[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Florida Standing Committee released a statement on Feb. 28 indicating it was taking time to “make our case” that the Rev. Charlie Holt should be the diocese’s next bishop while lamenting what it called a “media storm” that followed “the purportedly accidental leak” of an investigation into Holt’s November election by the churchwide Court of Review.

The intense focus on Florida’s election of a bishop coadjutor — its second such election, after the churchwide Court of Review found procedural problems with the May 2022 election — has “amplified the complexity and fragility of the situation considerably,” the standing committee said. “Many voices from around the church are involved at this point.”

The Rev. Charlie Holt in a video introducing himself to members of the Diocese of Florida.

The statement did not cite specifics, though it came on the same day that the Deputies of Color, an umbrella group of the House of Deputies representing its four ethnic caucuses, released a letter to all bishops and standing committees in the church urging them to withhold consent to Holt’s election. Majorities from both groups are needed for an election to be affirmed, under Episcopal Church Canons.

The update from the standing committee also follows a report by Episcopal News Service on Feb. 24 that confirmed and revealed new details about allegations of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in the diocese. Several gay and lesbian priests have said they were expected to remain celibate to serve in the diocese, allegations that cast doubt on the integrity of the November election, according to the Court of Review. It also found fault in how the diocese assigned eligibility to lay delegates.

A large group of Episcopal LGBTQ+ leaders also issued a statement last week criticizing the diocese for its treatment of gay and lesbian clergy and other Episcopalians who support more inclusive policies.

The allegations of disparate treatment toward gay and lesbian clergy and laypeople form the backbone of a church court's findings, which cast
doubt on the integrity of Florida's elections to replace Bishop John Howard when he retires later this year. https://t.co/fzldDulwFl

— Episcopal News Service (@episcopal_news) February 24, 2023

The Court of Review’s conclusions are not binding, but they will be included in the packet of information sent to bishops and standing committees seeking their consent to Holt’s election. The standing committee is now developing a response that will be included alongside the Court of Review report, presumably to counter its claims of a tainted election.

“Both the Standing Committee and the Rev. Charlie Holt are resolute in the decision to ask for consent to the Nov. 19 election,” the standing committee said in its latest message. “However, given the circumstances we know we can’t just ask for consent in the usual way. We must find a way to make our case to the Standing Committees and Bishops of the Episcopal Church in a way that is clear, concise, confident, and canonically sound.”

It gave no timeframe for offering its official response but said it would release “all necessary communications together at a date that is surely near.”

Holt previously served as associate rector of teaching and formation at the Church of St. John the Divine in Houston, Texas. The Diocese of Florida hired him as a diocesan staff member while the first election was under review. He has not yet spoken publicly about the results of the latest Court of Review investigation, though he issued a statement in December suggesting the process was taking a personal toll.

“I cannot think of anything else in my life that has forced me to my knees to crawl under the altar of Calvary as this process has done,” Holt wrote in an email to the diocese on Dec. 5, referencing a pilgrimage he made to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. “It has been a true humiliation in every sense of that word.”

Outgoing Florida Bishop John Howard called in February 2021 for the election of bishop coadjutor because of his plan to retire by the end of this year. He will reach The Episcopal Church’s mandatory retirement age of 72 in September.

The following is the full text of the standing committee’s Feb. 28 message:

Since receiving the Court of Review report on February 16, the Standing Committee has been prayerfully seeking a way forward. As complex as the issues would have been surrounding the report itself, the purportedly accidental leak of the report and subsequent media storm have amplified the complexity and fragility of the situation considerably. Many voices from around the Church are involved at this point.

As hard as we are working, we know that our silence likely gives the opposite impression. So with love in our heart for you, we want to let you know where we are right now, as best we can.

Both the Standing Committee and the Rev. Charlie Holt are resolute in the decision to ask for consent to the November 19 election. However, given the circumstances we know we can’t just ask for consent in the usual way. We must find a way to make our case to the Standing Committees and Bishops of the Episcopal Church in a way that is clear, concise, confident, and canonically sound.

They must understand our context and our challenges, and understand why the majority of the Diocese of Florida believes that the Rev. Charlie Holt is the priest God has called to lead us at this fractured time.

We are ever mindful that we must make this request in such a way that will help the Diocese of Florida and the Episcopal Church begin to heal from the conflict of the last several months and move towards the peace that God intends for us.

At this point, we are making good progress. However, any response we release to the Diocese will automatically become part of the wider conversation. Therefore, we have made the decision to release all of the necessary communications together at a date that is surely near, but yet to be determined.

We know that emotions on all sides are raw right now. We are grateful to all of you for your patience and forbearance during this difficult season and for the generous time and support we have received from so many people across the Episcopal Church. We will be in touch again soon as we finalize our plans to begin the consent process.

In the meantime, we implore you to be gentle with one another, and to be careful with the words you use, in any format or context. In this holy and penitential season, let us commit moment by moment to love God and neighbor, sacrificially, in thought, word, and deed.

You are in our prayers and ask that you keep us in yours.