May 2015
Friends,
Over dinner this past Friday evening, I sat across from a first-year Harvard Law School (HLS) student who, in talking of long-term career aspirations, was ruminating about how he might feasibly be able to utilize his law degree fighting against human trafficking abroad, while also working to safeguard liberties in America. Implicit in his narration was the realization that there may come a point when he'll have to choose where to direct his influence to yield the most good. To his left was another first-year student who recently shared a long-term vision of returning to his home state as a lawyer committed to transforming his community for Christ. He'd mused about being a godly leader in his family and in his church before adding, "I'd like to go to seminary, too." Sitting to his left, and just out of earshot, was an international student who will be doing an internship at a prominent firm in New York City. Not only is she one of the most intelligent and gregarious people I know, but also her lived faith is a compelling exemplar among her peers. Even in the midst of preparing for final exams, she gets up early in the morning for an extended time of prayer. In fact, the woman who was sitting across from her joins her for prayer every morning. We had eight tables full of students—eight tables chock-full of stories.
As our second year of working with law students draws to a close, we're tremendously grateful for the opportunities to challenge students and their families to think about what it means to embody faithfulness. Throughout the course of this year, the Hebrews Bible course has focused our attention on what it means for Christ to be our steadfast anchor and hope (Heb. 6:19). At a time when personal and Pew reports alike lament the reality of Americans drifting away from faith, the Hebrews Bible course has been a timely word of encouragement and a call to steadfastness.
Another highlight from this past semester developed as a part of our weekly lunch forums with the students. Each Wednesday this semester, we had 15 to 20 students attending guided discussions on a range of topics, including faith and political philosophy, medical ethics, integrity in leadership, and social justice. These conversations have been nuanced and thoughtful and have proven a wonderful place for these legal minds to energetically reflect on critical issues with attention to how holding informed ideological positions ought to transmute into individual and group actions. On more than one occasion, we've had students say something to the effect of, "These are the kinds of conversations I'd hoped to be having at law school."
We were also excited to invite two excellent guest speakers to address the students this semester. On March 30, Paul Michalski, an HLS alumnus and former partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, spoke to the students about the relationship between faith and ambition. The following week, Sean Coleman, vice president and division council at AIG, gave a talk titled "The Company We Keep: Spiritual Formation and the Lawyer." Both of these speakers made a lasting impact on our students and were compelling examples of legal professionals and thought leaders who are seeking to be faithful followers of Christ.
As we conclude another year of ministry, we'd ask for you to pray that our students would be able to make a tremendous impact while completing their summer internships. They're being sent all over the world, and it's our hope that all of these students will display the hope of Christ with vim and vigor.
In gratitude,
Jared Wortman
Christian Union Ministry Fellow
Harvard Law University
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Harvard Law School, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
