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 the weeklong event, which starts Sunday at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

They will both lead dioceses in Africa. Reide will oversee the Republic of Sierra Leone diocese in Western Africa, and Weeks will head the Eastern Cape diocese in South Africa. They will continue to lead their respective churches in the U.S., too.

"I clearly understand that in the home God has established differences," said Reide, who leads Grace International Outreach Church in Michigan. "But in the work of God, it’s an opportunity for men and women to see that gender does not determine God’s call on your life or the type of call that God places on your life."

Women in leadership roles

Women have long served as ministers and pastors in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, but only in the last decade has the office of bishop opened up to them.

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"A lot of our former fathers had a very narrow vision of the Scriptures," Ellis said. "In our generation, we are using every available resource to at least get the context, get the true meaning, get the commentary on the Scripture so that we are not narrowly defining what the word of God says."

The predominantly black denomination boasts more than 1.2 million members, 62 dioceses and 5,000-plus affiliated churches across the globe. It's also second biggest and the oldest Oneness Pentecostal group, which refers to the doctrine that includes the practice of baptizing someone in the name of Jesus, instead of in the name of the trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World was born out of the historic 1906 Azusa Street Revival, considered the birthplace of the modern Pentecostal movement.

Leadership roles for women vary across Pentecostal traditions, but women have always been a central part of Pentecostal church life, Lisa P. Stephenson, a professor of systematic theology at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., said in an email.

"It has always been open to the idea that women can and will be used by God in its midst," Stephenson said. "But this is not without its limitations for some denominations, and those boundaries especially get enforced when making decisions about leadership roles."

Women as bishops

The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World began formal discussions in 2008, and narrowly approved the elevation of women to the role of bishop in 2009.

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Bishops, the denomination's highest office, typically oversee a geographical region of the church. Duties include administrative responsibilities as well as serving as the authority on church doctrine and other ecclesiastical issues within the diocese.

While a handful of women became suffragan bishops, the national organization didn't select its first female bishop until 2015 when Aletha J. Cushinberry was elevated to the office. She died in December 2015.

Due to exceeding the age limit for bishops, Cushinberry did not preside over a diocese, but she was elevated as an honorary bishop. While not typical for that position, Cushinberry was given both voice and voting power on the denomination's bishop board when she became the first female to hold the higher office.

"I thought it would be very embarrassing after 100 years of convention to finally elevate a woman and she can't talk or cast a vote," Ellis said. "I said, 'Hold on. We need to make an adjustment for this honorary bishop.' "

The debate over women in church leadership isn’t unique to Pentecostalism, but spans Christian denominations, too.

The heart of the conflict comes from recognizing the special gifts women have as well as the long-standing tradition steeped in biblical precedent that has denied women access to leadership, said Ellen Armour, the director of Vanderbilt University’s Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality.

"That’s a lot to wrestle with," Armour said.

Humbled and excited

In the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Ellis thinks resistance to female bishops has subsided, especially as the older generation retires or moves into emirates bishop status.

Neither Reide nor Weeks have experienced pushback to their upcoming elevation.

"One of the reasons the Sierra Leone council requested me is because of my understanding of African culture," Reide said. "They're not concerned about my being a woman. They are concerned about making sure that the gospel goes forth."

Reide, ordained in 1996 and who founded her church in 2006, has spent years working in parts of Africa, including in Ghana. In 2012, she became the first female suffragan bishop in Michigan as well as the first woman with an international appointment in Ghana.

Weeks leads Bethel Tabernacle Pentecostal Church in Massachusetts, which was founded by her father. She was ordained in 1988 and worked as an international evangelist. She was the first female chairperson of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World’s Northeast District Council and served on the denomination's board of directors.

Both women are humbled and excited by the opportunity to lead a diocese.

"I know that there are great women who served in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World much longer, harder before me," Weeks said. "I am standing on shoulder upon shoulder upon shoulder. I'm here because of the work they did."

Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.