Why join the CLF?
When I first arrived at UBC law one year ago, I had never heard of the Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF). Now, one year later, I am a well-connected member, and have benefitted a great deal. Attending the national student conference in January 2005 in Edmonton had a profound impact upon me, in two ways of which I am aware.
The first was meeting and listening to lawyers who were clearly Christians first, lawyers second. I can recall, for example, a session about work-life balance, where we were advised to follow the simple truth in Matthew 6:33 when it came to providing for our families, i.e. trusting God to be our provider. This frees us from the "do more, try harder" treadmill which we get onto when we feel we need to do it all ourselves; the number of failed marriages in the legal profession attests to the destructiveness of this approach. I could have heard a Matthew 6:33 sermon at church on a Sunday morning, but there was something very powerful about hearing it from another lawyer. It was much harder to rationalize myself out of God's blessing.
The second impact was giving me a vision for using my legal training to further the kingdom of God. I gained a much deeper understanding of how our society moves forward and backward through the mechanism of the law, and I developped a deep desire to add God's salt, light, and wisdom to public debate and government policy.
Over the last year, CLF connections have been a real blessing. I volunteered in politics last summer for a Christian politician to whom I was introduced through a CLF contact. When I have wanted book recommendations to give a Christian perspective on what I'm learning in class, I have people to ask. Similarly, the CLF directory, which is distributed to all members, has lawyers in every area of the law, and in many dfferent firms. I can ask them to give me a sense of their area of practice and their firm from a Christian perspective, which is invaluable (this summer, I cold called a family lawyer out of the CLF directory, since I was considering this area of the law as a possible career direction. She was very happy to meet with me to discuss the challenges and opportunities for ministry that she encounters in her practice).
CLF membership has also blessed me with Christian commentary on current events. The periodic e-newsletter keeps me up to date on CLF's interventions and other legal issues affecting religious liberty and other areas of government policy of interest to me as a Christian, and the features in the scholarly Christian Legal Journal are regularly very strong and sound commentary which help with the continual transformation of my mind to be consistent with the gospel. Speaking of CLF's interventions, you can think of your membership as being in part for something larger than yourself - the CLF grows in strength as its membership increases, and if you support connecting and empowering Christian professionals to be effective disciples of Christ in the marketplace, and if you want to see a continuation of CLF's interventions in critical cases, then your becoming part of the CLF will help further those goals.
Many of us are part of the Christian Law Students Association while at law school, but soon we will be dispersed throughout the city and the country working as lawyers, businesspeople, government and NGO employees, etc. Becoming a CLF member while at law school will build you a support network before you leave UBC, helping you make a smooth transition after graduation no matter which city you work in, such that you are never isolated from the fellowship of those who can really understand and support you in living out your calling.
I very much commend the CLF to you, and am very happy to share more about my experience if you have any questions. Just e-mail the CLSA e-mail address with your inquiry if so.
Blessings,
-Geoffrey Trotter, UBC CLSA co-President, September 2005