Pending the canonically required consent of a majority of the Episcopal Church’s diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction, Gallardo will be ordained and consecrated as bishop diocesan on July 11, 2026, at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe is scheduled to officiate.

Established in 1896, the Diocese of Los Angeles encompasses some 40,000 Episcopalians in 133 neighborhood congregations and mission centers, some 29 schools and five other specialized service institutions located in six California counties. Los Angeles historically is one of the most populous and culturally diverse dioceses of The Episcopal Church.

Southern Ohio Bishop Kristin Uffelman White, left, and Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows pose for a selfie at the 2025 New York Marathon on Nov. 2. Photo: Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows

[Episcopal News Service] Nov. 2 was a day of two significant and related “firsts” for Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows.

It marked the first time in 37 years that Baskerville-Burrows had not been in a church for the Sunday observance of the Feast of All Saints. The reason: The bishop, a longtime runner who grew up in New York City, had spent the day completing her hometown’s world-famous marathon for the first time.

And she did it with a close friend, Southern Ohio Bishop Kristin Uffelman White, who also was completing her first New York Marathon. Both bishops finished the 26.2 miles together in a run-walk time of 8 hours and 46 minutes.

“To me, the victory was getting to the start line healthy,” Baskerville-Burrows, 59, told Episcopal News Service in an interview this week, after she had returned to Indiana. “The race was the victory lap.”

Baskerville-Burrows and White first became co-workers, then friends and then running buddies when they served together in the Diocese of Chicago. After Baskerville-Burrows was consecrated bishop of Indianapolis in 2017, White joined the diocese the following year as Baskerville-Burrows’ canon to the ordinary for congregational development and leadership. White was elected bishop of Southern Ohio in September 2023 and took office the following February.

White told ENS in a separate phone interview that she has long been inspired in the sport by Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, The Episcopal Church’s former presiding bishop, a fellow runner who described running as a form of prayer.

“That’s how I experienced my training,” she said, “and it has been a gift of our friendship that Bishop Jennifer and I like running together.”

White, at 54, has somewhat more marathon experience than Baskerville-Burrows. The Southern Ohio bishop ran her first 26.2-mile race in 2006. She had just turned 35, was living with her family in Oregon and wanted to “do a big thing” before going to seminary. The annual marathon in Vancouver, British Columbia, seemed to fit the bill, and she succeeded in taking it on.

She didn’t expect to run that far ever again, but five years later, she added the 2011 Chicago Marathon to her list of running achievements.

Baskerville-Burrows said she has run off and on since college but focused more on triathlons over the past 15 years. She also ran the Chicago Half Marathon in 2013, raising money for Episcopal Relief & Development. Then after COVID-19 hit in 2020, she and White began discussing the idea of running a marathon together.

The prestigious Boston Marathon, typically difficult to enter because of its qualifying times, announced that it would allow anyone to sign up for the race in 2021 if they chose the “virtual” option — meaning some official entrants could chart their own 26.2 courses wherever they were.

For that race, Baskerville-Burrows and White were joined by Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale, the Diocese of Indianapolis’s canon to the ordinary for administration and evangelism, and the Rev. Theodora Brooks, a priest in the Diocese of New York. They plotted a course around Indianapolis that roughly mirrored the Boston Marathon’s elevation changes.

Their virtual Boston was the first marathon for Baskerville-Burrows and the third for White.

Then in 2024, in the days leading up to that year’s in-person Boston Marathon, Baskerville-Burrows, though not running the race, spoke at a pre-race event on the topic of running and diversity. Representatives from New York Road Runners, the nonprofit that organizes the New York Marathon,  spoke to her afterward and were surprised to learn she had never run her hometown marathon.

She had a good professional excuse — “the marathon was always on a feast day” — but she also was drawn to the idea of running through some of the boroughs and neighborhoods where she once lived, went to school and experienced growing up in the big city. One of the New York Road Runners employees made her an offer: Baskerville-Burrows would still have to pay the entry fee, but the employee had an extra couple passes, so she and White wouldn’t have to pursue one of the other common avenues for gaining entry.

On race day, Baskerville-Burrows and White found themselves on a bus ride at 6:30 a.m. over Baskerville-Burrows’ “favorite bridge,” the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, to the starting line in Staten Island, the borough where she lived as a child. After they waited a few hours for their wave start, Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” gave them and thousands of other runners the race’s traditional sendoff.

For the bishops’ inspiration, White read aloud Hebrews 12:1: “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” She and Baskerville-Burrows carried that passage with them as they began putting one foot after the other through all five boroughs, with their sights on the finish line in Central Park.

