Never has a woman led one of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World's more than 60 dioceses, but that's about to change.
Soon, Bishop Mona Reide and Bishop Gwendolyn G. Weeks will become the first and second women to take on the full responsibilities of a bishop in the more than 100-year-old denomination.
"I think it again continues to move us in the direction that we feel our organization should be moving in," said Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the denomination's presiding bishop. "These will be the first with dioceses. That means they will actually oversee and they will govern male pastors."
Reide and Weeks will be consecrated Aug. 4 during the Indianapolis-based Pentecostal organization's annual convention, which is being held this year in Nashville. At least 6,000 people are expected to attend...