Bonnie Scott has known she wanted to be a preacher since she was 15, when she began giving sermons at her family's church.
"It felt completely natural," recalled Scott, now 24. "Preaching is such a joyful occasion for me."
"I look at it as God working in her life," her mother, Jane Scott, said. "As far as her going in that direction, I don't take any credit for that."
Scott, a slim and poised young woman with shoulder-length blond hair, green eyes and a wide smile, is about to embark on the career she has been preparing for since she was a teen.
She was ordained by the UMC Baltimore-Washington Conference and appointed associate pastor at Wesley Freedom United Methodist Church, in Eldersburg, where she will start July 1.
She planned to spend a week hiking and camping in Zion National Park, in Utah, before taking on her new responsibilities.
Earlier this year, she became the first Methodist woman to win the prestigious David H. C. Read Preacher/Scholar Award, given each year by the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church to graduating seminarians who plan to become parish ministers.
She was chosen from 30 candidates nominated from 22 theological schools.
As the winner, Scott received $20,000 and was invited to give a sermon Sept. 25 at the 110-year-old Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, in mid-town Manhattan. The sermon will be broadcast nationally on the Protestant Day1 radio.
Scott graduated from Mount Hebron High School in Howard County in 2004 and attended Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pa., where she majored in history and religion. She graduated in May from Duke University's Divinity School.
Though she is young, those who know her say Scott possesses an inner strength and confidence. The Rev. Bill Brown, senior pastor at Wesley Freedom, said Scott's abilities as a preacher "were one of the factors we were looking for when we were requesting an associate pastor.
"I think she's going to be great," he said. "She'll add some wonderful gifts to our overall church staff."
With 1,300 members, Wesley Freedom is the largest church in Carroll County.
The Rev. David Simpson, senior pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church, said he has known for a long time that Scott has gifts as a preacher.
"It was no surprise to us that as a seminarian she excelled and won a national award for preaching among seminarians," he said. "Her crafting of a sermon and being able to tie concepts together in ways that are easy to understand and appealing to the ear is pretty unique for a person with her experience."
Scott, who belonged to Bethany UM her whole life, said a major influence on her decision to become a preacher was "belonging to a church with strong female ministers," Lisa Bandel-Sparks and Karen Davis.
Also influential was a speech class she took in tenth grade, taught by Teresa Freed, who has since passed away.
"She really nurtured my public speaking abilities," Scott said.
In high school, Scott took part in a Shakespeare drama program and was president of the National Honor Society her senior year.
She also did "a lot of competitive public speaking in high school," but says preaching is "a delight" because she is "speaking about things that are so important to me. Sacred."
Scott taught Sunday school starting when she was in ninth grade, and was involved in youth choir and vacation Bible school.
"It was a real family to me, which is what the church ought to be," she said.
Though Scott said preaching feels natural to her and she loses all nervousness once she starts, preparing her sermons is another story.
She estimates she spends 20 to 30 hours thinking about and fine-tuning a sermon.
She starts with the text, she said.
"I read it, I pray on it."
She jots down notes.
"There's a lot of waiting involved," she said. "I sometimes joke that the Holy Spirit is a procrastinator."
Scott does not write out her sermons, but instead speaks from the notes she writes in a journal she carries with her. She tries to tie her words to the community or to relate the message to the experiences of a specific person, though she doesn't name the person.
"Preaching is really I think about finding the intersection between text and context," she said.
At Duke, Professor of Homiletics Charles L. Campbell, who nominated Scott for the award, was "probably the biggest influence," she said.
"He taught me how to pray and delight in Scripture. He made preaching a rewarding, playful and joyful activity."
In an article about Scott published by Duke Divinity School, Campbell wrote that Scott "already preaches without a manuscript and is freer and more engaging in the pulpit" than many preachers.
To be considered for the preacher/scholar award, she had to be recommended, and had to submit recordings of her sermons, plus essays, letters of recommendation and transcripts.
When she received the phone call informing her she had won, she was "delighted," she said, but she doesn't think the honor will change her or her work.
"I just look forward to Christian community," said Scott. "I think Christian community is the sweetest thing I have ever known."