Dcn. Ken Liu, OCAN Exec. Director
Many of us attorneys spend upward of 60 hours per week in our work -- much more than we spend with our families or at church. If we are serious about our faith, it behooves us to dedicate our work life to Christ as much as our personal lives.
How do we dedicate our legal career to Christ? Can we serve God in the practice of law? Is it possible to make the law a part of the Church’s sacramental mission?
The legal profession – indeed, any profession -- can be a service to Christ, if we see it as part of our calling. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware was fond of exhorting us to "Become what you are."
As Christians, we are all “little Christs” (Acts 11:26) and bearers of God’s image (Gen. 1:27). Our calling then is to be Christ in all that we do. Yes, this means putting Christ first even in our contract negotiations, cross-examinations, brief writing, and our client counseling.
If we seek to serve God in all our interactions with our clients, opposing parties and opposing counsel, judges, partners, associates, and staff, the practice of law takes on a new meaning. It is no longer about winning cases at all costs, squeezing the most billable hours from our clients, or getting the proverbial corner office.
The legal profession is a service profession, therefore it is, or ought to be, a natural fit with our calling as Christians. Seeking to “become who we are” in our careers transforms what we do and how we do it.
OCAN was founded to be much more than just another professional organization, and even more than just an educational or even a service organization, though it is all of these. As stated in our mission statement, we seek to inspire Orthodox attorneys to live out their lives and careers fully for Christ.
As we begin a new year, we hope you will become more involved in fellowship with other Orthodox attorneys to grow in our faith together and learn to better serve our Lord in all that we do.
If you haven’t become a member yet, we hope you’ll join us to take advantage of all OCAN has to offer.
And we hope to see you at the National Orthodox Attorney Spring Retreat on April 24-26th for a great opportunity to network with other attorneys.
I pray in this new year we can all spur each other on in seeking to become what we are!
Yours in Christ,
Dcn. Ken Liu
January 2026
© 2026 Kenneth Liu