The Diocese of Central Florida has a rich heritage as a vibrant district of The Episcopal Church and a member of the global Anglican Communion – the third-largest Christian church in the world.
With deep roots in Florida dating back to the 1800s, the diocese was established in 1969 when the growth of the Diocese of South Florida necessitated its division into three distinct dioceses: Central Florida, Southeast Florida and Southwest Florida. Generations of Episcopalians in Central Florida have lived and worshipped together through the Civil War, two world wars, the fight for civil rights, Vietnam-era strife and ongoing demographic shifts. We continue to serve our parishes, train new leaders and proclaim the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ in the ever-changing landscape of American Christianity.
Today, the Diocese of Central Florida encompasses 15 counties and includes 80 congregations, with hundreds of clergy serving a diverse community of more than 25,000 parishioners. Under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, our fifth bishop, this diocesan family exists to reach our region with the good news of reconciliation with God in Christ – an Episcopal presence in Central Florida that gathers people with the gospel, nurtures them in the church through Word and sacrament, and sends them out on mission with the same gospel that drew us in.
History of The Episcopal Church in Florida
The first Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Florida was held at St. John’s, Tallahassee, on Jan. 17, 1838. At that time there were just seven Episcopal congregations in the entire state: Trinity Church, St. Augustine; Christ Church, Pensacola; St. John’s, Tallahassee; St. Paul’s, Key West; St. John’s, Jacksonville; Christ Church (soon to be renamed “Trinity”), Apalachicola; and St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph. In the absence of a diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. James H. Otey, bishop of Tennessee, was invited to perform episcopal duties. The Rt. Rev. Francis Huger Rutledge was consecrated in 1851 as the first bishop of the Diocese of Florida, serving until his death in 1866. He was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. John Freeman Young, who was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. Edwin Gardner Weed in 1886.
Somewhat over a half-century after the first Convention, the diocese had grown enough to be divided into the Diocese of Florida and the Missionary Jurisdiction of Southern Florida. At the time of the division in 1892, there were five parishes, 40 organized missions and 11 mission stations in the new Jurisdiction. Its initial Convention was held on Feb. 21, 1893, at Holy Cross, Sanford, presided over by its first bishop, the Rt. Rev. William Crane Gray. In 1914, the Rt. Rev. Cameron Mann, bishop of North Dakota, was translated to the Missionary District of Southern Florida.
Despite devastating freezes, the 1918-1920 flu pandemic, the Spanish-American War and World War I, the church continued to grow in Florida. Only a few short years after World War I, there were enough healthy congregations for the Missionary Jurisdiction of Southern Florida to apply for admission as a diocese. In September 1922, the Diocese of South Florida was formally admitted, and on Jan. 16, 1923, the initial convention of the new diocese was held at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, with Bishop Mann presiding. When he died in 1932, he was succeeded by the bishop coadjutor, the Rt. Rev. John Durham Wing. Unlike his two predecessors, Bishop Wing was neither a cradle Episcopalian nor the son of a clergyman.
During the next four-and-a-half decades, the church grew rapidly, especially after World War II. In the 1950s alone, 74 new congregations were started in the Diocese of South Florida, and by 1966, 25 of these had become parishes. Presiding over much of this growth was the Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, who assumed the mantle of diocesan bishop on Jan. 1, 1951. Bishop Louttit was assisted successively by two able bishops suffragan, the Rt. Rev. Martin Bram and the Rt. Rev. William F. Moses.
At the time the diocese applied to the General Convention for division, there were 204 congregations served by about 250 priests and three bishops. The Special General Convention of 1969 approved the request for the division of South Florida into three dioceses, and in December of that year, Bishop Louttit presided over the primary conventions of each new diocese – Southeast Florida, Southwest Florida and Central Florida – for the purpose of electing their diocesan bishops. The two suffragan bishops, the Rt. Rev. James L. Duncan (Southeast Florida) and the Rt. Rev. William L. Hargrave (Southwest Florida) were elected as diocesan bishops in the areas where they had been living and serving. The Rt. Rev. William H. Folwell was elected to succeed Bishop Louttit, whose retirement coincided with Bishop Folwell’s consecration in Central Florida on Feb. 9, 1970.
In the early 1970s, the portion of the Diocese of Florida from Apalachicola west became a part of the newly created Central Gulf Coast Diocese, which also includes the southeast half of Alabama. Thus, it has come about that the fledgling church of seven congregations of 150 years ago is now comprised within five dioceses.
Episcopal Leadership & Milestones
On Dec. 10, 1988, the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Central Florida; he was consecrated on April 15, 1989, and became diocesan bishop on January 1, 1990. The Rt. Rev. Hugo Pina-Lopez, retired bishop of Honduras, became assistant bishop of the diocese on June 1, 1995; he later became assisting bishop on Jan. 1, 2001. A number of other retired bishops were an invaluable resource to Bishop Howe and the diocese, including the Rt. Rev. Herbert D. Edmondson, retired bishop of Jamaica; the Most Rev. Reginald Hollis, retired metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada and archbishop of Montreal; the Rt. Rev. John Lewis Said, retired suffragan bishop of Southeast Florida; the Rt. Rev. James Adams, retired bishop of Western Kansas; and the Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson, retired bishop of Upper South Carolina.
