The Rt. Rev. Dabney T. Smith
Fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Southwest Florida
The Rt. Rev. Dabney Tyler Smith was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Southwest Florida on Dec. 9, 2006. He was ordained and consecrated as a bishop on March 10, 2007, in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was seated as the fifth bishop of the diocese on September 15, 2007, at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg. He retired as Bishop on December 10, 2022.
His time as bishop has included a number of priorities, including parish vitality, believing that a healthy parish is at the core of the Episcopal Church’s call to its members. He has been a strong advocate for a clarity of Episcopal polity, including education and formation for clergy and vestries, with a continuing focus on leadership development for best practices. Through crises and natural disasters, he has encouraged parishes to lead locally, with diocesan support.
His interest in the role of Christian education and the laity has resulted in the emphasis on the growth of education and camp programs at DaySpring Episcopal Center, which serves aa a hub for not only Episcopal congregations and youth events, but also faith groups and churches throughout the Southeast.
To sustain the work of parishes and DaySpring for generations to come, he has created two endowments, each now at $1 million, and encouraged parish-level endowment giving.
Because of his formation in Episcopal schools, he has been a strong supporter of Episcopal education in the diocese and nationally. Within the diocese, he has encouraged Episcopal schools to fulfill Christ’s mission to an ever-changing student body within a well-tested Episcopal tradition.
Prior to his 2007 election, he had been rector of Trinity Church, New Orleans, La., since January 2005. The church, with about 2,500 members and seven associate clergy, included Trinity Episcopal School (pre-K through eighth grade with over 300 students), and a counseling and training center. He served as rector of St. Michael and All Angels in South Bend, Ind. from 1989-1998 and rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal in Melbourne, Fla from 1998-2004, which included the two-campus, 900-student Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. He also served as assistant at Grace Church in Port Orange, Fla., from 1987-89.
In post-Katrina New Orleans, he served on the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative that exists to create desperately needed housing for hurricane victims. He was also on the steering committee of Common Good, a public partnership of faith-based, nonprofit, civic and higher-education organizations that brings the voice of the citizens of New Orleans to the table with the political and business sectors. He served on the Diocesan Rebuilding Committee for the Diocese of Louisiana and on the diocesan executive board.
Bishop Smith earned a B.A. in broadcasting production from the University of South Florida, Tampa (1980); an M. Div. from Nashotah House, cum laude (1987); and a D. Min. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary with special focus on congregational development (1999). Since election as bishop, he has received honorary doctorates from Nashotah House in 2007, Sewanee University of the South in 2008 and Seabury-Western in 2008.
Bishop Smith serves as president of the Bishop Gray Retirement Foundation, which is a legacy from the original Diocese of South Florida. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of the Dominican Development Group. At the 2015 General Convention, he was appointed by the Presiding Bishop to chair the Mission Beyond the Episcopal Church committee of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. He also serves the church as a member of Executive Council. In the Diocese of Southwest Florida, he serves on the board of Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa.
His service has included chairman of the Episcopal Church Building Fund, boardmember of the Seminary of the Southwest, Board of Regents of University of the South and member of the House of Bishops Planning Committee. Bishop Smith is a former Vice President of Province IV, where he sat on the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice.
Born in 1953, Bishop Smith is a Florida native, the son of the late the Rev. Dorsey and Dorothy Smith. The Rev. Dorsey Smith served as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tampa during the 1960s, where Bishop Smith was a choirboy and acolyte.
He and wife Mary Wallis Smith are the parents of five grown children; sons Dabney Smith and Andrew Bennett Wallis and daughters Alicia Caputo, Megan (Meg) Wallis and Ashton Williston. They have nine grandchildren.
His hobbies include music (he played guitar and keyboards in various groups for many years), and reading history with a particular focus on biographies.
Last Updated: 1-21-25