Anyone who believes courts banned Jesus from public schools has never been to a meeting of a First Priority club.
Students pray, sing Christian songs and pray some more. They openly praise God for delivering them from the sins of the world."I was into drugs. God brought me out of that, and since then I've been trying to do what God wants me to do," said Adam McCollum, 17, a First Priority member at Pelham High School.
Growing numbers of Christian groups are spreading the gospel in U.S. secondary schools through "equal access" clubs. The groups operate under a 1984 federal law that gives student-led religious groups the same rights as other school clubs.
The biggest campus ministries - Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Youth for Christ, Student Venture and Young Life - began decades ago, enduring years in a court-imposed wilderness. "There were some real shaky days in the '60s," said Milton Cooper of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, with chapters in 6,073 junior and senior high schools.
But other organizations, like First Priority, grew only after the equal-access law took effect for public schools.
In 1984, First Priority began small, operating in three schools in Irving, Texas. Concerned about a legal challenge, the school board shut down the clubs. Then the Supreme Court upheld the law in 1990.
Founder Benny Proffitt, a Baptist youth pastor, moved to Birmingham and began anew in 1991. The organization flourished and now is on more than 3,000 campuses in 165 cities nationwide.
With a chapter in every secondary school in metropolitan Birmingham's two counties, First Priority claims some 120,000 students in that area alone.
"It is not A church on campus, but it is THE church on campus," said Proffitt, president of First Priority of America, based in Nashville, Tenn. "I believe the Bible says there is only one church."
The clubs meet before or after school or at other times set aside for group meetings, and students run the gatherings. Each chapter has a faculty sponsor, but they also have "coaches" - youth pastors who serve as counselors.
Student leaders must belong to a Christian church that agrees with the organization's doctrinal statement - similar to the beliefs of most mainstream churches - but anyone is welcome to attend meetings.
"When the kids talk, they really pour out their hearts and you really get to know them," said Leah Rigdon, 17. She joins the 60-plus students who meet each Wednesday at Shades Valley High School.
In all, Christian clubs operate in more than 10,000 of the nation's 56,000 secondary schools, said Doug Clark of the National Network of Young Ministries in San Diego. Most organizations send staff members into communities to help youths band together into Christian clubs.
Calling First Priority unique, Clark cited its success at tapping into networks of youth pastors. "They are growing explosively right now," he said.
An American Civil Liberties Union lawyer said Christian clubs are free to operate in schools - provided they follow the law. "There is no problem with any religious activity that doesn't have official school involvement," said Pamela Sumners, who represents a north Alabama educator who sued to stop school-sanctioned religion.
In October, a federal judge ruled in favor of the ACLU, restricting many religious practices in public schools. But, the judge added, religious clubs operating under the equal-access law were free to continue.
That was enough for the First Priority founder.
"We don't want (students) to do anything they shouldn't do, but we also want them to be able to do everything that can be done," said Proffitt. "We are advocates of the separation of church and state. But we are also advocates of the Christian lifestyle."