Reverend Doctor Betty Stapleford grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Methodist and came to Unitarian Universalism as a result of her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960´s. Then, after receiving a graduate degree from the University of Illinois and spending twenty-eight years as a high school English and theatre teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, she and her husband moved to Southern California where she entered the Claremont School of Theology in September of 1995 to become a Unitarian Universalist minister. She graduated from CST in May of 1998; was ordained in her sponsoring congregation in Wilmington, Delaware, where she had been a member for almost thirty years; and began serving at the Conejo Valley UU Fellowship in August of the same year.

Reverend Betty, now in her eighth year serving CVUUF, a vital congregation in Thousand Oaks, has found that the creativity and support of this group energizes her with a heightened sense of commitment to ministry and a sustained excitement about her future with this dynamic community. They are a multigenerational congregation that is committed to welcoming all people without regard for their race, nationality, or sexual orientation and to reaching out in caring concern to those the larger world. Betty has also found great pleasure in her connections with her nearby Unitarian Universalist and interfaith colleagues.

In addition to her work in the congregation, Reverend Betty enjoys reading, attending plays and movies, spending time with her family, and traveling. During her years in ministry, she has also completed course work and dissertation for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Claremont in the area of pastoral care/ counseling and ethics, graduating on May 14, 2005.