Rev. Rachel Cornwell, Pastor

Reverend Rachel Cornwell, current Pastor at Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Washington D.C.

Rev. Cornwell, a former member of Dumbarton, has been in full-time ministry in the United Methodist Baltimore-Washington Conference since 2002. She has served congregations in Bethesda and Silver Spring, and she was in extension ministry with the James Company, specializing in helping churches and other nonprofits with fundraising, visioning, and strategic planning. Rev. Cornwell serves on the Greater Washington District Committee on Ordained Ministry, the Adrienne Terry Affordable Housing Taskforce, and the Board of Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland.

Rev. Cornwell earned her Master of Divinity degree at Candler School of Theology at Emory University and was a Woodruff Scholar. She received her B.A. degree in Religion at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and she has an Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising from the Lake Institute at Indiana University.

She joined Dumbarton in 1998 while serving with the Mission Intern Program of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Global Ministries in Washington, DC, but left in the fall of 1999 to attend seminary in Atlanta. She met her husband, Marcus Meeks, at Emory, where he was studying law. They were married at Dumbarton in 2002. She and Marcus live in Silver Spring with their three children, Nora, Graham, and Evan. She enjoys cooking, reading, and training for and competing in triathlons. She is currently writing a book, scheduled to be published by ACTA Publications, a publishing house for religious and spiritual education, for parents of transgender children.