A Timeline for
the Episcopal Church in Southeast Florida

• People first reached Florida 12,000 years ago.
• 1493 Juan Ponce de León, Spanish explorer, joins Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World.
• 1513 Ponce de León returns and discovers Florida.
• 1565 First Prayer Book service held at Ft. Caroline, near St. Augustine, at the request of the Elizabethan sea captain, Jown Hawkins.
• 1763 Britain gains control of Florida in exchange for Havana, Cuba. Nine clergy are licensed by the Bishop of London to work in areas where there are English garrisons and settlements. They try to develop relations with Indians moving in from the North who they call Seminolies, or Seminoles.
• 1776 War of American Independence begins. 
• 1784 Spain, as a French ally, regains Florida as part the treaty ending the American War. British citizens, Creek Indians and former slaves flee to Florida.
• 1821 Spain cedes Florida to the United States. 
• 1838 Jan. 17, Diocese of Florida established, at St.John's in Tallahassee.
• 1845 Florida admitted to the Union.
• 1851 The Diocese of Florida elects the Rev. Francis Huger Rutledge as its first Bishop.
• 1861 Civil War begins.
• 1889 Bethesda-by-the-Sea established as a mission congregation in Lake Worth; moved in 1899 to Palm Beach.
• 1892 Bishop William C. Gray became Bishop of Florida (until 1913).
• 1892 Missionary District of South Florida established; St. Paul's and St. Peter's, Key West, already existing parishes.
• 1896 Establishment of Trinity Church, now Trinity Cathedral, Miami.
• 1898 Establishment of St. Agnes, Miami.
• 1899 All Saints, Jensen Beach, consecrated.
• 1901 Establishment of Christ Church, Miami.
• 1913 Bishop Gray retires.
• 1914 Bishop Cameran Mann, becomes the second bishop to the Missionary District of South Florida.
• 1922 South Florida became an independent Diocese. Bishop Cameran Mann instituted Bishop of Florida (until 1932).
• 1925 Bishop John D. Wing Consecrated Coadjutor Bishop.
• 1932 Bishop Mann dies. Bishop John D. Wing Instituted Bishop of South Florida.
• 1945 Bishop Henry I. Louttit Consecrated Suffragan Bishop.
• 1948 Bishop Henry I. Louttit Instituted Coadjutor Bishop.
• 1950 Bishop Wing retires. Bishop Louttit became Bishop of South Florida.
• 1951 Bishop Martin J. Bram Consecrated Suffragan Bishop.
• 1955 Camp Wingmann is racially integrated.
• 1956 Bishop Bram dies. Bishop William F. Moses Consecrated Suffragan Bishop.
• 1958 General Convention meets in Miami Beach.
• 1961 The Diocese of South Florida is split into three archdeaneries. Bishop Louttit is Bishop of the Central Archdeanery. Bishop Duncan consecrated Suffragan Bishop, assigned to the East Coast of South Florida. Bishop William L. Hargrave Consecrated Suffragan Bishop of the Southwestern archdeanery..
• 1961 First Cuban Episcopal congregation established-- Todos los Santos, Miami.
• 1969 Diocese of South Florida split, Diocese of Southeast Florida established.
• 1970 April 8, Bishop Duncan instituted as Bishop.
• 1979 March 23, Bishop Schofield consecrated as Coadjutor Bishop.
• 1980 February 9, Bishop Schofield instituted as Diocesan Bishop.
• 1995 February 25, Bishop Said consecrated Suffragan Bishop.
• 1999 Bishop Schofield announces his retirement.
• 2000 September 16, Bishop Frade enthroned as our third Diocesan Bishop.