After many months of hard work and difficult decisions, all undergirded by prayer, leaders from the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida are grateful to have a significant update: An executed contract has been signed and an initial escrowed deposit paid for the potential sale of 47-plus acres, which represents the bulk of the property belonging to Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center in Oviedo. This agreement, however, does not include six acres of frontage property on S.R. 434, which have been set aside for diocesan use. The contract signing, carried out by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, came at the behest of the Diocesan Board via a motion approved at a Feb. 3 special called business meeting. This article will also include updates on other Canterbury-related decisions.

“The purchase agreement was thoroughly vetted, and the decision to approve the contract and release it for signing and execution was unanimous at every level,” Holcomb said. “I want to publicly express my appreciation for the diocesan staff, the Real Estate Commission and the Diocesan Board. In particular, my deep appreciation goes to Chancellor Todd Pittenger and Father Jason Murbarger, whose work has been tremendous, tireless and selfless. Please be assured that, thanks to the expertise of these individuals, every detail has been considered, and we are confident that this is sound, satisfactory and a fair purchase agreement that really turns Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center into a legacy for the diocese.”

Pittenger noted that, thanks to the expertise in multiple areas related to this transaction among members of the Real Estate Commission as well as what he termed its “stellar work,” the diocese was able to negotiate Canterbury’s potential sale without a real estate broker. He explained that this offers the diocese additional financial benefit by saving what could have amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in brokerage commission funds.

Joy and Sorrow

Despite the joy involved in the progress toward sale of the property, Holcomb remains aware that this announcement also comes with grief for the many within and outside of the diocese who have encountered God there through the years. “We’ve had Marriage Encounters that took place there, Clergy Conferences, Cursillos, weekend and personal retreats and the launch of one of our churches as a mission there – and these are just a few of the memories,” he said. “While this is an exciting new chapter in the legacy of Canterbury, there’s also some mourning and grief connected with the memories of God’s faithfulness and the joy in the wonderful things that have taken place there.

“The decision to sell Canterbury is difficult, and at the same time a blessing,” the bishop said. “With sound guardrails in place for the potential proceeds and investments, the diocese will benefit greatly from Canterbury’s financial legacy.” He noted that this legacy will potentially provide for a planned lowering of assessments to 10% as well as a future expansion of the diocesan staff, which at present is much smaller than that needed to best serve a diocese of 80 churches.

“I think it’s good that we have a contract on Canterbury because it allows the diocese to stop focusing on how to keep it afloat and move forward,” said the Rev. Jim Dorn, co-chair of the Real Estate Commission and rector of St. Matthias, Clermont. “Although it’s regrettable that we have to sell the property, its legacy opens up new ministry opportunities for the diocese and our churches.”

“The diocesan Real Estate Commission is very excited about the execution of the contract with a potential purchase for the Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center,” said the Very Rev. Jason Murbarger, co-chair of the Real Estate Commission; rector of  St. Mary’s, Daytona Beach; member of the Diocesan Board; and dean of the Northeast Deanery. “This will be a long period of due diligence and will require working closely with the local municipality to bring about the desired outcome of the potential purchaser, and we are well underway with that process at this time, having handed over the initial stages of documentation that were required under the terms of the contract.”

Diocesan CFO Roman Franklin agrees. “I’m pleased with the terms of the contract,” he said. “This is a very well-qualified buyer with great experience, and they’re well-capitalized. They have all of the tools and assets necessary to close this transaction, which is very encouraging for me as the CFO.”

Transparency and Confidentiality

Diocesan leaders have demonstrated a commitment to transparency and timely communication throughout the efforts that have led to this contract, including an Advent 2023 Central Florida Episcopalian article giving details of the “Crisis at Canterbury,” a June 2024 letter to the diocese from Holcomb updating the diocese on the situation there and a September 2024 online report in the CFE Digital Digest of the July 19 cessation of business operations at the conference center. On the advice of Chancellor Todd Pittenger and the Hon. Dan McIntosh, real estate attorney for the diocese, details of the contract cannot be given at this time, not because of a lack of transparency but because of the need to protect the interests of the potential contract purchaser.

