Narrative Summary
Interview with Sara Lampe by Courtney Peck
When I knock on Sara’s door, she doesn’t answer; instead, a gentleman with gray hair
and one pierced ear opens the door. With it being the week before Election Day, Sara is busy,
and this moment is no exception. She ends her phone call as I walk inside, greets me warmly,
and introduces me to Carl, the man who opened the door and who, as I later learn, faithfully
helps her with each campaign. She leads me through her dining room, which would be fit for an
enormous feast; right now, instead of food, her dining table is covered with thousands of
postcards which are to be mailed to all of her constituents. Carl sits down at the table and
resumes signing the postcards. Sara and I walk to her sunroom, with its beautiful view of her
backyard, and begin setting up for the interview. She takes her cell phone back to the dining
room, and then sits down next to me. I have her read over the consent form, which details what
we will be discussing during the interview. She finishes reading it and says, “Now, you know I
can’t talk about this stuff without crying.”
After we start the interview, I learn she isn’t lying—religion is such a strong force in her
life that it would be almost impossible for her to not feel intense emotion. For Sara, religion is
much more than a personal thing; it connects her with her mother, her aunt, and her
grandmother—all incredibly strong women whom she deeply admires. In fact, when she talks
about facing struggles in life, she almost always quotes a Bible verse that her mother has told her
to remember. It can’t be just any Bible verse; it has to be a verse that she connects with her
mother, because both her faith and her mother are what give her strength to carry on.
Her mother is even at the root of what she does today. Sara says, ‘I first thought I wanted
to be an actress, but Mother said, ‘No, I think you’d be a great teacher,’ and she assured me I’d
love children. And she was right, I did, but I didn’t know it at the time.”
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women
2
Sara played an active role in the Springfield Public Schools for 40 years. She taught, cofounded the “Working with the Individual Needs of Gifted Students” (WINGS) program for
gifted learners, and became the principal of Phelps Center for Gifted Education. When she
retired as principal of Phelps, one of her students’ parents urged her to run for a seat in the
Missouri House of Representatives, a seat she has now held for six years.
Sara describes her faith and her mother’s teachings as being profound influences on her
political views and decisions. When I asked Sara why she identifies herself as a Democrat
instead of a Republican, she said, “the distinction is really between focusing on people or
profits.” She said more often than not she sees Democrats focusing on the people and
Republicans focusing on the profits—her faith simply won’t allow her to overlook people for the
sake of profit. Faith also informs her decisions to stand for things that are controversial,
especially among the conservative, fundamental crowd: women’s rights and gay rights. Sara is a
pro-choice advocate, claiming, “When we interfere with that [abortion] as government, in telling
you what that decision should be, we’ve told you what your faith tradition should be. We’ve
gotten between you and God, and I don’t think we’re supposed to do that.”
Sara echoes some of her mother’s teachings in defending those who identify as
homosexual: “These are individuals. They are people [. . .] And they need to be protected, no
matter what the issue.” She continues, “True Christian teaching is about embracing everyone.”
And from what I’ve seen, Sara does embrace everyone. She is an incredibly kind-hearted
person, and an extremely powerful (feminine) voice in Jefferson City. The kind of strength that
she praises her mother, aunt, and grandmother for is the kind of strength that I see in her today.i
*Interviewer’s Note: One week after the interview, elections were held. Sara was re-elected for her seat representing
the 138th District in the Missouri House of Representatives. This term will be her last, and it will end in 2012. She
has not announced any future plans for her political career.
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women