See You at the Pole is THIS Wednesday!
See You at the Pole™ (SYATP) is THIS Wednesday, September 28. We hope you will join the tens of thousands of students in our area and millions world-wide as they participate in the 26th annual SYATP. We want to make sure you have all the resources you may need to prepare for this special day. We hope you’ll visit our SYATP Web page for downloads that include logos, posters, social media graphics, news release, list of rallies that will be held on the night of SYATP and so much more! We hope you’ll check out the awesome media coverage for more information as well!
On Wednesday morning, please plan to listen to 93.7 WDJC radio and share the victories and struggles associated with this momentous day. Please call in to the radio show at 205.327.9352 to report the number of students that gather around the flagpole at the school you attend. Please also listen to First Priority Greater Birmingham President Greg Davis on 92.5 FM or 850 AM WXJC Wednesday afternoon. Please send your SYATP pictures to info@firstpriorityal.com or post them directly to our Facebook Page.
On Wednesday, September 28, make sure your family and community CRY OUT together and take part in one of the LARGEST prayer movements in our nation. GATHER at your school flagpole, PRAY for friends, families, teachers, schools and our world. ASK God to reveal who He is to your campus. PRAY, SEEK AND TURN TO GOD.
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pictures
Recap and pictures from Bessemer Golf Tournament
Our Summer Golf Series continues to be a huge success! There’s still time for you to participate!
First Priority held its second tournament in our Summer Golf Series last Friday, July 15, at the beautiful Woodward Golf & Country Club. We would like to thank all those who came out and participated in our event. We would also like to thank all of our sponsors who helped make this tournament a huge success. Golfers enjoyed lunch, a round of golf, snacks and gifts. Participants also received the pleasure of talking with and hearing from local First Priority Campus Coach Logan LeGrande who shared personally the impact he has seen First Priority make on students’ lives. We would like to thank Logan for volunteering his time to serve at our tournament. We hope you’ll take a moment to check out pictures from our Summer Golf Series. Thank you again to all those who came out to join us for our Bessemer Tournament. We couldn’t do what we do without you!
If you didn’t get to participate in this tournament, we still have one more opportunity for you: Castle Pines Country Club
1600 Quail Ridge Dr., Gardendale, AL 35071
Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, at 10:30 a.m.
This tournament will be a shotgun start and includes your golf round, lunch, gifts and snacks. First place winning teams will receive a foursome golf round at Greystone Golf & Country Club, 4100 Greystone Drive, Birmingham, AL 35242.
Individual Player
Cost is $100 per player.
Hole Sponsorship
If you’re not able to play in our last tournament, we hope you, your church or business will consider a hole sponsorship for $100 that includes a full color sign placed at a shared tee box. A hole sponsorship is a great opportunity for churches to advertise their VBS, summer events/activities or simply service times.
The vision of First Priority is to see the Hope of Christ in every student. Your support helps us to achieve this great goal. We truly appreciate your support and the impact you are making on students’ lives. Please consider spending the day with us and participating in our last summer golf tournament.
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First Priority honors our faculty sponsors
First Priority honors faculty sponsors at our first ever Teacher Appreciation Dinner
On Monday, May 9, 2016, First Priority Greater Birmingham held its first ever Teacher Appreciation Dinner to recognize, honor and encourage our faculty sponsors for their hard work and dedication to students. We couldn’t do what we do without them! Upon arrival, each of our teachers received a nice gift as our token of appreciation, and then they and their guests enjoyed a casual and relaxing evening at Scott’s Downtown.
Our program began with a welcome and prayer, followed by a wonderful dinner catered by Scott’s. First Priority Area Director James Cato shared several, “You might be a teacher sponsor if” statements. Some were funny while others were more serious including, “You might be a teacher sponsor if you find joy in arriving early to school to open your classroom for students to meet for First Priority instead of it being a burden.” Or, “You might be a teacher sponsor if you cry when you hear a student’s testimony from a broken home.” Or, “You might be a teacher sponsor if you hear students pray.” James prayed over our teachers and told them they are more than teachers, they’re missionaries. First Priority President Greg Davis continued our program by sharing a little bit of First Priority history and how FPKids began. He then introduced our special guest speaker, WDJC Radio Show Host Roxanne Richardson.
