Welcome to the Diocese of Southwest Florida.

We are a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church in the United States. Our 77 congregations total some 36,000 baptized persons who share an exciting pilgrimage of ministry and mission. On any given Sunday, about 17,000 people worship in Episcopal churches in Southwest Florida.

We extend along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, with our northernmost congregation in Brooksville and our most southern on Marco Island. We include the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers. Our easternmost congregations are in Plant City, Arcadia and LaBelle.

The diocese was formed in 1969 when the Diocese of South Florida was split into the dioceses of Central, Southeast and Southwest Florida.

As a diocesan community we seek to live out Jesus' Great Commission that we should be in the world to make disciples of all people ministering God's redemptive gifts of love and grace. "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded." Matthew 28:19-20a.

We encourage you to worship with us and share with others the joy we have found in serving our Lord and the world He came to save. May God bless you. You may find the congregation nearest you by clicking here. 

There is great breadth of diversity in the Episcopal Church: we might be Anglo-Catholic, Evangelistic, Charismatic, conservative or liberal. But Episcopalians are first and foremost Christians. We believe God has created us, we proclaim and follow Jesus as Lord. We believe God is active in our day to day lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The church is the body of which Christ is the head and all baptized people are the members. The Church is a community of faith and commitment, not an organization like a club. We are part of the Anglican Communion, a fellowship of autonomous churches in communion with the Church of England.

All Anglican churches are drawn together by a common loyalty to:

• Scripture as the revealed Word of God;
• The historical Creeds of the Church as sufficient statements of Christian belief;
• The celebration of the seven sacraments of the Church with special emphasis on Baptism and Eucharist;
• The apostolic ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons in the life of teaching and service in the Church;
• Tthe use of scripture, Church tradition, and reason in matters of belief and practice.

In worship, Episcopalians sit, kneel, stand, sing, pray aloud, pray silently. Some bow and make the sign of the cross; others don't. We use the Book of Common Prayer, The Hymnal and (in many places) a service bulletin. These tools are designed to help us worship and pray together, something very important to Anglican Christians. Episcopal worship calls for the full participation of all the people. The Prayer Book (and the service bulletin) will guide you in what to do, what to say or sing. Our people are friendly and helpful. If you need help during the service, please ask someone for guidance.

Heraldry of our diocesan shield
The seal is placed in a “vesica piscis,” or pointed oval, conventionally representing a fish.

In the upper right of the shield (the shield’s own right) the pelican, symbol of the sacrifice of Christ feeding us with His blood, or of Mother Church feeding her young with its life blood.

On a blue field, the star from the Diocese of South Florida, representing Canopus, brightest star in the southern skies. In the lower half, wavy lines of white and blue represent the Gulf of Mexico, with a flaming sun slipping below the horizon in the golden sunset sky. Around this is a border showing the red cross and quartered colors from the arms of the mother Diocese of South Florida, indicating our common background and derivation.

Above the shield is the conventional bishop’s mitre resting upon the crossed keys, symbol of ecclesiastical authority and symbol of St. Peter, patron of the diocesan cathedral.

For more information on Episcopalians and the Episcopal Church, please visit:

Our Diocesan Priorities

• To develop of the ministry of all baptized persons;
• To enhance the life of our local congregations;
• To continue the extension of the church in the communities we serve by the establishment of new congregations.
• To raise our vision of mission from our own congregations and diocese to the global mission of Christ who sent the apostolic church into all the world.

Principles of our Common Life

1. The basic unit of the church is the baptized faithful; laypersons and ordained working together with the bishop to carry out Jesus' Great Commission and his vision of servant ministry.
2. The mission and ministry of the diocese is expressed primarily through the unique and varied lives of our local congregations.
3. It is through individual acts of Christian service summed up in Jesus' vision of the Last Judgment, (Matthew 25) and those other servant ministries to which we are called by the contemporary world that the church reaches out in love to the world Christ died to redeem.
4. Matthew 25 ministry is primarily the work of the laity led in their service by our deacons. This work should be based in and supported by local congregations where the church finds its primary interface with the world.
5. The mission and ministry of the whole diocese lived in the local congregation is enhanced and strengthened by partnerships of congregations working together with their bishop.
6. The Bishop and his staff serve the whole church by offering vision, support and oversight for mission, acting as a bridge between our local congregations in their particular ministry and the life and mission of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
7. We accept the health of our local congregations as our criteria for assessing the vitality of our whole faith community.
8. The budget of our diocese reflects our common commitment to the Great Commission lived in the life of our congregations and our partnerships in mission beyond our local communities.