The benefit of being the anchor church is that your church becomes the leader of leaders. You use First Priority to set the vision for other local churches to rally around the local school(s) to take the hope of Christ to every student.
We provide a prayer campaign – launch a “First Priority Prayer Campaign for the Schools” (FPPC). The FPPC is designed to help individuals and families to remember to pray for the school. You will create a magnet the size of a business card. Each magnet includes one school’s information so families can take it home, put it on their refrigerator, and pray every time they are hungry and digging through the fridge. The benefit of this campaign is for the people of your church to develop a burden for the lost students in your community.
See First Priority as a local mission! Most churches have a missions budget and a student ministry budget but little in their local student missions budget. Putting funding behind the ministry of First Priority sets the standard for other area churches but more importantly puts support behind the students to buy pizzas and get creative in getting the attention of their peers.
We provide the training for your middle and high school students to learn how to share their faith story, God’s story, and lead a club. Leading a club involves public speaking, conflict resolution, meeting management, and time management which are all essentials for the life of a healthy leader. Wouldn’t it be great if they learned that from your church?
We provide a student missionary commissioning ceremony! Once your student leaders are identified and trained to launch the First Priority club ministry in their school, it is only appropriate that you recognize them and commission them as they are sent out to influence their culture.
As students lead their peers to Jesus at school through the First Priority club, they then invite them to come join the student ministry of your church to be discipled.
One of the long term benefits to your church owning the ministry of First Priority is that your students do not walk away from their faith when they go off to college. Why? Because you have put the gospel in their hands and it has come out of their mouth. Research has been done for years about how to help students stay with the faith after high school. All of it points back to giving them a place. Leadership is that place. Train them young.
