Endorsements

I have known Lanette Plambeck since she began her seminary education. Later I had the opportunity to work with her in her doctoral program on church leadership. From day one, Lanette showed equal passion for sharing Christ and promoting justice. She is Wesleyan through and through in her passion to love God, proclaim Christ, and seek justice.

Lanette is a leader uniquely prepared for our time. She grew up on society’s margins where Methodism started before our long pilgrimage to status and respectability. Now after sixty years of our denomination's retreat from the U.S. mission field, we find ourselves each year standing on a smaller island, apart from and unlike most of today’s population who are younger, more diverse, less educated, and poorer than we tend to be.

Lanette’s broad range of pastoral and administrative experience in the Iowa Conference has been undergirded by her lifelong learning. Lanette knows the life of a soldier and the practices of spiritual disciplines. She has a fine education and can connect with people of all walks of life. She knows what makes for conflict and what makes for peace. In the future United Methodist Church where “all will have a home,” as the Council of Bishops says, there must be leaders such as Lanette who can relate with both empathy and integrity to the changing church and world.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC

Over two decades ago Lanette Plambeck was one of my students at Saint Paul School of Theology. Even then it was clear to me that she would not only be an excellent minister but was gifted for leadership. Her deep devotion to Christ was expressed through her caring presence which touched the lives of others on campus. She was a campus leader, a good listener with a collaborative spirit, but who also could make needed decisions.

From my perspective there are four things which marked her life and ministry then which continue to define it now. First, she is Wesleyan through and through. She understands Wesleyan theology and practice and lives it out day by day. This includes a reliance on God, an optimism of grace, a commitment to Christian formation, and above all to salvation as a life of love for God and neighbor.

Second, she is committed to and skilled in evangelism. She graduated with a specialization in evangelism, understood both as sharing the good news of Jesus Christ through word and deed, and as bringing persons not only to faith in Christ but to begin practices of prayer, worship and service that enables one to grow as a Christian.

Third is her compassion for others. She is passionately committed to serving through meeting needs and challenging injustice. In doing this she seeks to work with people, not just for people, listening and learning from others.

Finally, and most importantly is her commitment to Christ. She knows the transforming love of Christ in her own life and seeks to share it with others. She has a deep and abiding relationship with God that is grounded in a vibrant devotional life. As a result, she reflects the love of Christ into the world.

In this time of transition, the United Methodist Church needs the sort of leadership that Lanette would bring to the episcopacy. I endorse her candidacy with confidence and enthusiasm.

Henry H. Knight III (Hal)

Donald and Pearl Wright Emeritus Professor of Wesleyan Studies

and E. Stanley Jones Emeritus Professor of Evangelism

Saint Paul School of Theology