Roxanne began by encouraging teachers, telling them they are fearfully and wonderfully made and that they show light early in the morning to children. She based her message from John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Roxanne said, “To those of us who believe, Jesus said to do this. You are all God’s original work of art; you are real and authentic. There’s only one of you and you can’t be replicated.” She then shared several points on how teachers can do our Father’s works each day on the school campus:
1. Your brain – God gave you a brain for wisdom to use when you speak to children.
2. Your smile – It’s important and peaceful. Approximately 50 percent of people you smile at will smile back. Jesus wanted the children to come to Him. You want children to come to you so your smile is important. Your light shines bright through your smile.
3. Your hug – cling to a child with loving hugs. When you hug, you’re the love of Christ. Some never receive a hug. Often times, parents have no idea what their children are going through. Be there to show Christ’s love for them.
“Can you offer a smile, hug, Christ’s love?” Roxanne asked in closing. “As a teacher sponsor, you have so much influence over students. You’re on the frontline. You can help students from making mistakes. You’re heroes; you’re the heartbeat of Christ. What you do matters. We love and thank you.”
First Priority Area Director Debi DeBoer then shared about an FPKids student who wouldn’t read the Gospel Step-up because she was not yet a Christian. However, she recently professed Christ as her Savior and now feels comfortable reading it. Debi also informed the group that there have been over 600 decisions for Christ reported this school year. Debi’s daughter Lindi, who is about to graduate high school, then shared her First Priority experience over the years.
The evening closed with a couple of teachers who shared about what God has done in their First Priority clubs this school year. Teachers mentioned that prayers have been answered. “Students outside of First Priority are becoming suspicious; they want to learn about the Bible. For some students, First Priority is their church; this is where they hear about Jesus.”
We would like to thank all of our faculty sponsors again for all you do for First Priority. For all those who couldn’t make it, we missed you and hope you can attend next year! Be sure to check out all of the pictures from the Dinner!
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Deadline approaching to tell us your First Priority story
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What amazing things has God done in your school this year? Please respond soon!
We would like to remind you about helping us out with our “School Year in Review.” This is a look back at all of our First Priority and FPKids clubs over the school year. We need your help to complete this year’s Review. Please e-mail us the following for your First Priority and/or FPKids club to ashlee@gofirstpriority.com by Tuesday, May 10, at 5 p.m.
– Average weekly attendance and number of salvations/decisions for the 2015-2016 school year
– Pictures of your club, students speaking, praying and living out the HOPE and/or FPKids strategy
– Anything else you’d like to share such as testimonies, student quotes, videos, etc.
Please help us out! We would love to include your pictures and updates in our “School Year in Review.” It will be a great recap of the 2015-2016 school year and you don’t want to miss out! We will be sure to send out the Review once it’s complete.
Please submit all of the above information by Tuesday, May 10, 2016, to ashlee@gofirstpriority.com. Also, if there will be teacher sponsor or campus coach changes next year, please send that information as well. You may also upload your pictures and videos to our Facebook Page. Thanks for your help!
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Leader's Summit recap and pictures
“I’m Not Ashamed to speak the name of Jesus,” students said at this year’s Leader’s Summit
On Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, First Priority held its 11th Annual Leader’s Summit at Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham, Ala. More than 700 students, teachers, youth leaders and parents from nearly 70 intermediate, middle, junior high and high schools across Central Alabama attended this year’s event. “I’m Not Ashamed,” based from Romans 1:16 in the Bible was this year’s theme: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Witnessing students take a stand for Christ and sharing His love has always been the main focus of First Priority. Students joined together this year with that in mind.
Praise and Worship Band The Multis Project kicked-off the morning with upbeat and interactive music that led students into the presence of God. Students enjoyed a day of intense training that began with First Priority President and Priority Talk Radio Show Host Greg Davis. Greg challenged students to speak the name of Jesus and to speak it with boldness and believe. Greg talked through “I am” declarations, which set the tone for passion and pursuit for students. First Priority Founder Benny Proffitt joined Greg onstage and inspired students to keep the Gospel torch lit and not grow weary in being a missionary on their campus. Christian Rap Artist Sanchez Tannehill then took the stage with his enthusiasm and talent. He challenged students to never underestimate God’s power in us to do great things for His Kingdom. Students then heard from Pastor and Evangelist Ed Newton who challenged them to share the Gospel and understand that evangelism is not about us but those we are sharing the hope of Christ with.
