BOB ABERNETHY: This week at its convention in Cincinnati, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the country's oldest black denomination, elected its first woman bishop. She is Reverend Vashti McKenzie of Baltimore, Maryland.Reverend VASHTI McKENZIE: Because of God's favor, the stained-glass ceiling has been pierced.
ABERNETHY: Reverend McKenzie is pastor of Payne Memorial AME Church in Baltimore. She was featured on this program two years ago as she led her congregation in prayer.Rev. McKENZIE (From Two Years Ago): You are the one that dispenses love for us when the world turns to hate us. Yes, you are the one that lets us in when others shut us out.
ABERNETHY: Others in that story dramatized the barriers black women clergy have faced from men and women.
Reverend BOBBY SMITH (Zion Canaan Baptist Church): The women have become so aggressive with women's liberation that they -- they've become so domineering, and they've always been that way, even in the garden.
