Sunday best

Photos courtesy of MaryJo Reeves

When you see her, you want to shout, "Hallelujah!" And that's before she even starts her sermon.

MaryJo Reeves, Mrs. North Scottsdale, may be the prettiest preacher we've ever seen. Actually, she's not quite a preacher yet, but she's on the path. She's in Pastor School, a sort of practical alternative to the more theologically oriented seminaries. When she graduates, she will be a minister, empowered to preach the Gospel and perform marriages and other churchly rites.

Women of the cloth are not found in all Christian faiths, and in America they are still comparatively rare.

"I'm the only woman in my class," says Mrs. Reeves, who has been a Sunday school teacher and Bible study leader. She acknowledges that some people still find a female preacher a bit unusual, especially if the preacher is a beauty queen as well.

But Mrs. Reeves is unruffled. "Pastors don't have to look a certain way," she says, "and there's nothing wrong with physical beauty. God created me the way I am, and maybe sometimes I can reach people when men can't."

That down-to-earth philosophy is why Mrs. Reeves is so comfortable in pageants. She was first runner-up at the Mrs. Arizona United States competition in May 2000, and she is completely at ease with being judged on how she looks in a swimsuit.

She believes the body is God's gift, and she keeps hers in top shape. She's an avid runner, taking part in marathons "for the fun of it," and she sometimes puts in 20 miles on the track before going to church. Some people who meet her through her religious work find her athleticism even more surprising than her involvement in pageants, she says.

Mrs. Reeves, who has a communications degree, experience in marketing and a "gorgeous" husband, was drawn to pageants because of their emphasis on mixing glamour and good deeds. That's nothing new for her. As a college student, she was part of a comedy troupe that donated all its earnings to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She has volunteered with the Epilepsy Foundation, the Phoenix Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter, the Sunbridge Nursing Home and the With-Child Pregnancy Center.

"One of my big projects right now is leading a fund-raiser for this pregnancy center," Mrs. Reeves says. It provides counseling and material help for pregnant teenagers who don't have the means to care for their babies. It's the kind of compassionate work done by the late Mother Teresa, one of the modern Christians whom Mrs. Reeves most admires.

Maybe it was wickedness on our part, but we asked Mrs. Reeves a question that was probably never asked of Mother Teresa: Would you preach in a bikini? "Yes," she said, laughing heartily, "but only if I happened to be on a beach."