Bishop of Florida

The Right Reverend Samuel Johnson Howard

The Right Reverend Samuel Johnson Howard, a native of North Carolina, was elected bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida on May 16, 2003, and was consecrated at St. John’s Cathedral, Jacksonville, on November 1, 2003. He was instituted as bishop of the diocese on January 29, 2004.

From 1997 through 2003, Bishop Howard served as vicar of Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York. Bishop Howard was one of the leaders of the congregation and staff of Trinity Church, Wall Street, and Saint Paul’s Chapel in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001. He assumed a leadership role in the city, speaking on a variety of issues regarding the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, transportation, and public services.

Prior to moving to New York, Bishop Howard was rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and before that, he was assistant to the rector of Holy Comforter Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bishop Howard graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained in 1989. He practiced law in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1976 through 1986, serving as an Assistant United States Attorney. In 1985 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals appointed him Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He also served as an attorney on the staff of the United States Senate Commerce Committee.

In addition to being an alumnus of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, he is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and of the Law School of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Bishop Howard also served as Chancellor of the University of the South through 2018 in addition to his responsibilities to the Diocese of Florida. Bishop Howard and his wife Marie have two sons.