ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Pam
WHERE I COME FROM
I am strongly rooted in Lawrence, Kansas. As a native New Englander, I’ve spent the last 37 years volunteering and serving this community since I first came here as a college freshman to study at the University of Kansas.
I married my husband John McDermott in 1989, and together we’ve raised five children in Lawrence. In our early years of marriage, we worked part-time as relief parents at O’Connell Youth Ranch, a group home for boys. That experience led us to becoming foster parents for the first time, something we have continued to do.
Out of a passion for people to be reconciled to God and one another, we started Morning Star Church in the summer of 1992 with a handful of others. This journey has taught me about building relationships with people from all over the world and every kind of background.
My Experience
My experience as a church leader, foster parent, substitute teacher and community life director at Morning Star Church has taught me that a group of people with integrity is smarter than one person, and that’s how I make decisions. I do my best when surrounded with voices that contribute more than any one of us could do alone. And I think that’s the kind of county we all want - one that listens, one that recognizes the value of others, one that can build on the power of community.
While I do not believe that elected officials can solve all the problems we face, they should be responsible to provide vision and leadership that unites us as a community. We should expect accountability and transparency from those elected leaders. We should ask good questions. We should work together to find good solutions. Great teams do great work. And I believe everyone in our community should be part of that team.