Betty was born in Russellville, Kentucky but wouldn’t say that she was raised in any particular place. Her father’s ministry led her family from Kentucky, to Texas, to Ohio and back to Kentucky from her infancy to her first year in college and a little bit of each place and its people have made themselves at home in her. Betty graduated cum laude from The University of Kentucky with a B.A. in ancient history in 2008 and received her M.Div. from Lexington Theological Seminary in 2011 and was ordained that same year by the Elders and congregation of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Ashland, Kentucky.
Since her ordination, Betty has served congregations in Indiana and Kentucky and has served as a regional board member in both regions. Betty is the third consecutive generation of her family to serve as a Disciple Minister, her grandfather, Rev. Ed Sivis being the first, followed by her father, Rev. Larry Sivis, who has recently retired from active ministry as the Associate Minister and Minister of Music and Worship at First Christian Church in Ashland, KY.
Betty enjoys reading, knitting, painting, cooking, yoga, and DIY projects in her spare time. She has an eleven-year-old fox-terrier/jack russell named Gabby that she has raised from a puppy and loves to take on daily walks. Betty is a contemplative at heart, who believes that enough is plenty and simple things are worth treasuring.
“Now I am heading back to the present, where I am at home with other people and other creatures I actually love and know, and where I have work and pleasure waiting to offer me the ordinary luxury of being dead to myself, alive to the present world."
-Wendell Berry "The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings."