By the final miles, their run-walk plan had evolved into mostly walking. The race was challenging but not daunting, Baskerville-Burrows said, and “the best part was going through neighborhoods I grew up in.” They also were encouraged by the many New Yorkers cheering from the sidelines and the perseverance of the 59,000 other runners who made it through the whole course.

“It was really wonderful reminder of the deep goodness of humanity,” White said.

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

The Rt. Rev. Catherine M. Waynick served the Diocese of Indianapolis for 20 years. Photo: Diocese of Indianapolis

[Episcopal News Service/Diocese of Indianapolis] The Rt. Rev. Catherine M. Waynick, who served as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis, died on Oct. 30 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was 76. 

“On this Feast of All Saints, we give thanks for Bishop Cate’s faithful ministry and steadfast love for the Church. We ask your prayers for her husband, Larry, for their family, and for all who mourn her passing,” said Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, in an email to the diocese announcing Waynick’s death. 

Waynick served as bishop of the Indianapolis diocese from 1997 to 2017, guiding it through two decades of growth, inclusion, and evolving mission in The Episcopal Church. She was the seventh woman to be consecrated bishop in The Episcopal Church and the 10th woman bishop in the Anglican Communion.



Her 20-year episcopate was marked by a commitment to inclusion, theological depth and steady leadership through times of transition. She encouraged the diocese to strengthen lay and clergy formation, expand community partnerships and embody a church that welcomed all people. She was especially committed to identifying, calling and forming deacons for ministry in the diocese and churchwide. She also initiated a unique three-way partnership in mission between the Diocese of Indianapolis, the Diocese of Bor in South Sudan and the Diocese of Brasília.

Upon her retirement in 2017, she was elected and served two years as provisional bishop, providing pastoral and administrative guidance during a period of transition and renewal, in what was then the Diocese of Eastern Michigan, now part of the Diocese of the Great Lakes. 

She began her ordained ministry in the Diocese of Michigan, serving Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and All Saints in Pontiac before being elected bishop coadjutor in January 1997.  She was consecrated in June, and in September, she was installed as diocesan bishop. In addition to her ministry in Indianapolis, Waynick served on several General Convention legislative committees, on the abundance committee of the Church Pension Fund and on the task force to revise Title IV disciplinary canons. She served as president of the disciplinary board for bishops and as a governor of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

General Theological Seminary in New York awarded Waynick an honorary Doctor of Divinity in 1998 for her contributions to theological education and ecclesial leadership. She was known for her intellect, pastoral sensibility and clear-eyed commitment to the mission of the church. She cherished ecumenical and interfaith relationships, working closely with Christian and Jewish laity and clergy throughout her ministry. 

Waynick was born in Jackson, Michigan, on Nov. 13, 1948. She met her husband, Larry Waynick, when they were both students at Central Michigan University. They sang in a folk trio together that performed in coffee houses and even opened once for Joni Mitchell in her early days. 

She is survived by her husband, their two children and grandchildren. 

A service will be held at St. Paul’s in Indianapolis at noon on Friday, Dec. 12. Private internment will follow at St. Paul’s columbarium.

Bishop John Howard led the Jacksonville-based Diocese of Florida from 2004 to 2023. Photo: Diocese of Florida

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe has reached an agreement with former Florida Bishop John Howard to end the two Title IV cases against Howard without any disciplinary action and without Howard admitting any wrongdoing. Rowe said this would spare the church and the diocese the further pain and expense of taking the Diocese of Florida’s retired bishop to disciplinary hearings in the coming weeks on allegations of LGBTQ+ discrimination and financial improprieties.

Rowe’s agreement with Howard, known as an accord under The Episcopal Church’s Title IV disciplinary canons for clergy, required the authorization of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, which voted to accept it late Sept. 30. Rowe informed the diocese of his decision to end the two cases in a letter that was released Oct. 1 by the diocese and the churchwide Office of Public Affairs.

“Whether this comes as welcome news or as a disappointment to you, I want you to understand my motivations for negotiating this accord,” Rowe said. “Your diocese’s continued healing and vitality is my highest value in this matter, and I believe that ending these Title IV processes is the best possible way for you to continue the extraordinary progress you have been making in fostering unity, transparency, and shared governance.”

Rowe’s message also said that the 74-year-old Howard, independent of their agreement to end the cases, informed Rowe after he’d signed the accord that he wished to be released and removed from ordained ministry. Rowe granted that request, meaning Howard is no longer a bishop or clergy in The Episcopal Church.

The two cases previously had been scheduled for hearings, similar to civil trials, on Oct. 27 and Nov. 10, though church leaders had recently raised alarm that Howard had not been responsive to the process for most of this year.

