First Priority of Alabama

The Hope of Christ in Every Student

I Can Only Imagine in theaters today!

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I CAN ONLY IMAGINE opens in theaters across the U.S. TODAY! Gather your youth group, friends and family together, get your tickets, and then experience this incredible true story. A compelling story of forgiveness that shows us we are never too far from God’s love and our eternal home in Heaven. This is a perfect movie to bring students, friends, neighbors, or family members that need to hear the story of God’s love. You can also get group rates here.
You can find resources by clicking on the image below that can help teenagers get the most out of this powerful story of forgiveness, hope and redemption. 

Join us for our next City-wide Network Luncheon

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We would like to invite you to our next City-wide Campus Ministry Network Luncheon that will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, 2017 Columbiana Road, Birmingham, AL 35216. Join us for FREE lunch and a great time of networking and fellowship. Come be equipped and encouraged as we’d like to show our appreciation for all you do!
 
Our special guest speaker is Andy Erwin, co-director of the new movie “I Can Only Imagine” that hits movie theaters today. Best known as the Erwin Brothers, Jon and Andy are a directing team that focuses on creating faith-based and inspirational feature films. Their debut feature, released by Samuel Goldwyn, was a coming of age drama titled “October Baby.” The duo completed filming their second feature film, “Moms’ Night Out,” in 2014. The Erwin Brothers’ third feature film, “Woodlawn,” was released theatrically nationwide in October 2015. Click here to learn more about Andy.
 
We are very excited about our sponsors who will have many great give-a-ways and free youth ministry resources at this City-wide Luncheon. You don’t want to miss it! Please join us for a time of equipping, encouragement and fellowship. Don’t wait, register today!
 

3x your impact! Support First Priority just by shopping!

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Did you know that you can support First Priority just by shopping on Amazon? That’s right, when you designate First Priority of Alabama as your charity of choice at smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchase to First Priority. What’s more, from now until the end of March, Amazon will triple the donation rate to 1.5% on your first eligible purchase! We hope you’ll take advantage of this great and simple opportunity to support First Priority. All you have to do is log-in to your Amazon account HERE and begin shopping; it’s that simple!
 
Amazon’s program called AmazonSmile allows shoppers to select their favorite charitable organization to receive a percentage of the purchase as a contribution from Amazon. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know, the same products, same prices, same service! The benefit: you are helping First Priority reach students with the love and hope of Jesus Christ.
 
CLICK HERE to get started today. Designate First Priority of Alabama as your charity of choice and start shopping! You will know your purchase is supporting First Priority when you see, “Supporting First Priority of Alabama” in the top left corner of Amazon’s Web site.

Join us for reTHINK Student Apologetics Conference

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Who’s waiting for your students? When they leave the relative safety of their homes, youth ministry or church, who is waiting for them at school, or the university? What contrary ideas will the culture throw their way? What challenges will confront their faith in Christ? How will they answer questions about the LGBT movement, Islam, the reliability of the Bible, evolution, etc.? Are they ready?
 
The reTHINK Apologetics Student Conference exists to provoke a new generation to rethink their worldview, recapture the truth, and then reengage the world for the cause of Christ. This conference is designed for junior high, high school and college-aged students. It will be held Friday, April 20 – Saturday, April 21, 2018, at Briarwood Presbyterian Church, 2200 Briarwood Way, Birmingham, AL 35243. This is a great conference for families, youth groups, anyone! For more info, schedule, list of speakers and to register, click here. This is going to be such an incredible conference for your students!

We’re celebrating nearly 300 decisions for Christ!

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We are excited to announce out of the middle and high schools that have reported, nearly 300 students have made a decision for Christ on their school campus this school year thus far. There have been countless more salvation decisions at First Priority sponsored events this year as well. These students have been followed-up with to be discipled and become involved with a local church. Wow, God is good!
 
We receive reports from our teacher sponsors and campus coaches every day about all the incredible things God is doing in our schools through First Priority. We would like to share some of these amazing stories with you!
 
