Mississippi’s new Episcopal bishop is first woman and first Black person in that role

The Associated PressJACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi is being formally installed July 20, and she is the first woman and first Black person to hold the post.The Rev. Dorothy Sanders Wells was elected bishop in February and has been in the leadership role since May. She is being ordained and consecrated by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.The Rev. Dorothy Sanders Wells, a native of Mobile, Ala., sits on a stage at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School campus in Ridgeland, Miss., July 19, 2024, before being formally installed as the first woman and first Black person to hold the post of bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)Wells succeeds former Bishop Brian Seage, who was elected in 2014 and had been in the role since the 2015 retirement of his predecessor.The Mississippi diocese has about 17,600 members in 87 congregations.Wells is a native of Mobile, Alabama, and studied vocal performance at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She earned a law degree from the University of Memphis and practiced law for 18 years in Memphis before becoming a priest.She earned a master of divinity degree...