“The tangible illustration of evangelism (both before and after the break) was the most powerful thing the students could possibly experience,” said Youth Pastor Grady Morrison about Ed’s message. “We literally left Leader’s Summit, went to Krispy Kreme to de-brief, and the kids were using those same steps to evangelize to people coming in! I’ve taught them the difference between knowledge and wisdom recently. They took that to heart. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. That is where we find the biggest disconnect in Christians today. We are obese with knowledge and malnourished of wisdom. I can’t thank Ed enough for reminding them of common knowledge while giving them clear application to turn that in to wisdom.”
Former NFL Player, Jeremy Towns, then shared his testimony with students and challenged them to speak out about Jesus and not to be afraid to share the Gospel. Actor and Musician, Matthew Schuler, concluded the day by reminding students to be who God calls them to be. He shared a song with students to close out the day.
Special Thanks To:
“The Leader’s Summit is always a very engaging time for students to be refreshed and renewed on how to share the Gospel. Each speaker had a dynamic and Bible based word; students were set on fire once again to share Jesus on their campus!” – Logan LeGrande, First Priority Student Leader
“I Love the diversity that was represented at the Leader’s Summit. I also loved watching the students that I brought take notes. Days later, I asked one of the students if she remembered what was said about how to talk to students about Jesus and she said it pretty much word for word! It was one of the best leadership summits I’ve been to. The First Priority staff put on a class A, number one event, not only for the students but for the glory of God and His kingdom.”
– Debbie Marshall, First Priority Campus Coach
“The atmosphere was electric, the speakers were relevant, the material was life changing, and the worship was spirit filled. The Leader’s Summit was a life-altering event for many students and I can’t wait to see what God does in their lives. I can’t wait to attend next year’s event!”
– Heath Pike, Youth Pastor and First Priority Campus Coach
“I really enjoyed everything about the conference. I loved hearing from all of the speakers, but my favorite was probably Ed Newton. Ed described how to share Jesus with people in a way that made so much sense and I thought he had a lot of really good ideas. Attending the conference made me feel very thankful to be a part of First Priority, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend.”
– McKenzie, First Priority Student Leader
“I really enjoyed praising and worshipping our God. I also loved all of the motivational speakers and learning about the different ways to share my faith. This was a great experience to learn what God has in store for us, and to not be ashamed to speak the name of Jesus.”
– Lily Grace, First Priority Student Leader
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See You at the Pole Pictures and Recap
See You at the Pole “United” was a huge success!
On September 23, more than 25,000 local students participated in this year’s See You at the Pole (SYATP). Millions of students were involved globally. Before school, students joined together at their school’s flagpole in prayer for their friends, school, city, state, nation and the world. Many lives were touched, changed and challenged by one of the nation’s largest prayer movements. This year’s SYATP theme was “UNITED“ based from the scripture verse Acts 1:14 – “They all met together and were constantly UNITED in prayer.” This year’s theme message encouraged us to commit to global unity in Christ and prayer for this generation. With the current state of our country, we believe this year’s theme was perfect. We heavily encouraged students, school faculty, families, businessmen and women, everyone, to unite together as a community in prayer for our nation.
Thousands of students also participated in SYATP rallies held across the state on the evening of September 23. There were many decisions made for Christ on this momentous day. During this important prayer event, students were challenged to unite together in consistent prayer for their community, state, nation and the world.
We would like to thank our local media for helping to create awareness for this monumental day. Click here for media articles, pictures and videos from See You at the Pole.
Tag yourself here in our SYATP Facebook Picture Album
The following is just a few of the testimonies from that amazing day:
“My high school had a good mix of participation from students, adults and even a local restaurant owner. We all lifted our needs up to God in one united voice. That was truly amazing.” – Jennifer, student leader
“Every year, thousands of students unite to pray for their friends, teachers and schools at See You at the Pole. This event offers students the opportunity to show their faith by living it out right before other students. Many students gathered at my high school this year to worship and pray before they entered the school day. Students were reached and prayers were heard!” – Logan, student leader
“I encouraged students today with the following message: When you tell a student you will pray for them, pray for them immediately on the spot! It will make people curious about what you are doing and make what you’re doing more real to the person you are praying for.” – Kaleb, student leader
“I think the mistake we have made is people saying we have taken God out of schools. We believe that God is in complete control and that means that man’s word doesn’t trump God’s word ever and the second thing is you can never take God out of schools as long as you have God’s people here.” – Matt, local youth pastor