We were deeply saddened by the tragic shooting in South Florida a few weeks ago. Our First Priority clubs were as well and wanted to offer encouragement and show the love of Christ to students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Last week, we mailed about 200 handwritten cards from our local First Priority students to the students affected by the shooting in Parkland, Florida. We are very proud of our students for showing kindness, love and hope to those grieving the loss of their classmates, friends and teachers.
 
 
“Our First Priority members organized a coin drive in December to feed a group of children through Voice of Hope in Nicaragua. This week, the First Priority members and other students in the school got to Skype with the children they have been supporting and praying for in Nicaragua.” – Teacher Sponsor, Spain Park High School
 
“There were three students in our First Priority campus club that spoke this morning. One student talked about how he thanked God for providing for his family during the holidays, and also providing them heat and lights for their home. Another student talked about how he thanked God for protection as he goes back and forth in his community. There was another student who just thanked God for being alive.” – Campus Coach, Bessemer City Middle School
 
“We have a student who has been a Christian for about a year and a half and fairly new to First Priority that would like to start leading.” – Campus Coach, Chelsea High School
 
 
“We had several students this morning that attended First Priority for the first time. We had a lot of First Priority students reaching out to bring in friends. We had more than 60 students in attendance today and we are so excited that 11 students prayed to receive Christ and five students responded that they would like more information about the Gospel! God is good!” – Campus Coach, Helena Middle School
 
“One of our First Priority students shared about encouraging others after one of our seniors committed suicide this week.” – Teacher Sponsor, Oak Mountain High School
 
“This is a motivated and inspiring group of students. Each week, they are ready to share stories and testimonies of how God is working in their lives. Student have made a weekly speaking list of students and are active in reaching their campus for Christ. It’s really refreshing to see students this young so eager to share each week.” – Campus Coach, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate Middle School
 
There are many more stories just like these that we receive daily. We are very encouraged and excited about how God is moving in our clubs and through our students. Please be in constant prayer for students, teachers, faculty and administration over the next two months as they wrap up this school year.

Get your family and church group together for Birmingham Bulls Faith Night!

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Get your family and church group together for
Birmingham Bulls Faith Night!
 
Every time the puck drops, the family fun begins! Local radio station 93.7 WDJC and First Priority invite you to a great night of family fun with the Birmingham Bulls for not one but two Faith Nights at the Pelham Civic Complex as the Bulls take on the Pensacola Ice Flyers. You and your family can see faith and fun come together on March 9 & 10. Oh, and the best part, for being a member of the family, you get the deal of the season on tickets for just $15 with a group of 10 or more for Faith Night ONLY! So, make sure you get your tickets in advance to enjoy the savings and enjoy hockey as it returns to Birmingham. It’s Faith Night with the Birmingham Bulls March 9 & 10! You can find out more now HERE.

Get on board with First Priority!

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First Priority held its first City-Wide Campus Ministry Network Luncheon of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, at Valleydale Church in Birmingham. About 50 youth leaders and children’s ministers across the Greater-Birmingham Area attended for a time of equipping, encouragement and fellowship. Everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch from Ragtime Cafe.
 
Our special guest speaker was First Priority of America President and CEO Dr. Rick Forbus. Rick brought a phenomenal message about the characteristics of the days of Noah and how they are a representation of what is happening today. Rick began his message by sharing statistics that involve today’s teens. A few he shared included: 3 million adolescents ages 10-17 will face depression; 47% of today’s teens are sexually active; 30% have either been bullied or will bully; 17% of 10th graders smoke marijuana; 25% of 12th graders binge drink; and 1.2 million Americans will drop out of high school. “Today’s teens are faced with peer pressure, social media, on-screen violence and we’ve lost empathy; we don’t care,” said Rick.
 
Today, just like during the days of Noah, Rick said there’s spiritual decline, shameless depravity, strong delusion, and days of sudden destruction. “There’s desperation, but Christians aren’t desperate,” said Rick. “If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone.” Rick believes in the First Priority model and encouraged youth pastors and children’s ministers to get on board if they’re not already because our kids need us desperately. 
 
We would like to thank Rick for sharing such an incredible message and for his passion to see students come to know Christ. We would also like to give a special thanks to Word of Life who sponsored our Lunch and helped make it a huge success. Representatives from Word of Life provided youth leaders with educational material about their camps, programs and upcoming events. Please take time to visit their Web site for more information. We would like to thank all those again who attended and joined us for a great time of growth and fellowship.
 
