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Wlaf1450TOP PHOTO: Hillcrest Baptist Church donates space for Campbell County Christian Learning Center classes.
Attendees enjoyed a breakfast served by Vanessa Dupuy. Lee Ray (left) talks with Lynn Ray (right) at Saturday’s Pancakes for Preachers.
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – “Pancakes for Preachers was a chance for us to feed our local pastors and tell them about the Campbell County Christian Learning Center,” said Ashley Claiborne, executive director of the center.
As Claiborne addressed the gathering of over 30 people at Hillcrest Baptist Church on Saturday morning, she opened by saying “What I’m asking for is trusting me with your students.” She felt that if the pastors know what the CCCLC is all about, it would be easier for them to convey that message to their congregations.
CCCLC currently holds class in the fellowship hall of Hillcrest Baptist Church. However, classes will eventually be held in the church’s family life center (above and below) once classrooms there are completed. Saturday’s guests toured the family life center.
Campbell County High School is the only high school in Tennessee with a Christian Learning Class, according to board member Sherry Shope. The class is taught by a certified teacher, and students can register for the class just like registering for a class that’s taught on campus. Although a student must have parental permission.
“The curriculum doesn’t cross denominational lines. The class is taught straight from the Bible,”Board member Billy Smith said. Other board members shared stories of how lives have been changed and how students have benefited from the classes.
Pancakes for Preachers brought folks together for the Campbell County Christian Learning Center on Saturday morning at Hillcrest Baptist Church.
The CCCLC Board is comprised of nine members. Derrek Bowman, Amanda Brown, Shannon Cox and Amanda Cox are on the board along with Lisa Fields, Faye Heatherly, Lynn Ray, Sherry Shope and DeAnna Walden. Terry Bray sits as a special advisor to the board as the Children’s Mission Ambassador for the Elgin Foundation.
Ashley Claiborne, executive director of the Campbell County Christian Learning Center, shared her story and the CCCLC’s story to local pastors.
Like Claiborne’s transition from attorney to executive director, the CCCLC did not happen overnight. She told the crowd that she’d wanted to be an attorney since childhood, and once she began practicing, she realized that practicing law might not be the plan God had for her. Claiborne left her law practice and wasn’t sure what was next. In 2019, a phone call came asking if she would want to become the executive director of the Campbell County Christian Learning Center. She said, “That’s it. That’s where I’m supposed to be.”
Pastors Bob Finch (orange shirt) and Jeremiah Bean (far right) were two of the pastors attending Pancakes for Pastors.
The CCCLC has traveled a path that has taken years for it to become a reality. The first class began at Hillcrest Baptist in 2018 without school credit for students. This school year, the 25 to 30 students taking the class now receive class credit. In the school year 2020-2021, there’s hope of adding a second class.
Learn more about the CCCLC HERE. Contact information via mail is to P.O. Box 256, La Follette, Tennessee 37766, over the telephone at 423.377.5696 and the email address is campbellclc2018@gmail.com. Find the Campbell County Christian Learning Center on Facebook, too. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 03/16/2020-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF CINDY MORRIS)