Rev. Deon Kevin Johnson has become the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, making him the first openly gay Black man to hold the post in the diocese’s 179-year history.

Johnson was ordained and consecrated last week in a ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis.

He was most recently rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brighton, Mich.

In the week following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Johnson joined in peaceful protests in the St. Louis region.

Days after the clearing of nonviolent protesters at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C., so Donald Trump could have a photo op, Johnson spoke at a solidarity rally at St. John’s Episcopal Church in St. Louis.