Go ahead and mark your calendars now for our next City-wide Network Luncheon that will be held on Tuesday, April 17, at Shades Mountain Baptist Church with special guest speaker Andy Erwin, co-director of “I Can Only Imagine.” You DO NOT want to miss this City-wide! Registration coming soon!

Secret Keeper Girl Conference is coming to Birmingham!

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Moms and daughters, you don’t want to miss the Secret Keeper Girl Conference!  
    
We would like to invite mothers and daughters (ages 7-12) to the Secret Keeper Girl Conference that will be held on Friday, April 6, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Enon Baptist Church. This is a conference you do not want to miss! According to the Dove campaign, 92% of girls would like to change something about the way they look, with body weight ranking the highest. Believing the only thing they need to change is their opinion, a team led by best-selling Christian Author Dannah Gresh is preparing an all new national tour to invite tween girls to reframe the way they look at themselves. Gresh’s fun, age-appropriate Secret Keeper Girl mom/daughter connecting resources come to the stage as a live event that has been attended by 420,000 in the US, Canada, and the Dominican Republic, making it the largest mother/daughter stage show in North America. An all-new event, the Secret Keeper Girl Masterpiece World Tour, takes girls back to the beginning of time to be reminded that when God created the world He said: “It is good!”
 
Gresh says teaching girls to embrace true beauty and modesty is critical to healthy development, but it is no easy task. Parents are fighting an uphill battle as their daughters are exposed to product marketing and social media that increase the risk of depression, body image issues and eating disorders. Studies conducted by researchers at Florida State University and the University of Haifa showed that the more time a teenage girl spends on Facebook, the higher her risk of developing a negative body image and eating disorders.
 
The Masterpiece World Tour is a Bible-based connecting experience for moms and their tween daughters (ages 7-12). The two-and-a-half-hour event features biblical teaching on the concept of being a creation within God’s masterpiece world, live worship, incredible balloon sculptures, beach ball competitions, and mother/daughter conversation time & colorful confetti cannons. For the first time ever, mothers and daughters will walk the runway together in an all new “Who Expressed It Best” mother/daughter fashion show that demonstrates modesty.
 
You don’t want to miss this unique event! Please click here to learn more about the conference. Click here for ticket info. Be sure to check out the promo video below!
 

Don’t miss Winter Jam 2018!

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Don’t miss Winter Jam 2018! CLICK HERE for more info!
 
Mark your calendars for other upcoming events in Birmingham:
 
Birmingham Bulls Faith Nights – Friday and Saturday, March 9-10, at Pelham Civic Complex. With a group of 10 or more, tickets are $15 each. Click here for more info.
 
Secret Keeper Girl’s Conference – Friday, April 6, at Enon Baptist Church, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Click here for more info and ticket prices.
 
reTHINK Apologetics Conference – Friday and Saturday, April 20-21, at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. Click here for more info and ticket prices.

Support First Priority while you shop for Valentine’s Day!

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This Valentine’s Day, shop for your family and friends and support First Priority at the same time!  
    
Valentine’s Day is next Wednesday, February 14, and there’s still time to shop! Make your family and friends smile this Valentine’s Day… buy your gifts at smile.amazon.com, and Amazon will donate a percentage of the purchase to First Priority. We hope you’ll take advantage of this great and simple opportunity to support First Priority. All you have to do is log-in to your Amazon account HERE and begin shopping; it’s that simple!
 
Amazon’s program called AmazonSmile allows shoppers to select their favorite charitable organization to receive 0.5% of the purchase as a contribution from Amazon. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know, the same products, same prices, same service! The benefit: you are helping First Priority reach students with the love and hope of Jesus Christ.
 
CLICK HERE to get started today. Designate First Priority of Alabama as your charity of choice and start shopping! You will know your purchase is supporting First Priority when you see, “Supporting First Priority of Alabama” in the top left corner of Amazon’s Web site.
 
Make your family and friends smile on
 Valentine’s Day! We truly appreciate your support!
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