About our Diocese

Diocese of Southwest Florida

Honor our Tradition ~ Build for the Future ~ Mercy in Mission

We are a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Our 79 parishes and missions total some 28,000 members with 260 baptisms celebrated each year sharing in an exciting pilgrimage of ministry. On any given Sunday, about 11,000 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.

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.

The Rt. Rev. Douglas Scharf, DMin., Bishop

The Rt. Rev. Douglas Frederick Scharf was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Southwest Florida on April 2, 2022. He was ordained and consecrated as a bishop on September 24, 2022, in Sarasota and was seated as the sixth bishop of the diocese on December 10, 2022, at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg.

Bishop Scharf served as rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and School in Tequesta, FL (2017-2022), rector of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church (2007 - 2016) in Valrico, FL, associate rector of Church of the Holy Spirit ( 2004 – 2007) in Osprey, FL.

Bishop Scharf earned a B.A. in English from Florida Gulf Coast University (2002); an M. Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary (2004); and a D. Min. from Emory University, Candler School of Theology (2018) with a concentration in Biblical Interpretation and Proclamation.

Born in 1979, Bishop Scharf was raised in the Diocese of Southwest Florida, the son of the Rev. Frederick Scharf and Carol Scharf. He and his wife Shannon are the parents of three children: Clayton, Parker, and Grady. His hobbies include music (he plays piano), reading, hiking, kayaking, and spending time in the beauty of God’s creation.

Visit the Diocese of Southwest Florida Website