When Benny Proffitt first planted the seeds of a multidenominational youth ministry on school campuses, he had a vision of reaching every student with the gospel before he or she graduated.
And as he launched that vision in Birmingham in 1990 with the organization known as First Priority, Proffitt, then student minister at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, hoped the effort of a few would multiply into many.
Now, more than 10 years later, the seeds of faith have taken root and grown, spreading their branches of influence across several states and countless lives. The organization’s headquarters is now based in Tennessee and provides support for clubs in 21 states.
And in Alabama, the group’s influence has spread from the Birmingham area to Mobile, Huntsville, Dothan and Gadsden.
One of the many lives that has been touched by First Priority is Matt Wilson, the campus coach at Bottenfield Middle School in Birmingham. “I believe in it most because I’m a product of First Priority,” he said.
Beginning with attending meetings as a student at McAdory High School in Birmingham, Wilson returned to lead the club at Bottenfield after becoming the youth pastor at Maytown Baptist Church.
“Seeing the progress of how [First Priority] started and how it’s affected me, makes me wonder which one of these guys or girls is going to go on and become a leader,” Wilson said.
And the Bottenfield club has been raising up some strong Christian leaders, according to the faculty adviser, Angie Troncalli. “A lot [of members] will go on to Minor High School and plug in to the club there, and several have come back and spoken here,” she said, “and two that I know of have gone into the ministry.”
She continued, “I want to help make them understand the impact they can make.”
Club members across the state are heeding that and impacting their schools. Since January, the Bottenfield club has seen 15 students come to know Christ. Although exact statewide numbers are not known, total professions of faith since the beginning of the school year in 2002 nears 1,000 as an estimated 700 were made in the Birmingham, Gadsden and Huntsville areas, and Mobile reports an average of 25 to 30 decisions a month.
Greg Davis, executive director of First Priority in Alabama said keeping track of the numbers is not that important. “Churches are doing things we don’t even know about,” he said. “And while numbers are somewhat important, we want to be more of an influence than a counter.”
Even though numerical results may not be exact, the life results are highly visible.
Bottenfield’s principal, Garry Evans, said First Priority has grown to be one of the most significant programs at the school, because so many students are members. “The kids in First Priority deal with issues better and encourage others,” he said. “It brings a holistic balance within the school itself.”
Eighth-grader Keisha Teter, who is on the care committee in Bottenfield’s First Priority club, said she likes the club’s support and outreach opportunities. “I like that at school we have a Christian club,” she said. “I wanted to show other people that I’m a Christian and instead of being out there in the world, they can come in here and get to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.”
Although communities and schools usually welcome First Priority, one of the biggest struggles that some of Alabama’s networks face is getting churches involved.
Brent Allen, director of First Priority of South Alabama, said this can be due to time constraints, lack of interest or failure to see chances for involvement. “I don’t understand it, because when you look at the statistics, you realize our biggest ministry is to those 18 and under,” he said. “If we don’t reach out to kids, where will the country be?”
According to First Priority’s Web site, the teenage population in America is predicted to reach 33 million by 2004, and more than 80 percent of people who become Christians do so before the age of 18.
This lends a sense of urgency to the mission of First Priority’s leaders, encouraging them to cross denominational and state lines to support these clubs. “First Priority is not in competition with the church,” Davis said, “It’s the churches united for reaching the teenagers.”
Church involvement can happen in a variety of ways, such as sponsoring events, providing funds to the clubs or First Priority itself or providing volunteers and places for events.
David Nicholson, campus coach at Boaz Middle School and youth director at Cornerstone Baptist Church, said, “If every church [in the community] was involved, it would work better. You’ve got a better chance of reaching those who are lost.”
In the south Alabama and Huntsville networks, involvement has crossed state boundaries into Florida and Tennessee, respectively.
Allen said the south Alabama First Priority is sponsored by the Waterfront Rescue Mission in Pensacola, Fla. They began First Priority in Pensacola five years age, then merged with the Mobile group because the areas were so close.
Lon Ostrzycki, youth director at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Huntsville, and interim First Priority director for the area, said expanding into Lincoln County, Tenn., was also due to proximity. “A lot of kids who go to school [in Lincoln County] go to Bethlehem and other local churches. So we adopted their clubs into First Priority of Greater Huntsville,” he said.
Ostrzycki said events are held specifically for each area, although students from both sides of the border attend.
It is those events, such as See You at the Pole or Disciple Now weekends, that bring students from individual clubs together and can show communities the impact of First Priority.
The director of First Priority in the Gadsden area, Chris Walker, said the goal is to network support from all the churches in the area to make events citywide affairs. “The rallies get the students to come together for a common cause,” he said. “It builds unity and networks the students together.”
Networking students empowers them to take charge of the leadership of the clubs, said Gail Jones, who has worked with the clubs at West Blocton High School and Middle School. Jones, the Johntown Baptist youth director, acts as the network director for the Bibb County Schools, and said she has seen tremendous change in students’ lives.
“They want to live their faith and this gives them an opportunity to,” she said. “Even though we all go to different churches, we’re all working toward the same thing, and it’s exciting to hear that students are sharing Christ at their schools.”
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