Episcopal Diocese Of Mississippi Officially Installs First Black Woman Leader

Rev. Dorothy Sanders Wells was formally installed as the newest bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi on July 20.

Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells was formally installed as the newest bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi on July 20, the first Black person and the first woman to hold the position. Wells has held the position since being elected in February 2024 and has been active in the role since May, but is now formally formally acknowledged by the church.

Wells isn’t focused on the historical significance of her appointment. “If it ends when our time together ends on Sunday mornings, then we have already missed the message,” Wells told AL.com. “That should be the beginning. When we walk out the doors, that becomes the beginning of us showing that radical love and hospitality.”

According to USA Today, Wells replaces Brian Seage, who guided the state’s Diocese through the COVID-19 pandemic and the Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis. Shortly after Wells’ election, Seage told the outlet, “This is a historic moment and this marks a new chapter in our history. It’s the first time we have elected a woman and the first time we have elected an African American as the bishop of the diocese. I think this speaks dramatically for this movement within our church.”

The installation was presided by Michael Curry, the first Black person to be the presiding bishop of the Catholic Church. Curry gained worldwide acclaim for his sermon at Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding in 2011.

Wells’ election came after Sharma Lewis became the first Black woman to serve as bishop of the Mississippi United Methodist Church in 2022.

“I am truly humbled by the confidence that the council has placed in me, and I am so looking forward to working with the good people of the Diocese of Mississippi,” Wells told USA Today at the time. “We are reading all kinds of statistics and reports about declining church attendance and declining church engagement, but we know God is in the midst of all of this and I am looking forward to exploring with this Diocese all of the ways we can continue love God and love one another and serve our neighbors and care for the people around us.”

Wells hails from Mobile, Alabama, and earned a degree in vocal performance from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She also holds a Juris Doctorate from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, a master’s degree in divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in ministry from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

“When we had our meet and greets when I was able to get to know some of the people in the Diocese, I said then that I really want to get out into the districts,” she told USA Today. “I want to meet people. I want to meet clergy and I want to meet lay folks in these different convocations. I want to see what is happening in their ministry, and I want to get some good conversations going so that we can be good relationship builders together and be about the business of exploring the ways that we can serve God.”