THE prolonged and troubled effort to appoint the next Bishop of Florida, in the Episcopal Church in the United States, has been put on hold to allow more time for the diocese’s divisions to be healed.

The process to elect a successor to the Rt Revd John Howard, now retired, has undergone acrimonious twists and turns over several years, including the rejection of the Revd Charlie Holt, elected twice (News, 21 June).

Bishop Holt twice topped the ballot to be Bishop Coadjutor, but faced objections and accusations of discrimination against LGBTQ+ clergy, and concerns about some past comments on diversity and inclusion issues. Formal objections were raised over procedural issues in his first election in May 2022, which resulted in a second ballot six months later, from which he again emerged as the favoured candidate (News, 25 November 2022).

New objections were raised during the second election. The Epsicopal Church’s Court of Review investigated, and ruled partly in favour of the objectors, again on matters touching discrimination (News, 31 March).

The court’s finding was not binding on the diocese, however, and it pressed ahead with the process of getting consent from the wider Episcopal Church. It was unsuccessful. Bishop Howard retired last year, and now faces two Title IV disciplinary hearings over allegations of discrimination against LGBTQ+ clergy and of financial impropriety.

A retired bishop, the Rt Revd Mary Grey-Reeves, was brought in as part of a reconciliation process. She said, early in the year, that the tortuous election process had resulted in the diocese’s becoming a “psychologically unsafe environment”, in which distrust and acrimony were rife (News, 9 February).

At the diocese’s standing convention in September, delegates voted to postpone indefinitely a resolution to launch a new electoral process.

The diocesan Standing Committee said in a statement after the convention that a “larger body of delegates” at the convention “sees the opportunity for further healing and strengthening”.

The diocese has held a series of listening events and “visitations” to try to heal divisions. Bishop Gray-Reeves, who is qualified in conflict mediation, has led on this process.

The Standing Committee said that it had no new timetable for election in mind, but would keep it under review. “The continued success of this process will reveal the best election timing to the Standing Committee.”

It concluded: “We are blessed by the remarkable efforts of our laity, clergy and the staff of the Diocese that are moving our ministry forward with a sense of renewal, optimism and unity.”