UPDATE: Priest who filed complaint against former Florida bishop says presiding bishop erred in ending case

“The matter has, in recent weeks, become a significant distraction to the good work you are doing to reinvigorate healthy systems and structures,” Rowe said. The two Title IV cases also have been costly, he noted. The church already had spent more than $100,000 investigating the allegations and preparing for the hearings, and church leaders anticipated even greater costs ahead, “money that would not have been available for other mission and ministry,” Rowe said.

“The goals of Title IV include healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and I grieve that at this stage, we cannot achieve those goals with your former bishop,” Rowe said in a message to the Diocese of Florida. “My hope is in Christ, and I will not stop praying that John may be reconciled to you.”

The Jacksonville-based diocese’s standing committee president, the Rev. Justin Yawn, issued a written statement acknowledging that the outcome of these cases “brings a range of emotions across our community.”

“We honor the perspectives of all those affected. Our focus remains on the path ahead in proclaiming the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continuing to build unity and trust among each other,” Yawn said. “While we acknowledge this moment’s complexity, we are grateful to God for where we are today and remain committed to continued healing, growth, and progress in the months and years ahead.”

Howard served the 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 alleged 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 was unrelated and centered 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. Early 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,” Rowe said. 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.”

“John was your bishop for 20 years, and I acknowledge with gratitude his struggle in the early years of his episcopacy to keep the Diocese of Florida in The Episcopal Church during a time of schism and dissension over matters of human sexuality. I am also mindful that in the ensuing decades, as The Episcopal Church has prayed, studied, and discerned the evidence of God’s blessing in the lives and love of LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ, John’s approach did not serve equally well all contexts of the diocese’s ministry and caused deep pain for many.

“For those painful years and the harm that came from them, I offer my deep and heartfelt apology to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies in the Diocese of Florida and across The Episcopal Church, and to all who have been harmed by the last several years of unrest and division in the diocese.”

The Diocese of Florida has been without a diocesan bishop for the two years since Howard’s retirement. 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.

In the meantime, the diocese hired former El Camino Real Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves, who is trained in conflict mediation, to lead and facilitate a period of healing and discernment among members of the diocese involving a series of conversations across difference. The process was not intended specifically to enable a new bishop election, though diocesan leaders previously indicated healing would be necessary before a new election could be held.

In March 2025, the Diocese of Florida Standing Committee announced it was launching a new bishop search. The standing committee’s tentative timeline would allow for an election in late summer or early fall 2026 and the bishop-elect’s consecration in early 2027. Central Florida Bishop Justin Holcomb and Southwest Bishop Douglas Scharf are assisting the Diocese of Florida during its leadership transition.

“We have made significant progress thanks to the help and involvement of many — from Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves and our assisting bishops, to our clergy, staff and laity across our diocese,” Yawn said. “We recently hosted a successful annual convention and have named members of our bishop search and transition committees as we work productively and transparently toward a bishop election late next year.”

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

The candidates are:

• The Rev. Susan B. Fortunato, rector, Christ Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie, New York;
• The Very Rev. Marcus George Halley, college chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut;
• The Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, Connecticut.

The people of the diocese will have the opportunity to meet and hear from the candidates at events held Nov. 4-6 throughout the diocese. More information on these “meet-and-greet” gatherings will be available on the diocesan website. The annual and electing convention of the diocese will take place Nov. 14-15 at the University of Massachusetts Campus Center in Amherst.

Concurrent with this announcement, the Standing Committee opened a petition process whereby additional candidates may be added to the slate. The petition process runs from Sept. 29 until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 6.

The Standing Committee expressed every confidence in the work of the Search Committee and extended heartfelt thanks to the Rev. Heather Blais, chair.

“This dedicated team of clergy and laypeople thoroughly reviewed a large number of applications, engaged in interviews and gathered with finalists for a Spirit-led and intensive discernment retreat weekend,” wrote the Rev. Nathaniel Anderson, the committee’s president. “All this hard work and holy listening has yielded an impressive slate of faithful, talented clerics who have discerned a call to Episcopal ministry as our next bishop.

“We feel confident that each of these candidates would make an outstanding bishop in Christ’s church. We ask that you continue to join us in prayer as we discern together who God is calling to lead us and to serve among us at this time and in this place.”

Blais said: “We have experienced the Holy Spirit moving in and through the people of our diocese, our churches, and the candidates who so generously gave of their time, energy, and spirit in faithful response to God’s call. This process has been life-giving, and we are eager for our diocese to get to know these candidates, each of whom is a person of great joy, hope, and courage; ready to help us adapt and grow as the Jesus Movement here in Western Massachusetts.”