Beverly's internships prepared her for service to others. In the 1960s she was on the staff of the Madison Street Inner City Ministry in Lynchburg, Virginia, and directed The Coffee House Ministry at Yosemite National Park. In the 1970s and the 1980s Beverly served as a counselor. Her experiences ranged from Westminster House at Winthrop College to Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, NC. For eight years she served at Barium Springs Home for Children, then worked with an outreach program of Appalachian State University in Lenoir, NC.  

In 1965 Beverly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Andrews Presbyterian College (now St. Andrews University) in Laurinburg, North Carolina. She obtained her Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Yale University Divinity School in 1967. In 1974 she obtained a second graduate degree, a Master of Education degree from Winthrop College, South Carolina.

Beverly was born into this world as the third child of the Rev Albert B. McClure and Mary McGehee McClure. Mary was her older sister; Albert, Jr. (Mac), her older brother. Later a younger sister Emily was born into the family. Beverly grew up in Lincolnton, Valdese, and Barium Springs in North Carolina and lived in North Carolina most of her life. She loved basketball, dogwoods in bloom, a soft breeze, and a mountain view.