“The purchase agreement has various stages, such as the inspection period, which began in early March,” Pittenger said. “There are other moving parts and contingencies that necessitate we treat such matters confidentially as per the terms of our agreement with the potential buyer. At the proper time, after certain milestones have been met, appropriate disclosures beyond those already made to those involved in diocesan governance will be made.”

Murbarger agrees. “The bishop’s intention is to be as forthright about all of this as we can be, as much as is beneficial for us at this point given the contract that exists,” he said. “The level of confidentiality we have at this point is in the best interest of the diocese. We’re expecting about a 22–24-month process before this closes, but as we get further along, we will have more information to share.”

Debt Decisions

One of the most recent updates to the saga of Canterbury took place at the most recent Diocesan Board meeting on Feb. 28. Here, the board considered a motion based on a unanimous recommendation from the Finance Commission concerning two outstanding balloon loans that Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center has with Fair Winds Credit Union. Both loans have full loan payments due on April 1, 2025.

Diocesan CFO Roman Franklin contacted a loan officer with Fair Winds, who made a verbal offer to refinance the loans for 24 months at 6.75% interest plus closing cost, pending loan approval.

“The Finance Commission concluded that in light of the purchase contract for Canterbury and the more than $150,000 in interest costs with the Fair Winds alternative, the diocese should loan the funds to Canterbury to repay the balloon notes,” Franklin said. “In accordance with our loan policy statement, this loan would be repaid with interest to the diocese from the proceeds of the future sale of Canterbury. … It’s a timing issue in which the balloon loans come due during what could be a two-year window before the sale of Canterbury is finalized.”

“The time gap had to be covered one way or another,” Murbarger said. “It was basically a question of whether we would give a loan to ourselves and make the diocese the beneficiary of the interest, or accept a loan from the bank and let them be the beneficiary.”

The Diocesan Board unanimously approved the motion, which involved loans from two different funds held by the diocese. It should also be noted that the diocese has made similar loans to Canterbury in the past, long before the pending sale of the property was under consideration.

Church and Memorial Garden

In addition to hosting Church of the Incarnation, Oviedo, which previously held services at Canterbury but transitioned Dec. 1, 2024, to the chapel at Reformed Theological Seminary, also in Oviedo, Canterbury has also been home to a small memorial garden. Out of respect for the departed and pastoral concern for the 10 or 12 families involved, the diocese is already making preparations for the appropriate removal and transfer of the interred ashes.

“We are contacting each family that we can find,” the Rev. Canon Dr. Dan Smith said. “We explain that we must move those cremains and that we will take or send them anywhere the family desires at our expense. We’ll exhume a portion of the soil with the interred ashes, place them in an appropriate container and ship them as needed.”

In the case of a family that chooses to leave the cremains under the care of the diocese, or in the case of a family that cannot be located, “Two of our churches are willing to take any additional cremains and place them in their own memorial gardens,” Smith said. “We would exhume them and do a new internment using that portion of the Burial Office in the Book of Common Prayer.”

This is not the first time the diocese has faced the need to transfer remains, Smith said, adding that this has previously occurred in cases such as the sale or transfer of a church property. “We’re following the pattern that we have done in the past to treat remains with respect, offering pastoral care for the families and interring the cremains properly in sacred space,” he said.

Legacy: Income From Frontage Acreage

The plan to retain the frontage property for diocesan use rather than including it in the sales contract came at the initiative of the Real Estate Commission, Murbarger explained.

“A couple of the people on the Real Estate Commission have been active in that marketplace, and Walter Carpenter, a highly experienced MAI real estate appraiser, was really the one who advised us that it made a lot more sense for us, as we approached potential buyers, to do so in a way that set aside the frontage for our benefit,” he said. “There is the potential in the future, after we work out how the ingress and egress [going in and coming out of the property] will take place with the party the land is under contract with, for us to then go forward and look at it for commercial development or long-term land leasing with commercial groups that may have an interest in that frontage.”

