This fall semester, the Union County Christian Learning Center will offer a Bible class to Union County High School students grades 9-12 for elective credit toward local graduation requirements.
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Students may add this class through “drop/add” up to and on the first day of class Wednesday, Aug. 5, by contacting the school counselor’s office and getting a parental permission form signed. The class will be offered during the third-block class period.
The class is a survey of the Bible designed to be interesting and understandable for those with or without much prior Bible knowledge. The class is offered off campus, with bus transportation provided from the school to the classroom in the Penland building, behind the Nazarene Church half a mile from the school.
The School Board approved releasing students to take the off-campus, privately funded class. All costs associated with the class are paid by the Appalachian Christian Leadership Council Inc., including curriculum, classroom space, the instructor, liability coverage, and a private bus driven by a certified bus driver. The program maintains student safety by always having a second adult present with the teacher and students at all times.
Many of the local churches across denominational lines are contributing and assisting, including Harmony Grove Baptist, House of Prayer, Blairsville Church of the Nazarene, Grace Presbyterian, Vertical Church, Coosa Methodist, Blairsville First Baptist, Fellowship of the Hills and the local Gideon’s organization.
This program began after several local residents formed a non-profit corporation, the Appalachian Christian Leadership Council Inc., with the purpose of bringing Released-Time Bible Education (RTBE) to Towns, Union and Clay Counties.
With parental permission, the program allows students to take an off-campus faith-based Bible class and receive local elective credit toward graduation just as they would band class, auto shop or weightlifting.
The Appalachian Christian Leadership Council Board of Directors includes Jim Yohe, President of the Vietnam Veterans of America local chapter; Gary Meir, retired missionary to Ecuador and former school board member; Dr. Bob Louder, retired USAF Lt. Colonel and former Chair of the Board of Regents at Aidan University; Helen Partridge, retired teacher with a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Georgia and former board member of the Augusta Georgia RTBE Program; Shannon Watson, CEO of Georgia Baptist Retirement Communities (Ignite Living Inc.); and Jeff Langley, local District Attorney for Towns, Union, Lumpkin, and White Counties.
The first classes offered began in Towns County in January 2025, and the program will continue in its fourth semester this year in Towns County.
This fall semester in Union County, the class offered will be an overview of the Old Testament and its relationship to the books of the New Testament. It incorporates the history, culture and geography of the Bible as well as the spiritual, and inspirational content.
The Council Board was excited to hire Meagan Kough as the Union program teacher. She has an undergraduate degree in World Missions with a Music minor and a Master’s Degree in Theology from Truett-McConnell University.
She has taught academic classes at the college level as an adjunct professor and served as a college level Assistant Soccer Coach. She was herself a 1st Team AAC All-Conference Soccer Player.
Kough has extensive overseas mission experience, having served in short-term missions in Uganda, Zambia, Thailand, El Salvador, Hungary, England and Ireland. Her knowledge of the world, and her athletic and music backgrounds, give her many ways to connect with high school students and share with them her broad knowledge of the Bible.
The Appalachian Christian Leadership Council is also starting a middle school program in Clay County, North Carolina, this fall. It will be taught by Dawn Daily, an experienced middle school teacher with her undergraduate in Bible Education from Columbia Bible College and a Master’s Degree in Apologetics from Liberty University.
Some have asked how this is legal under the separation of church and state concept. In the case of Zorach v. Clauson, the U.S. Supreme Court said released-time religious instruction during the public school day is legal when three things are in place:
1) Instruction takes place off public school grounds; 2) Student attendance is voluntary and with parental permission; and 3) No state or federal resources (taxpayer funds) are used. Released Time is privately funded – by churches, community organizations, and/or individuals.
RTBE is new in Union County but is not a new or novel concept. This has been done in Fannin County for more than 20 years, and there are currently similar programs in Gilmer, Pickens and White Counties as well as hundreds of counties nationwide.
Any individual, business or church that wants to donate, volunteer or ask questions can visit https://appalachianclc.org/. People may also contact Jeff Langley at jefflangley86@gmail.com.
Students/parents wanting to enroll can contact Meagan Kough at meagankough@gmail.com or see the school counselor. Space is limited.
