Bishop Howard Rejects Panel of Reference Plan in Florida
03/19/2007

The Rt. Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard, Bishop of Florida, has rejected a “good neighbor” episcopal ministry plan proposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Panel of Reference. The report, which required almost two years of “hard and painstaking work,” was in response to an appeal made by the rector and vestry of Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville.

The report, which was released to the public on March 16, called for Church of the Redeemer to return to the oversight of Bishop Howard and to active participation in the fiscal and corporate life of the diocese. In return, Bishop Howard was asked to lift canonical sanctions against the clergy, end litigation, and permit alternate episcopal oversight for the parish from a neighboring Episcopal bishop acceptable to both the parish and the diocese.

As a sign of good faith in the panel recommendations, a scheduled court appearance before a judge could be cancelled, said the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. He proposed the idea in a letter to both Bishop Howard and the Rev. Neil Lebhar, rector of Redeemer. the rest