At the 31st Annual Diocesan Convention, held at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, on Jan. 29, 2000, delegates unanimously approved a new vision for the Diocese of Central Florida that called for the revitalization of existing congregations and the establishment of 15 new congregations in the first ten years of the new millennium. At the 34th Convention of the diocese, held at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park on Jan. 25, 2003, the diocese kicked off “From Strength to Strength,” a capital campaign to fund that new vision. This campaign raised more than $800,000 toward the campaign goal, and over $5 million was also raised in various congregational campaigns. Between 2004 and 2009, the diocese welcomed four new missions, expanded Hispanic ministry in two missions and organized Hispanic worshipping communities in several parishes.
Growth and Division
The diocese experienced a time of tumult in 2004, with virtually all members of one congregation voting to leave the diocese and a majority of members of another congregation following suit. At the 35th Diocesan Convention, the diocese formally affiliated with the Network of the Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, an affiliation which ended formally five years later. In 2008, members of five congregations and their clergy leaders disaffiliated from The Episcopal Church and thereby from the Diocese of Central Florida; the remaining members of those congregations called clergy in charge and picked up where they had left off, albeit with diminished resources and numbers. Later, in 2012, a sixth congregation purchased its existing church property and facilities.
On April 15, 2008, Bishop Howe issued a Pastoral Letter that became the basis of a new vision for the diocese. At the 42nd Annual Diocesan Convention in 2011, he called for the election of a successor. At a Special Diocesan Convention held on Nov. 19, 2011, at Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park, the Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer was elected as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Central Florida. Bishop Brewer was consecrated on March 26, 2012.
On January 26, 2013, Bishop Brewer presided at the 44th Annual Diocesan Convention at All Saints, Winter Park. In his address to the Convention, he presented a plan for his episcopacy that focused on what became the five pillars of his episcopacy: strengthen diocesan relationships, raise up new leaders, face the missionary challenge in our neighborhoods, take our place in the councils of The Episcopal Church, and revitalize children’s and youth ministry, also emphasizing prayer and discernment in carrying out this plan.
On Friday, Feb. 1, the diocese celebrated its 50th Annual Diocesan Convention, hosting the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, 24th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, for a “Keep Saying Yes to Jesus” revival held at First Baptist Church, Orlando. The record-setting crowd of 4,000-plus experienced a variety of musical offerings, several short messages by Bishop Brewer and Presiding Bishop Curry’s rousing message, in which he encouraged those present with his emphasis on the love of Christ.
Bishop Brewer’s episcopacy was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically affected the way churches did ministry beginning in March 2020 through mid-2022. Immigration to the area, particularly from Puerto Rico, increased exponentially, particularly after Hurricanes Maria (2017), Irma (2017) and Fiona (2022). The diocese responded with an increase in Latino worship services and additional ministries in languages other than English.
Bishop Brewer announced his upcoming mandatory retirement at the diocese’s 53rd Annual Diocesan Convention on Jan. 29, 2022. At a special Electing Convention held on Jan. 14, 2023, at Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park, Bishop Holcomb, 49, who had served the diocese as canon for vocations since 2013, was elected from a slate of three candidates. He was ordained and consecrated as the diocese’s fifth bishop on June 10, 2023, at Calvary Church Orlando. On July 1 of that same year, he appointed the Rev. Canon Dr. Dan Smith, former canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Missouri, as canon to the ordinary.
Looking Ahead
In January 2024, Bishop Holcomb appointed the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dabney S. Smith, who retired as fifth bishop of the Diocese of Southwest Florida, as part-time assisting bishop. Bishop Smith only served nine months before his death on Oct. 26, 2024; his memorial service was presided over by Bishop Curry, who had recently retired as presiding bishop, with the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, 28th presiding bishop, saying the opening anthem. The service was attended by more than 25 bishops and 150 clergy from across the country among the approximately 575 honored guests.
Additional milestones of Bishop Holcomb’s episcopacy to date include a significant emphasis on safe church, both within and beyond the diocese, including in the broader Episcopal Church; the renaming of the Hispanic Ministries Commission to the Latino Ministries Commission; the shuttering of the Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center, with future plans for selling or otherwise repurposing the land for the financial benefit of the diocese for years to come; and the strengthening of the diocese’s Companion Diocese relationship with Honduras, including the bishop traveling to present a 90-minute Safe Church workshop, presented twice, at the Annual Diocesan Convention for the Diocese of Honduras in February 2025.
At the 55th Annual Diocesan Convention in 2025, Bishop Holcomb announced a reversal of the previous decline in the diocese: over the past year, average Sunday attendance had grown 11%. He challenged the churches to “a year of baptisms” and also announced the appointment of the Rev. Canon Ellis E. Brust, rector of St. Andrew’s, Fort Pierce, as quarter-time canon for transition ministry. In the spring of 2025, the bishop appointed the Rt. Rev. María Griselda Delgado del Carpio, retired bishop of Cuba, as assisting bishop for Latino Ministries.
As we move into the future, the bishop and the diocese will continue to follow Christ’s strategy to create the church, in which he gathers people to himself with the gospel, nurtures them in community as the church and then sends them into the world on mission. Abbreviated as the successive diocesan emphasis: Gospel – Church – Mission, this focus will help churches, clergy and congregants “Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim/ Till all the world adore his sacred name.”
