This blog was written by Hannah Blackburn.
In this week’s episode of the First Priority podcast, Brad Schelling sat down with special guest Ryan McMichael to continue the conversation surrounding church partnerships. Ryan is an area director with First Priority Greater Nashville, which includes Maury County and South Williamson County. First Priority Greater Nashville has been there slightly less than five years. Before joining First Priority staff in September, Ryan was the student pastor at First Baptist Columbia. He is very passionate about student ministry and felt God calling him into First Priority for this reason!
Ryan has always felt called to equip students and student leaders with the tools needed to share the gospel, and has always had a heart for evangelism. First Priority was able to bridge the gap between the students in the local church’s youth group and the students in the local school who may have never stepped foot in a church before. One of the ways Ryan has seen First Priority serve the local church during his time as a student pastor was through watching students step up as leaders to share the gospel with their school campus. Through these experiences, he has been able to share the First Priority mission and network with other student pastors from other local churches to get their students plugged in as well!
Brad and Ryan also discussed some of the things Ryan has learned since coming on board with First Priority. One thing he has seen consistently is the willingness of local churches to pray for First Priority’s mission, despite many of them never having heard of First Priority before! Another amazing thing Ryan has seen is the power of giving students ownership of First Priority’s mission and model. When students are given ownership of a club and the tools to share the Gospel and network with their peers, they’re empowered to step up to the plate, become leaders, and ultimately lead their peers to Christ!
Ryan’s final note is this: if God is calling you somewhere or to something it is always the right place or thing, even if it doesn’t fully make sense to you or people around you. If God is calling you there, it will always be the right step. On a related note, we might not know the impact we make now or in the long term, but we should remember that even small actions can have a huge impact on someone’s life. Ryan reminds us that God isn’t limited, and encourages us to follow His calling no matter where it takes you!
