“Two Kinds of Counsel” by Brendon Sylvester

Row Houses on Poplar Street, Philadelphia, PA, Author Davidt8 (PD)

The following is excerpted from the Fall Edition of Ministry Briefs 2025, the newsletter of Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia (CLCP) https://clcphila.org, a faith based organization for the poor whose predecessor I was privileged to co-found.  The article is by Brendon Sylvester, the Christian Legal Clinics Administrator.

Please, consider donating to CLCP, if you are able.  And, please, do pray for the poor.

“Often, when our clients come to us, their legal troubles are the smallest among an army of troubles.  Pamela came to us with an estate issue:  her sister wanted to cut her out of the administration of a parent’s estate…But she was also going through immense mental health difficulties related to being harassed and bullied at her job.  It had gotten so intense that she had taken medical leave due to depression and post-traumatic stress.

The week of the clinic, she had a full breakdown.  And though was was able to pull herself together just enough to make it to our clinic, she was visibly struggling.  Our attorney, Keith…asked about why she was on medical leave.  ‘I mentioned something,’ she said later, ‘and the Holy Spirit tole him I was in a deep, dark place.’  Keith, who’s a deeply faithful man, turned the legal advice session into a pastoral guidance session.  ‘He told me, “you cannot return to the workplace.  You’ll be triggered and you will relapse…'”

It was bold of him to give that advice.  But it was exactly what Pam needed.  ‘I knew I couldn’t go back,’ she said.  ‘He saved my life.’

After that, she kept coming back to CLCP.  She had multiple consultations, had her own estate documents drafted, and brought family and friends to us with their legal issues.  Finally, in 2024, she started volunteering with us as a scheduler for one of our clinics.  ‘I’m very intentional about where I volunteer,’ she said.  ‘I volunteer where my values are.’  Pam saw God move through Keith to touch her life.  Her response was to place herself so that God could move through her to touch the lives of other CLCP clients.”

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