Mississippi's United Methodists will be getting their first ever black bishop.

Bishop James E. Swanson, Sr., who has been serving in eastern Tennessee since 2004, has been assigned to lead Mississippi's
182,000 United Methodists.

Swanson's appointment was announced Friday at a regional Methodist conference in Lake Junaluska, N.C.

The bishop had served since 2004 in a Methodist jurisdiction that covers eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia.

Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, who was named Mississippi's bishop in
2004, was the state's first female bishop. Ward was moved to a new
post in eastern North Carolina. Methodists typically rotate their bishops after two four-year terms.