Carrying the Legacy: Donna Lee Lamothe’s Journey of Faith
Donna Lee Lamothe (MDiv 2024) has always felt a special call to ministry. With a legacy of pastoring and church planting passed down from her grandparents, Donna now carries out a similar mission with her husband, Rick.
“My experience as an ordained pastor, church planter, and non-profit ministry leader has guided me to love and serve God and people better,” Donna shared. But even with years of ministry experience, she longed for a place to grow, be challenged, and be held accountable in her theological understanding. That longing led her to Truett Seminary.
At the time, Donna was leading a national ministry of evangelism and discipleship in Canada. After months of preparing large and small group events, the global pandemic forced a sudden shift, and everything moved online. “We streamlined, moved ministry online, and in place of equipping volunteers, my primary role became online teaching,” said Donna. “I wanted increased accountability for my theology and the joy of being in person, in a classroom where women in ministry and traditional orthodoxy were affirmed. Upon the strong recommendation of a dear friend and professor, I headed off to Truett!”
Now a few months after graduating from Truett Seminary, Donna reflects on her time at Truett as a “vigorous reminder of God’s magnanimous grace in commissioning people to represent him.”
“I often told God that there must be a better way to communicate his love and his ways.” In reflecting on how her Truett professors handled this topic, Donna said, “The biblical and historical characters who sacrificially influenced Christianity were also flawed characters. I appreciated that we were encouraged to ask uncomfortable questions about these heroes and historical Christian cultures and to live with the tension.” The patience and humility of the Truett professors to reveal and enter challenging spaces together inspires Donna to deepen her trust in the Spirit’s work.
While Donna's time in the United States enriched her theological education, it also illuminated the cultural differences between Christian life in Canada and Texas. “The Christian experience in Canada is less culturally based than in the US. For example, it seems fine to say something like ‘Merry Christmas’ in Waco, versus the more culturally correct, Canadian ‘Happy Holidays’ greeting in Canmore. I think ‘swimming upstream’ in a more secular culture enriches my spiritual life by reminding me to choose personal faithfulness to God every day, despite costs, challenging my Christian commitment and resilience.”
Her vision of the global Church has been shaped by Canada’s emphasis on cultural diversity. “I think being part of the global Church is doing what Jesus did: walking, talking, eating, and drinking with believers and unbelievers in their countryside, towns, homes, and common social spaces. We become better global citizens when we bring ourselves, our curiosity, and our love to the global Church, rather than assuming we must always bring our resources, technology, money, and methods to direct and save it.”
Now back in Canada, Donna continues her non-profit under her new ministry trade name, inSPIRE Ministries, providing a model for exploring “faith for a whole life.” She and Rick are also working to plant a local church in her mountain town, Canmore, an area where there is no existing church. “I am looking forward to being a part of the things only God can do among us all, expecting salvation, transformation, and healing to be a regular part of my day.”