- [Narrator] In 2017,Kristen Waggoner would again

find herself arguing a controversial case

before the Supreme Court.

In Masterpiece Cake Shop

versus the ColoradoCivil Rights Commission,

shop owner Jack Phillips,

had been ordered by the State of Colorado

to make wedding cakesfor same sex couples.

That went against his Christian beliefs.

- The principle at stake in Masterpiece is

whether an American anda creative professional

can be forced to speak a message

that violates their convictions.

- [Narrator] Since 2013,Kristen has been a lawyer

at the Alliance Defending Freedom.

She's now the Senior VicePresident of the legal division

but before she launched her career,

she wanted a solid, Biblical-basededucation in the law.

- And so for me, theonly option was Regent

and I didn't apply anywhere else.

I wanted to go to Regent.

- [Narrator] Kristen says she always knew

God had a purpose for her life.

- When I was growing up,

my dad had told me time and again

that if you miss whatGod has called you to do

that you've basically missedthe purpose for your life

and that true joy andfulfillment comes from

living a life designedto give glory to God.

- [Narrator] She found her calling

to go into law at a church youth camp.

- And I wrote it down

so it's, I've got it writtenout on a page of notebook paper

that I wrote then I was 13

and it's framed and sitting by my bed.

A lot of it is about how hard

that it will be to pursue this calling

but that it's to focuson the next generation

and to protect religiousfreedom for Christian schools

and religious ministries.

Essentially it's to keep thedoor open for the Gospel.

- [Narrator] After gettingher undergraduate degree

at Northwest University,

Kristen had her choice of law schools

but for her purposes,

Regent Law School was the clear choice.

- That first year of lawschool was phenomenal.

I mean, just the way thatwe studied what the law is

and where did that come from?

Looking in the Old Testament,in the New Testament,

I obviously have workedwith a number of lawyers

that have gone to Ivy League schools,

they don't get that intheir legal education

and it was pivotal for me.

- [Narrator] After graduatingmagna cum laude from Regent,

Kristen went on to a judicial clerkship

in the Washington State Supreme Court.

- The other clerks Ihad were from very big,

well known schools.

Many of them, the Ivy League schools,

and what I quickly found was,

I felt like I had had a better education

because they didn't know whatthe common law really was.

They didn't know where the law came from,

what the foundation of it was,

what purposes it should serve.

So I felt not only as prepared as others,

but even better prepared in all respects

when I entered the marketplace.

- [Narrator] After some time

at a prestigious firm in Seattle,

Kristen took a position

at Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF,

to fulfill God's calling and stand up

for religious freedom cases full time.

We have lawyers that have graduated

from many of the Ivy League schools

and yet time and again, the Regent grads,

they just excel in what they do

and not only in thequality of their legal work

but in the tenacity with which they do it.

In her six plus years at ADF,

she and her team have won eight cases

before the Supreme Court,

including the Masterpiece Cake Shop case,

one of the biggest cases of her career.

- When you meet people like Jack Phillips,

it's the greatest,

it's the greatest privilege

to get to stand by someone like that

because you see the horrendous pressure

that's being put on them,the political pressure.

You know, I would callhim and he would have

just gotten off the phonefrom having a death threat

and so no matter what kind of pressure

we take as the lawyers,

to stand by people like that,

like, how could you not

be wanting to do that andstand before the Court?

- [Narrator] Kristen continuesto pursue her calling

with passion and excellence,

built on the foundation shereceived at Regent Law School.

- Every day, I try to pray

not only for myself butfor my team four things,

that we would have wisdom,

that we would have fortitude,

and we would have self-discipline

and that we would have joy.

I can't imagine doing what I do

without knowing that Christ goes before us

and that ultimately thevictory is not up to me.

Otherwise, it just seems

that it's an overwhelming jobthat we're not capable of,

and we're not capable of itbut God knows what we need.