ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Seventh-day Adventist Church elevated a woman Monday to a top leadership post for the first time in its history.

Ella Louise Smith Simmons, 57, will serve as one of nine vice presidents.

"The church as an organization cannot be efficient until it allows all people to contribute in ways that God calls them to contribute," she said. "The church is taking a step in the right direction."

Simmons last served as provost and vice president for academic administration at La Sierra University, an Adventist college in Riverside, Calif.