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Learn how First Priority began and how you can help! Now is the time!
First Priority began, informally, in 1990 with local youth minister Benny Proffitt as the visionary and leader. First, in only a handful of Over the Mountain schools, the vision quickly formalized into a functioning non-profit organization in 1992 under the leadership of businessman Tommy Brigham. Over the years to follow, First Priority practically exploded on every High School and Middle School campus in Greater Birmingham. From the late 1990s through the late 2000s, First Priority of Greater Birmingham served these schools and focused on making ministry at each school the best it could be.
First Priority of Greater Birmingham flourished for many years under the leadership of Board Chairmen Tommy Brigham, Garry Ard, Mark Peeples and Tom Lambert. Executive Director Greg Davis, who first volunteered with the organization in 1994, joined the staff in 1996 and continues today as President of the organization. From that small group of men, the vision of First Priority spread like wildfire.
Six schools have now grown to over 200 in central Alabama alone, involving approximately 13,000 students every week during the school year. As more churches began implementing First Priority in their communities, the movement spread outside Alabama. As a result, Benny Proffitt left Birmingham to form First Priority of America, which has now touched all 50 states.
Here’s what’s happening with First Priority across the United States:
– 200+ communities being touched by First Priority
– 2,605 First Priority clubs in the U.S.
– 186,000 Students attend First Priority each month
– 7,715 commitments to Christ during the 2014-2015 school year
– 2,500 networked student ministry leaders and churches
In the late 2000s, with the dip in the economy and loss of funding, First Priority was forced to reduce its staff and, therefore, began losing effectiveness in many of the communities that had been served for years.
In 2011, with the culture changing and more and more parents asking First Priority to help them establish campus evangelism for younger children, the idea of FPKids became imperative to accomplish. We are now entering our fifth year of implementing FPKids, a strategy for churches and parents to partner together around schools to empower elementary and intermediate students to influence their school with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Last year, 35 schools and nearly 3,500 students participated in FPKids, and the numbers continue to rise this year as new clubs are starting. The FPKids strategy focuses on teaching students to know and do what “Jesus Said.” The curriculum consists of four parts that are repeated every month: Read It, See It, Live It, Tell It. Each month, students Read and learn what Jesus Said; they See how His teaching changes them and the marks it leaves on them; they experience real ways to Live out the truth with love; and they encourage each other to Tell others about Jesus. FPKids is taking God’s Word and putting it into action on campus.
So how can you help? We would never be able to do what we do without your prayer and support. There are several ways you can get involved:
Pray – This ministry can never be what God truly wants it to be without consistent prayer. Please pray for our staff, volunteers, faculty sponsors, campus coaches, students and schools. When you pass by a school, pray for that school. Pray for those students who don’t know Christ. Pray that Christian students will be bold in sharing their faith.
Promote – Share the vision and mission of First Priority within your circle of influence. Pray about who would be blessed and interested to know about and support the mighty work that God is doing on our school campuses. We have a lot of resources available that you can share with others.
Provide – Support First Priority financially and help ensure that every student in our area is reached with the hope of Christ. It takes $3,000 to fund each school that we serve. We would like to encourage you to help support one or several of the more than 200 schools across the Greater-Birmingham Area. CLICK HERE to support First Priority.
We hope you will begin praying now about how you can serve First Priority during the 2016-2017 school year. Call 205.871.8886 or visit firstpriorityal.comto learn how you can join this Gospel movement to advance the Kingdom of God. |
