 Holley served as associate pastor and administrator of St. Mary Catholic Church, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, associate pastor of St. Paul Catholic Church, Pensacola, and as administrator and pastor of Little Flower Catholic Church, Pensacola.He was a member of the diocesan council of priests, the spiritual director of the Serra Club of West Florida, the spiritual director and instructor for the permanent diaconate program, the director of the Department of Ethnic Concerns of the diocese, and a member of the Joint Conference of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.Pope John Paul II appointed him titular bishop of Rusubisir and auxiliary bishop of Washington on May 18, 2004, Holley received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, on July 2, 2004.