Doing the Impossible

40 years ago, in the fall of 1969, David C. Gibbs Jr., then a new law school graduate beginning a promising career in corporate law, received a telephone call he would never have thought possible in America. The caller, an Ohio pastor, claimed he was being sued for the faith. Thinking this must be a mistake, the young lawyer needed to see proof. Remember, these were the “good ole” days—before computers, email and Twitter, even before faxes and overnight delivery were available. The pastor had to drive his legal paperwork to Dr. Gibbs’ office.

Amazingly, it was true. This pastor had been sued for the faith. Even more amazing was Glorianne Gibbs’ reaction to all of this when her husband came home that night. She was amazed to hear that her husband had been contacted by a pastor sued for the faith. She had been praying that her husband, even as a lawyer, would be able to have a Christian ministry. “Let’s help this pastor for free,” Mrs. Gibbs suggested to her husband. Although it seemed like an unworkable idea, the Lord was in it.

That was the humble beginning of the Christian Law Association, a ministry of free legal helps to Bible-believing Christians sued for their faith. It all started with a young couple committing to help one church for free.

Dr. Gibbs did not expect that this free service would be needed very much. After all, these were the days when churches were still respected and welcome in every community. Even city halls welcomed new church starts to use their facilities; often free of charge. His hope was to win a few cases and this legal ministry would be done. But Dr. Gibbs was wrong. America was taking a tragic turn away from God, and gradually the need for the free legal services of the Christian Law Association exploded exponentially. Called by God to full-time ministry, Dr. Gibbs left his promising law career and relied on God and the help of many small contributors to provide for his growing family while he went on the road across the nation defending Bible-believing Christians who needed his legal services.

Looking back over these past 40 years, Dr. Gibbs and other lawyers for the Christian Law Association have spent more than 1 million miles on the road and more than 4 million miles in the air. Nearly 300,000 pastors and churches have been helped by the faith-supported ministry of CLA.

The CLA offices now receive more than 100,000 first time contacts every year. Dr. Gibbs has preached in some 8,000 pulpits and tens of thousands have accepted Christ under his preaching. Today, CLA’s daily Legal Alert radio broadcast is heard on more than 1500 radio outlets nationwide. While continuing to legally serve as a “legal emergency room” for local churches and God’s people, CLA continues to advance forward with new programs to better serve the nation. The Homeschool Legal Advantage is an expanded outreach to homeschooling families. Capitol Prayer has encouraged thousands of Christians to pray for their nation.

The ministry of CLA would love to be unnecessary; unfortunately, the ministry help of CLA is needed now more than EVER! The situation in America today requires Bible-believing churches, ministries and individuals to count on its free legal services more than ever before. We thank all those faithful servants of God who have been a part of this ministry with their prayers and offerings for 40 years.

Thank you for standing with us these past 40 years! Our commitment is to remain faithful until our Savior returns.

To watch a video of Attorney David Gibbs III telling the story of how CLA began, click below for "Our History, Our Heart."