A special event celebrating 25 years of Released Time for Christian Education will be held the evening of Friday, September 25, 2026 at Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the event will begin at 6:30 p.m. 

Karen Peck Gooch, of Karen Peck and New River, will share music and her testimony. 

Former Released Time students and teachers will also share testimonies.

Admission is free, but a love offering will be received for Pickens County Released Time.

According to Pickens County Christian Learning Centers, Inc., about 370 students from Pickens County public schools attend Released Time classes each school day. The program is available to students at all five Pickens County middle schools (Dacusville Middle, Gettys Middle in Easley, Liberty Middle, Pickens Middle, and R.C. Edwards Middle) as well as D.W. Daniel High School. About 70% of students in the Released Time program do not attend church.

The program began in Pickens County in 2001 under the direction of Brian Hale (who serves as Chair of Pickens County Christian Learning Centers, Inc.), with a few students from Gettys Middle School attending Released Time classes held at nearby Glenwood Wesleyan Church in Easley. This writer began reporting on Released Time from the beginning, when Hale addressed members of the Pickens County School Board about starting the program. 

Thousands of students have benefitted from the Released Time classes over the past 25 years, and hundreds have made professions of faith.

Rock Springs Baptist Church is located at 201 Rock Springs Road, off Highway 123.

For more information, or to learn how to donate to this ministry, visit the official website at PCReleasedTime.com.