The Diocesan Board has discussed potential options for the potential use of that acreage, including land lease arrangements that would provide a regular income stream for the diocese as the property continues to increase in value. In this scenario, a tenant with a long-term lease could construct a building or buildings on the property, taking responsibility for their maintenance and upkeep, while the diocese would retain ownership of both property and buildings.

“The idea is that the real estate development will make that retained frontage property more valuable for future commercial use,” Franklin said. “Not only is it valuable as it is today, but the development that will occur internally on that property will actually increase the commercial value of the space up front because of traffic and visibility.

“When that potential land lease term ends, we own the buildings that they’ve constructed and maintained for us, and we can choose to end or renew the lease,” he added. “That would be a sizable income stream over and above the income from the potential sale of the property.” He also emphasized that both the Real Estate and Finance Commissions would be involved with structuring such a land lease, which would include inflation riders so its terms would escalate incrementally along with the property value.

Smith highlighted the potential gospel impact of this aspect of the Canterbury legacy. “When you add that kind of income stream to the money we would receive from the sale of the property, you can see where we have the possibility of reducing the assessment to the individual congregations,” he said. “We would also have a far larger fund of money to do revitalization efforts and to work toward the thriving of the congregations that make up the Diocese of Central Florida.”

Legacy: People, Furnishings

As the Central Florida Episcopalian reported last year, all full-time employees of Canterbury received appropriate severance packages, and one longtime staff member, Ms. Irene Safier, has joined the diocesan staff. In addition, Ms. Martha Griggs, former director of finance at Canterbury, is one of two accountants who will soon be working with Franklin for the diocese’s new congregational bookkeeping service, extending the Canterbury legacy in a new way.

“Our goal is to provide a cost-effective solution to the bookkeeping, payroll and benefits processing tasks for our churches,” Franklin said. “Churches can struggle with transitions when a bookkeeper passes away, relocates or resigns. Our mission is to create an efficient system for churches that alleviates pain points around bookkeeping, financial reporting, payroll and benefits processing.”

“I think it’s a valuable service, and a tangible way to show that ‘For the Churches, for the Gospel’ is not just a slogan,” Holcomb said. “This is a really good way for bookkeeping to cost less for each church, and we can provide a centralized service.”

Some of the Canterbury furnishings will also extend the conference center’s legacy. At the suggestion of the Rev. Tim Nunez, rector of Good Shepherd, Lake Wales, and member of the Camp Wingmann board, the diocese contacted Camp Director Joshua “J.J.” Joseph. The camp had already planned to remodel its kitchen, and most, if not all, of the Canterbury kitchen appliances and equipment, including tableware and cutlery, will be transferred there soon. Some beds, vanities and other Canterbury furnishings will also find new homes at Camp Wingmann.

Legacy: Gospel Impact

While acknowledging the depth of the recent decisions surrounding Canterbury, diocesan leaders agree on the property’s continuing gospel impact. Holcomb again emphasized the planned lowering of assessments that the potential sale of the property can provide, adding, “The more money we can keep in the churches for ministry on the ground, the better. This is not where we thought we were going in June 2023, but I hope you can also see God’s promises being revealed, his care for us.”

“I’m delighted that we’ve taken this step, because ultimately what it’s going to do is allow for the legacy of the mission of Canterbury to continue, albeit in a totally different way,” Smith said. “The resources that we’ll receive from the sale of Canterbury will allow us to do significant mission and ministry stretching out for two generations or more.”

“Selling the property allows us to focus on building up God’s kingdom here in Central Florida and use those funds to assist new and existing viable ministries thrive at both the diocesan and local level,” Dorn said. “The Canterbury legacy continues by allowing the diocese to change with the times, shifting its ministry to become more fluid so it can quickly respond to the needs of our churches when they arise.”

“The Real Estate Commission and the Diocesan Board are really looking forward to seeing what this will be able to achieve for the diocese, not just in the near term, but for a very long time,” Murbarger said. “It was a wonderful gift and a wonderful opportunity for us – as society transitioned away from the idea of conference centers for dioceses – for this one to be placed in such a wonderful location. It will provide the opportunity to benefit us as a financial blessing for the advancement of the gospel for years to come.”