We’ve watched [First Priority] grow from a dream inside of us … to a plan that was launched … to a very reproducible strategy that is touching kids around the world,” said Benny Proffitt, founder of First Priority of America.
While some may not be familiar with all its ministry facets, many have at least heard of — if not participated in — First Priority’s annual See You at the Pole (SYATP) rally that draws students across the nation to pray around their school’s flagpole each September.
While First Priority Greater Birmingham is celebrating 20 years of ministry, the seeds of First Priority go back to 1982, when Proffitt was in his 10th year as a bivocational teacher and youth pastor in Irving, Texas.
“I saw the great challenge that was going on in the schools with the separation of church and state issues,” he explained.
“Our Christian heritage began to be threatened.” And Proffitt realized he was “sitting in the middle of a crisis.”
“Usually visions and plans and dreams come out of crisis,” Proffitt noted.
So he began to examine ways to send youth from the church into their schools as missionaries. Protected under the Equal Access Act, Proffitt and others shared with young people how they could go into their schools as messengers of the good news.
By 1985, he was among a group of Irving youth pastors spreading the First Priority vision. When Proffitt was called as youth pastor of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, in 1990, he brought the vision to the Birmingham area.
Between 1994 and 1996, First Priority clubs exploded in central Alabama, said Greg Davis, president of First Priority Greater Birmingham and part of the staff since 1996.
While Davis was a youth pastor at Glennwood Baptist Church, Morris, a First Priority club was started at a local school, and students in his youth group encouraged him to visit.
“There would be 200 students there just worshiping and sharing the gospel, encouraging one another and praying,” he recalled.
Davis quickly identified with First Priority’s mission. He became more involved and eventually helped schools in north Jefferson County begin clubs.
“It was really exciting to me to see such cooperation, to see such a city vision,” Davis said.
Now there are clubs in 150 schools in the Greater Birmingham area and approximately 200 more clubs across the state. First Priority has a strong presence and defined leadership in Decatur/Huntsville, Mobile, Gadsden, Elmore County and Tuscaloosa.
Matt Wilson, executive director of First Priority Greater Birmingham, helped initiate clubs in the southern tip of the state while a student at the University of Mobile.
“I think one of the neatest things is that it has become an international [ministry] now,” Wilson said.
First Priority operates in Europe, South America and Africa as well as the 3,000 schools across the United States.
On Sept. 28, millions of students worldwide will gather for the 21st annual SYATP. This year’s theme is “Converge,” based on Matthew 18:20.
“We don’t find any less student participation in it now than we had 15 years ago,” Davis said, noting it has remained a “distinctly Christian event” with prayer to “the God of the Bible.”
Originally designed for middle and high school students, the age for SYATP participants has expanded from preschool to college.
To recognize First Priority Greater Birmingham’s 20th anniversary, a reunion dinner was held Aug. 11 at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, the site of the organization’s initial offices. Supporters, also known as Priority Partners; students; and others enjoyed a dinner and awards presentation. Former staff members were recognized, and Proffitt and Mark Roberts, director of ministry for First Priority who was part of the team that developed the ministry in Birmingham, spoke to the audience in a time of reflection.
“More than anything, [it was] just celebrating what God has done in this city and what God has done through this city on a national and international level,” Wilson said.
To learn more, visit www.firstpriorityal.com.
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