I love Richmont because it combines fun and community with an unbelievable academic curriculum. I can honestly say that I have met some of the smartest people of my life and the most humble, dynamic and kind folks of my life right here. When I started the program, it was just like going to school with my friends. My son had recently had surgery and everyone prayed for him and asked about him, even though their schedules are busy! Not bad for a country girl! Richmont is incredible and everyone is relaxed, genuine, and together. After days of running, working, traveling, I still look forward to each class. I have become a better person at Richmont and have met lifelong friends.
Priscilla Morgan’s journey to Richmont was not a simple one. A former athlete at North Carolina State University, she played basketball for Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow, a woman well known for her strong beliefs and leadership. Yow involved Priscilla in several speaking events, such as FCA banquets, church gatherings, and women’s conferences. It planted a seed in Priscilla that she was valuable and powerful to effect change in others. Several years later, in 2010, Priscilla was serving as chaplain for her daughter’s basketball team when she felt a “deep longing to bring about God’s message better.” She desired to be “better equipped,” to be “sharpened” in her skills and her relationship with the Lord. “I wanted to understand the Bible in a more real and meaningful way, but I didn’t know where to begin,” she remembers. So she started asking about ministry programs all over the country.
“What about Richmont?” a woman at work asked. Priscilla was originally skeptical, thinking Richmont was “a church program.” Once the degree and approach to ministry education at Richmont were explained to her, Priscilla found herself hungry for more. She came to the campus “just to talk to someone, but I never left!” She’s found every moment of the journey a joy, even the commute from Chattanooga to Atlanta for her intensive weekend courses. “God literally brought me to the front door,” she says. “How could I say no?”
Priscilla is still pleased she chose Richmont. She glows as she talks about the community Richmont provides. “When I started the program, it was just like going to school with friends. My son had recently had surgery, and everyone prayed for him and asked about him.” In addition to prayerfully approaching life and each other, Priscilla considers the Richmont family to be “so relaxed and genuine together.”
However, pursuing the degree has also caused Priscilla to revisit some painful memories in her life. During her senior year of college, she found out she was pregnant and became a single mother. Priscilla was highly involved with her church when she realized she was expecting a baby. Being far from home, she was afraid to tell her parents, so she turned to the people closest to her. Her friends gave her “the best advice they could, but it was not based in Scripture.”
Over the years, she watched many women struggle through similar situations, seek help, and receive shame in the process. “I feel a call on my life to minister to hurting women who have been wounded because they didn’t truly understand who God is and how he loves us through our mistakes.” She is further compelled to walk alongside women “who are more burdened by the counsel they have received than freed by it.” Priscilla says, “I know that, in order to be useful, I have to learn all I can about who God is and how our relationship with Him leads to healing.”
She is currently finishing her M.A. in Ministry and preparing to relocate to Montgomery, Alabama. “I am so excited for what God has for me there. I hope to teach, minister, coach, and share the Gospel, particularly with other women.” Having spent the last several years as a counselor/social worker, she is looking for a full-time role in ministry. “I know the Lord will be faithful and use me in a mighty way!”