Reverend Betty Ricks-Montgomery is a member and Assistant Pastor of the Greater First Baptist Church-Orlando in Suffolk, Virginia. She was licensed to preach the Gospel in 1991 and ordained to the work of the ministry in 1993. She serves as Advisor to the Young Adult Ministry, Missions Ministry, Women’s Ministry, and Christian Education Ministry, a Bible Study and Sunday School Teacher, and Member of the Building Fund Committee.

Reverend Montgomery is a product of the Suffolk City School System, a 1993 graduate of Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology — Tidewater Extension, and a graduate of Paul D. Camp Community College. Reverend Montgomery is an honor graduate from Norfolk State University with both a Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees.

Reverend Montgomery has been a Christian Women’s Workshop Facilitator throughout the Hampton Roads area and has been recognized by her church and several civic organizations for outstanding community service. She retired from the Suffolk Department of Social Services where she worked as a Domestic Violence Prevention/Support Coordinator, traveling throughout the city conducting educational awareness of child abuse, domestic violence and the impact of both on families. Currently she is employed part-time with The Genieve Shelter as a Lethality Assessment Coordinator and Senior Case Manager.

Reverend Montgomery is a member of the Suffolk Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, where she was the former Chairperson of the Educational Workshop Committee and Past Assistant Recording Secretary. She is a member of the Nansemond-Suffolk NAACP, past board member of Suffolk Sickle Cell Foundation, and Orlando Conservation Committee. She is a member and Chairperson of the Suffolk Human Services Advisory Board and is a member of the Reduction in Domestic Violence Task Force.

She served as Past President of the Orlando Civic League, and Past Vice- President of Rosemont-Lloyd Place Civic League. She is also a member of the Suffolk Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., where she currently served as Chaplain. In addition, she served as the Past Chairperson of the Prevention and Treatment Entity of Hampton Roads Military/Civilian Family Violence Prevention Council.

Reverend Montgomery resides in Suffolk, Virginia, and is the widow of Mr. Thomas L. Montgomery, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, shopping, reading and cooking. She is the mother of one daughter, Mrs. Stephanie Powell, and the grandmother of one precious young lady, Kymberli.

Her favorite scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6, which states: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”