STUDENTS TAKE BIBLE COURSES DURING SCHOOL
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Stephanie Lloyd, teacher and program director of Released Time Bible Education, teaches a class at Hillcrest Baptist Church in LaFollette, adjacent to Campbell County High School.
LAFOLLETTE — Students at Campbell County High School in LaFollette are taking Bible courses for academic credit during school hours — and it is perfectly legal.
The courses are offered through Released Time Bible Education (RTBE), a unique program which allows students to attend off-campus Bible classes during the school day.
The biblical instruction is provided by the Campbell County Christian Learning Center (CCCLC) as an opportunity to encourage students “to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, grow in the Christian faith and apply biblical principles for Christian living,” according to the CLC website.
The Christian Learning Center is a non-denominational para-church ministry that works with the support of local churches and individuals to provide classes that are intended to be academic as well as devotional, according to the website.
While there are other RTBE programs in the state offered in elementary and middle schools, CCHS is the only high school in Tennessee where students can earn academic credit, said Zach Lloyd, pastor of East LaFollette Baptist Church and interim executive director of the CLC. Students attend the class every day and can earn a half-credit for the course, he added.
“We want to prepare the students for college and build a foundation for their faith and what they believe as they go out into the world and face different ideologies,” he noted.
Lloyd emphasized that Released Time Bible Education is legal in all 50 states per a 1952 Supreme Court ruling. In addition, Tennessee legislators approved a law in 2019 which allows high school students to receive academic credit for RTBE courses, he added.
There are three requirements for RTBE to be legal, Lloyd said. They are:
• Parental permission must be given.
• Instruction must take place off school grounds.
• No state resources may be used.
The classes for Campbell County high school students actually began three years ago at Hillcrest Baptist Church, which adjoins the high school property. The program grew from 10 to 15 students taking classes the first year to 45 during the current school year, Lloyd said.
What’s more, the students attending the class are not all “church kids,” he said, adding that some of the students who took the class professed to be atheists. “We look at this as a mission field to share the gospel with kids who have no knowledge of God or His Word. It has given us an open door to share the gospel,” he said.
Lloyd also stressed that the curriculum is not an expanded Sunday School or Vacation Bible School lesson. “We have to meet the criteria established by the local school board,” he said. Lloyd added that two members of the school board also are on the CCCLC board. “They have helped us to know that we are meeting curriculum requirements.”
Lynn Ray, pastor of Hillcrest and a former school principal in Campbell County, serves as a trustee for the CCCLC and is a strong proponent of Released Time Bible Education.
“My heart is for children and education,” he said. “But my first priority is their spiritual education,” affirmed Ray, who has taught one of the classes offered, but is not currently teaching.
Ray noted that “in this day and age, a lot of kids do not have a foundational understanding of biblical principles and who Christ is. This (RTBE) offers all that. We can go deeper on the spiritual side. We could not do that in the school system,” he said.
“God has really blessed this,” the Hillcrest pastor acknowledged.
Ray, Lloyd and others involved in the program, including Stephanie Lloyd (no relation to Zach Lloyd) who is the teacher and program director, would like to see RTBE introduced in other counties throughout Tennessee.
“We are available to meet with people about how to begin a RTBE program,” Ray said.
Ray stressed that RTBE is not about teaching Baptist (or any other denomination’s) doctrines. RTBE is “an evangelistic tool to reach a new generation,” he noted.
Lloyd agreed, noting that RTBE helps “strengthen the faith of young believers. I hope this catches fire.” B&R — For more information about RTBE or CCCLC, contact Lloyd at brady167@gmail.com.
