Notable Women in the U.S. Faith Community
February 24, 2016
The Right Rev. Barbara C. Harris is the first woman to be ordained a bishop in the Episcopal Church of the United States. An educator, musician and civil rights activist, she directed public relations for Sun Oil Company before entering the ministry. Harris was ordained a deacon in 1979, a priest in 1980 and consecrated as bishop in 1989. She retired in 2003 and was succeeded by another African American woman, the Rev. Gayle E. Harris. The Right Rev. Mildred B. Hines is the first woman elected to the episcopacy of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion denomination. She was serving