Betty Powell

Betty Rosenberg Powell was born in 1945 and grew up attending Trinity Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Delaware. Originally intending to pursue a medical career, Powell earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Delaware in 1967 and followed it in 1969 with a Master of Science in Physiology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. It was during her graduate program that she experienced a spiritual calling to ministry. She enrolled at Virginia Theological Seminary.

At VTS, Powell experienced both exclusion and fellowship. Although she faced significant sexual harassment from her male peers, she found fellowship with the other women in the program and became a founding member of the Episcopal Women’s Caucus. In 1972, she graduated with a Master of Divinity, specializing in pastoral counseling. Two years later, in 1974, she was ordained a deacon. And, in 1975, she earned her Doctor of Ministry from Bexley Hall, becoming the first woman in The Episcopal Church to do so. On September 7, 1975, she was ordained a priest at St. Stephen’s and the Incarnation Church in Washington, D.C. alongside the other members of the “Washington Four,” joining the Philadelphia 11 as the first ordained women of The Episcopal Church.

After her ordination, Powell served at St. Phillip’s Church in Laurel, Maryland, and Grace Church in Washington, D.C., but much of her ministry has been as a psychotherapist in private practice. As of 2024, she owns Grove Transformations Inc., a mentorship business.