Holly studied theology and received holy orders.
Ordered a deacon on 17 June 1855 at St. Mathew's Church in Detroit, he was ordained a priest on 2 January 1856 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Meanwhile, Holly co-founded the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Colored People, which worked to have the General Convention adopt a position against slavery and eventually became the Union of Black Episcopalians.

Rev. Holly served as rector of St. Luke's Church, New Haven, Connecticut, from 1856 until 1861, during which time he made several trips to Haiti, the world's first black republic.
In 1857, he published a series of lectures as Vindication of the Capacity of the Negro Race for Self Governance and Civilized Progress and in 1859 he lobbied Congressman Frank Blair for funds to establish the emigrant colony.
However, that was denied, and the Board of Missions also denied his fund-raising requests.

Rev. Holly resigned his position in New Haven in 1861, in order to lead 110 African Americans and Canadians to Haiti.
Two weeks after his arrival, on June 13, 1861, President Geffrard signed a document declaring Holly a Haitian citizen.
However, yellow fever, typhoid, malaria and poor living conditions plagued the emigrants.
Holly lost his mother, wife and two of his children, among the forty-three prospective settlers who died during the first year.
Many of the emigrants returned to the United States, despite the American Civil War.

Nonetheless, Bishop Holly remained in Haiti with his two sons and other dedicated American emigrants.
By 1863, they established Holy Trinity Church and schools, and soon other churches as well as pastoral training and rural medicine programs.
The Board of Missions began financially supporting the mission in 1865.
Rev. Holly also served as consul for Liberia at Port-au-Prince from 1864 until 1874.

In that year Rev. Holly both received a D.D. from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and was consecrated as missionary bishop of Haiti by the American Church Missionary Society, an Evangelical Episcopal faction, in a ceremony at Grace Episcopal Church in New York.
Presiding Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith presided over the ceremony, with the participation of his future successor Albert Lee and New York bishop Horatio Potter.
Rt.
Rev.
Holly became the denomination's first African American ever consecrated, and only the second Black person to become a bishop in a major Protestant Christian denomination.

In 1878 Bishop Holly traveled to England as a delegate to the Lambeth Conference, but spent most of the rest of his life within his diocese, on the island of Hispaniola.
He received the honorary legal degree (LL.D.) from Liberia College, Monrovia, Liberia in 1882.
Bishop Holly also contributed reviews to the Church, the Church Eclectic, and the African Methodist Church.
In 1897, Holly both published FACTS ABOUT THE CHURCH'S MISSION IN HAITI, and was also named bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic (two years before the assassination of General Ulises Heureaux, who had brought relative peace to that portion of the island).
Holly studied theology and received holy orders. Ordered a deacon on 17 June 1855 at St. Mathew's Church in Detroit, he was ordained a priest on 2 January 1856 in New Haven, Connecticut. Meanwhile, Holly co-founded the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Colored People, which worked to have the General Convention adopt a position against slavery and eventually became the Union of Black Episcopalians.
Rev. Holly served as rector of St. Luke's Church, New Haven, Connecticut, from 1856 until 1861, during which time he made several trips to Haiti, the world's first black republic. In 1857, he published a series of lectures as Vindication of the Capacity of the Negro Race for Self Governance and Civilized Progress and in 1859 he lobbied Congressman Frank Blair for funds to establish the emigrant colony. However, that was denied, and the Board of Missions also denied his fund-raising requests.
Rev. Holly resigned his position in New Haven in 1861, in order to lead 110 African Americans and Canadians to Haiti. Two weeks after his arrival, on June 13, 1861, President Geffrard signed a document declaring Holly a Haitian citizen. However, yellow fever, typhoid, malaria and poor living conditions plagued the emigrants. Holly lost his mother, wife and two of his children, among the forty-three prospective settlers who died during the first year. Many of the emigrants returned to the United States, despite the American Civil War.
Nonetheless, Bishop Holly remained in Haiti with his two sons and other dedicated American emigrants. By 1863, they established Holy Trinity Church and schools, and soon other churches as well as pastoral training and rural medicine programs. The Board of Missions began financially supporting the mission in 1865. Rev. Holly also served as consul for Liberia at Port-au-Prince from 1864 until 1874.
In that year Rev. Holly both received a D.D. from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and was consecrated as missionary bishop of Haiti by the American Church Missionary Society, an Evangelical Episcopal faction, in a ceremony at Grace Episcopal Church in New York. Presiding Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith presided over the ceremony, with the participation of his future successor Albert Lee and New York bishop Horatio Potter. Rt.Rev. Holly became the denomination's first African American ever consecrated, and only the second Black person to become a bishop in a major Protestant Christian denomination.
In 1878 Bishop Holly traveled to England as a delegate to the Lambeth Conference, but spent most of the rest of his life within his diocese, on the island of Hispaniola. He received the honorary legal degree (LL.D.) from Liberia College, Monrovia, Liberia in 1882. Bishop Holly also contributed reviews to the Church, the Church Eclectic, and the African Methodist Church. In 1897, Holly both published FACTS ABOUT THE CHURCH'S MISSION IN HAITI, and was also named bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic (two years before the assassination of General Ulises Heureaux, who had brought relative peace to that portion of the island).
James Theodore Holly