Assisting Bishops of the Diocese of Southwest Florida

The Diocese of Southwest Florida has two bishops assisting Bishop Dabney Smith. Below were bishops in The Episcopal Church in another diocese:

The Rt. Rev. J. Michael Garrison

J. Michael Garrison was elected Tenth Bishop of Western New York in December 1998 and ordained and consecrated in April of 1999. He was raised in Philadelphia and also lived with his family in Oregon and California while growing up. He trained for the priesthood in the Roman Catholic community at Mount Angel Seminary near Salem, Oregon, and at the Pontifical College Josephinum near Columbus, Ohio. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1970 and to the priesthood in 1971. In 1975 Michael was received as a deacon and priest of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Garrison served for 25 years in the Diocese of Nevada before his election in Western New York.

Bishop Michael and Carol have been married since 1990 and have two sons and four daughters between them and three grandchildren. Since 2000, they have been "sometime parishioners" of the Church of the Annunciation, Holmes Beach, and now reside in Bradenton.

 

The Rt. Rev. Barry R. Howe

Bishop Howe spent thirteen years as the VII Bishop of West Missouri. He resigned that position in March of 2011. Prior to this, he was the Dean of St. Peter’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg for eleven years. A graduate of Gettysburg College (1964) and Philadelphia Divinity School (1967), he has served congregations in the Diocese of Pennsylvania, the Diocese of Central Florida, the Diocese of Massachusetts, and the Diocese of Southwest Florida. Bishop Howe has served on numerous national Commissions and Committees. He is presently the Chairperson of the General Board of Examining Chaplains, a Board Member of both the Episcopal Evangelical Society and the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem. He has also served as a member of the faculty of the College For Bishops for the past nine years.

Bishop Howe and his wife Mary, both natives of the same hometown in Pennsylvania, have been married for forty-six years. They have two children and four grandchildren, all living in St. Petersburg.