FIRST PRIORITY BLUE RIDGE INCORPORATED
Take the Hope of Christ to every student
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
According to recent surveys, less than 5% of the generation now in our middle and high schools are born again believers in Christ. In addition, 85% of people who accept Christ as their Savior do so before they graduate high school. This means not only are our public schools an unreached people group, they are an urgent mission field. While most churches attempt to reach this mission field utilizing foreign missionaries (adults), First Priority works to empower the thousands of indigenous missionaries (Christian students) who live in the mission field every day.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
HOPE Strategy
4 Week plan to help Christian students on public secondary school campuses unite for the purpose of advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Youth Pastor & Youth Worker Network Meetings
Local community based Network Meetings for those adults who work with students in their community.
Student Leadership Trainings
Leadership Trainings Beginning of each school year, each calendar year and at specific times of year. Mainly focused on students with a burden to reach their campus with the good news and influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of schools with active First Priority Campus Ministries.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Related Program
HOPE Strategy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These are schools (middle and high schools) with active, trained and networked campus ministries.
Number of students who have heard the gospel and had a chance to resond.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Related Program
HOPE Strategy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Students who heard the gospel presented at First Priority Engage Week meetings, outreach events and one-on-one relationships.
Number of students who respond to the gopsel.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Related Program
HOPE Strategy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Students who responded to the gospel either by making a profession of faith or asking to speak further about the gospel with a Student Leader.
Number of First Priority Networks established and meeting regularly.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Youth Pastor & Youth Worker Network Meetings
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Counties or communities with active First Priority Ministries and with leaders meeting regularly to pray, plan and fellowship.
Number of Churches involved with First Priority.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Youth Pastor & Youth Worker Network Meetings
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Individual churches with students and/or adults serving in First Priority Campus Ministries and/or investing into the ministry.
Number of Student Leaders trained and resourced.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Related Program
Student Leadership Trainings
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Students who attend First Priority Training and are sent, as missionaries to their schools, by their church congregation.
Number of adults trained as menors (Campus Coaches, Faculty Sponsors and Priority Parents).
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Student Leadership Trainings
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Adults who are trained, equipped and vetted as mentors to Student Leaders. These include Campus Coaches, Faculty Sponsors and Priority Parents.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
First Priority's vision is the Hope of Christ in every student. Our goal is to provide multiple opportunities for every teenagers to hear the gospel and to respond, and then to connect those who do respond to a local church to be nurtured and discipled in their Christian walk.
Achieving this main goal requires multiple, smaller goals.
1) Uniting churches across denominations around the common purpose (sharing the gospel with students) and a common strategy (First Priority Campus Clubs).
2) Christians students seeing their schools as mission fields, having a burden to share the Hope they have in Christ, and to actively share the gospel with their peers.
3) Students hearing the gospel and responding, placing their faith in Jesus and being connected to a local church to be discipled.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
First Priority Campus Clubs are the main strategy for sharing the Hope of Christ with a generation of students. Once churches catch the vision, they work together to empower their students to establish First Priority Campus Clubs at their schools.
First Priority Clubs utilize what is known as the HOPE Cycle. The HOPE Cycle is a 4 week plan-of-action for the campus clubs, giving them focus and purpose for each time students meet together. HOPE is an acronym for Help, Overcome, Prepare and Engage.
Each week of the HOPE Cycle is designed to equip the students as missionaries to their campus. The 4 weeks look like this:
Help Week: Helping student understand and express the gospel.
Overcome Week: Students overcoming fears and obstacles they face in sharing their faith.
Prepare Week: Preparing personal faith stories.
Engage Week: Engaging the campus with the gospel.
Once students begin sharing their faith with their peers, they work together to disciple new believers and connect them with local churches.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
First Priority Blue Ridge is connected to many churches across many denominations in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. As students share their faith on more and more campuses and a growing number of students respond to the gospel, it is causing a "ripple effect" throughout the region.
First Priority Blue Ridge's Executive Director, Haley Wherry, is a full-time employee who dedicates his life to uniting churches and empowering students to share their faith. He has 23+ years of experience in student discipleship, ministry networking and campus ministry.
The First Priority HOPE Cycle is a proven strategy both locally and nationally. With each year, more students are trained, more clubs are established and more students respond to the gospel.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
There are many more middle and high school campuses in our region that do not have a First Priority club established on them with students sharing the Hope of Christ.
Thousands of students across our region have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ nor had a chance to respond.
Thousands of Christian students are "consumers" and not "producers". While they attend church regularly to be fed, we want to see them attending school regularly to feed.
We have not overcome the status quo of division and apathy among most churches.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Regular communication with Student Leaders, Adult Mentors and donors,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We recently changed the way we train Student Leaders allowing more students, from diverse backgrounds, to participate and receive leadership training.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
FIRST PRIORITY BLUE RIDGE INCORPORATED
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Scott Emerine
Branding Iron
Term: 2020 - 2021
Scott Emerine
Branding Iron
Michael Braddock
First Baptist Bluff City
Haley Wherry
Fist Priority Blue Ridge
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data