My daughter and I are taking a trip this weekend to Pensacola, Florida, for a Bible Quiz Extravaganza! This is her idea of a special girls’ weekend getaway that also covers the expectation of a “fun trip” in honor of her 16th birthday (which happened last April). She will not only be observing the nail-biting competition, but she will be participating in the Experienced Senior division. Yikes!
I cannot say enough about the blessing of Bible Quizzing in this family’s life. We’ve been involved in it since our oldest child was 8 years old. While other families spend weekends sweating outside on a ball field, we’ve spent spring weekends sweating in churches around our state, at regional events, and usually for a week of summer vacation at national competitions.
Our season actually begins in the fall with the start of school. It ends with nationals on the last week of July into August. (So, we take a few weeks off every year.) We make it part of our daily routine to memorize at least two scriptures and quote all that we’ve memorized to that point. The first few weeks, it takes us 30 minutes to quote all that we know (two scriptures or 40), and after we know about 60 or more verses, it takes us around an hour to quote. The kids learn about 170 verses as beginners, 250 verses as juniors, 400 verses as intermediate seniors, and 500+ verses as experienced seniors. You’d be amazed at how quick young minds absorb the details of what they’ve memorized!
The competitions are so much fun. At the same time, they are serious! Even the most shy child feels an exhilaration when we finally convince them to they “buzz in” on a question and answer it correctly! That’s usually the moment they become hooked on the game, and their parents no longer have to beg them to study (overwhelmingly exhilarating for us)!
Each year, we focus on either a book of the Bible or a subject matter. The kids learn the location of the verse, can start it and finish it on their own without stumbling on any word, recognize words and phrases that are unique or appear two times or three times in our study, end with a certain phrase, etc. Questions are asked about all these aspects of our verses of study. In our twelve years of Bible Quizzing, we’ve learned Psalms twice, Proverbs, Acts, St. John, Romans, I Timothy, II Timothy, I Thesalonians, II Thesalonians, St. Mark (this year) and then verses across both testaments under the subjects within our doctrine. I say “we” because whoever listens to them quote their material every day also learns the Word. It’s amazing and transforming!
I know that for my introverted child, Bible Quizzing is the place she blossoms and excels. It’s opened windows of opportunity for character building, personal growth, and relationships with other Christian youth.
If ever you have an opportunity to observe Bible Quizzing, take it! You may be astounded by drive and zeal of young people to know the Word of God. Be prepared to feel your heart to race as these kids fight to be the first to “buzz in,” often needing to interrupt the Quiz Master and finish the question correctly before answering the question, all within 30 seconds’ time.
Precious memories in the making.