Dorothy Sanders Wells

Dorothy Sanders Wells is the eleventh and current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, elected in February 2024 to succeed Brian R. Seage. She was consecrated on July 20, 2024. She is both the first woman and the first African-American to head the diocese.[1]

Wells is originally from Mobile, Alabama. She was a student of vocal performance at Rhodes College, graduating in 1982.[2] She earned a juris doctor from the University of Memphis,[3] and worked as a lawyer for 18 years prior to her ordination to the priesthood.[1]

She has a master of divinity from the Memphis Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in ministry from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.[3] She was rector of St. George's Episcopal Church in Germantown, Tennessee since 2013 until becoming bishop.[2][3]

  1. ^ a b "Mississippi's new Episcopal bishop is first woman and first Black person in that role". AP News. July 19, 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  2. ^ a b Kleinman, Leanne (April 4, 2018). "Remember their names. Recognize their lives". MLK50: Justice through journalism. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c "Memphis law alumna makes history in Mississippi". Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-22.