Institute Christian Legal Society Vision

The Christian Legal Society and Regent University School of Law have recently announced the creation of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies, a ministry to law students and professors who desire to teach, study, and write about the law from a Christian perspective. Michael Schutt will serve as the Director of ICLS. The following article shares a bit about the genesis of ICLS and Mike's vision for its future.

In the spring of 2000, Mike Schutt was granted a one-year sabbatical from his teaching duties at Regent University School of Law, where he taught since 1993. He requested the sabbatical so that he could begin to develop a resource center for Christian law students and professors who desire to integrate biblical principles into the substance of the study and teaching of law. This project sprung from the desire of the Regent Law School Dean and a group of Regent law professors to encourage law students at other law schools to engage in serious biblical thinking about the law.

Before and during his sabbatical, Mike met with a handful of leaders in the Christian law movement, including CLS Executive Director Sam Casey, to gain perspective on the project and to see how he might work with various Christian ministries to accomplish his goals. Mike created some materials for law students, and with the assistance and guidance of then LSM director Charlie Emmerich and interim LSM director Dan Babarik, surveyed Christian law students and visited a number of law schools and professors.

At the close of the year, the Law School leadership committed to pray about how God might want the school to continue the ministry. At the same time, Sam Casey, Dan Babarik, and Mike Schutt were discussing how to continue to work together in reaching law students. In the end, after much prayer and work, they formally decided to join forces.

It was natural that the Christian Legal Society and Regent University School of Law should join together in ministry to law students. Since the inception of Law Student Ministries, CLS has encouraged budding Christian lawyers to "do justice with the love of God." Likewise, since its founding, Regent Law has sought to train lawyers who integrate their Christian faith and practice. Through ICLS, they will carry out their mission together.

While law students across the country are hungry for a principled, biblical approach to the study and practice of law, their Christian law professors, with virtually no support from their colleagues and institutions, are unable to devote much time or effort to serious biblical thinking about the law. The students, likewise, are unable to bring theological thinking to bear on their studies. Today's students are either theologically unprepared or too swamped with law school to do the work necessary to uncover the rich treasures available to assist them in integrating faith and learning.

The mission of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies is to help students and professors tackle the difficulties of integration of faith and life in the law. Building on the heritage of LSM directors Charlie Emmerich and Dan Babarik, ICLS will continue to challenge law students and law professors in the areas of spiritual formation, the integration of faith and learning, and compassionate outreach to the poor and needy.

ICLS plans to use a variety of vehicles to reach these goals. First, it will develop print and Internet resources for law students and professors to assist them in studying, understanding, and writing about the law from a Christian perspective. The goal here is integration of a distinctively Christian perspective into the substantive areas of the law: Students and professors should approach Torts, Contracts, Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, Mediation, and every other subject from a biblical perspective, applying God's truth to all that they do. Second, ICLS will train and encourage mentors who are on or near law school campuses, so that law students will have men and women "on-site" who are ready and able to mentor students in fulfilling Christ's calling in their studies.

Third, Mike Schutt will visit law school campuses to meet with law students and professors, simply encouraging them in spiritual formation, in integration of faith and scholarship, and in outreach to the poor. ICLS will maintain the contacts developed on these visits to bring together students and faculty as part of a coherent, national network of Christian students and mentors. Fourth, ICLS eventually will provide distance education for lawyers, law students, and pre-law students, and will promote, plan, and administer conferences for mentors, scholars, and law students.

In short, ICLS seeks to challenge law students to faithful academic focus, a deep intimacy with the Savior, and real concern for those in need. We ask for your prayers as we undertake this exciting ministry.