Bible Quizzing - What's the scoop?

[Bruce Griffis]

My son and I went to Sunday night service last week, and some folks talked about Bible Quizzing. The night got a little hectic, so I didn't ask many questions about it. I'm considering showing up a little early this Sunday so we can check it out - but my son isn't very comfortable in new surroundings, doing new things with people he doesn't know yet.

So - what is Bible Quizzing? I'm guessing there is a guide? If you are doing this at your church - what preparation do the kids need to do to be ready? I'd hate to pop him into a group totally unprepared.

[Barb Bouldrey]

I forget how old your son is. Children have a quizzing program with a workbook and weekly lessons and scriptures to study and memorize. Each year it is over one book of the Bible. The have answer boxes to use and are given multiple choice questions and then answer with 1,2,3 or 4. 20 questions a round. Two rounds per match. They often quiz other church's teams and there are district finals.

The teens do a similar program but they answer by jumping to their feet and answering orally. There is a local program and a district program with finals.

It is a wonderful way for youth to learn the scriptures. It is a lot of work, but worth it. It is a very organized program.

[Alisa Stoll]

As a 6th grader, this would be his last year as a Children's quizzer. Some teen programs allow the 6th graders to participate in teen quizzing. Children are doing Genesis - not the entire book but large portions of it. Usually quizzing is finishing up in March so there is still alot left. It could be discouraging at a quiz because he would have to answer all 20 questions so he would miss alot if he didn't go back to catch up. Still he could participate on the local level without going to actual quizzes. This web-site has some practice questions and other information on it.

http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/ssm/children/programs/quiz/questions/display.aspx


Teen quizzing is over Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Next year is Luke. A teen quiz is 20 questions - 3 will be memory verse questions, 1 will either be in what book and chapter or situation question (first type for multiple books, situation for single books), 4 will be according to ... questions, 1 will be a context, and the remainder are called general. Most programs are about half way through but that would not be a problem if he joined now. As Barb said, teen quizzers jump to answer the question so unlike children's quizzing, you don't have to try to answer it if you don't know it. A quizzer is finished for a round if he/she gets 4 questions right or three questions wrong. If your son is good at memory work, that is what I would recommend he do. I can quarantee you there will be at least 4 questions each round related to memory work since there are three that are strictly memory work questions (Quote, finish, and finish with reference) and at least one according to or general question that will come from the memory work. That would be an easy way to catch up - not to mention a good way to get into scripture.

If you have any more questions, let me know as I had two kids go through both programs. In addition, my husband and I met through teen quizzing and have been involved with it ever since so this is my 31st year - ouch!

Alisa

[Marsha Lynn]

Barb gave a good basic description. There is a marked difference between children's and teen quizzing. Both spend an entire year studying one book or set of books on a well-established cycle. Not only are they different in how they compete, however, but in their emphasis. Teen quizzing is highly competitive. Every fall, teens all over the Church of the Nazarene start studying in local churches. By June, the top quizzers in the denomination meet for cutthroat competition to determine the final placement of teams and individuals. It's highly-refined competition with young adult (competitive-minded) leadership at the denominational level. One of my joys as a parent was reliving my own quizzing days vicariously and more successfully through my son who made two trips to the World Bible Quiz. As we drove from Indiana to OKC for the first of those quizzes when he was in 7th grade, he quoted the entirety of the books of Romans and James to me verse by verse -- starting with the final verse of each chapter and working backward. But even with the entire scripture memorized, he didn't have the experience necessary to finish well at that level of the program.

In contrast, children's quizzing has been caught up by the "every child a winner" mindset and is not nearly so focused on competition. It also starts in the fall and there are progressive levels of competition toward the end, but many more children than teens qualify for the finals. This is a much gentler version of the 'sport' directed at the denominational level by women who don't like to see children cry.

This past week in my young adult Sunday School class, I was privileged to have my two daughters in for the day - a rare event. As we discussed the difference between healthy learning and learning by those who are "never able to acknowledge the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7), my younger daughter, the one who dropped out of teen quizzing early and successfully resisted strong pressure to return, with a sly smile, offered Bible quizzing as an example of foolishly learning scripture without ever applying it. (Teen quizzing particularly has no emphasis on understanding the scripture, only on being able to regurgitate it "verbatim". Unless, of course, a local quiz director would choose to sacrifice their team's chances to be competitive in order to focus in on application.)

I turned to the other two young people in the group who had quizzed all the way through jr/sr high school and offered them the chance to comment. One offered that she has found the knowledge of the Bible she gained through Bible quizzing to be invaluable to her as the current youth leader for the church. The other (my older daughter) said that the other members of the Bible study group she attends think she has the entire Bible memorized because she can pull out chapter and verse for so many scriptures. She says they have yet to catch on that her knowledge only covers a subset of the New Testament.

As a former Bible quizzer (I quizzed over John as a child and Matthew, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Acts, Romans, and Colossians as a teen in the 1970s), I still go back to knowledge I gained as a quizzer when trying to pull out specific scriptures from my memory. I think it's a wonderful program (and confess to being among those who applied pressure to the younger daughter to participate). Not only does it result in Bible knowledge stored deeply in one's heart, but it is also a fantastic way to learn good study habits.

By the way, the Church of the Nazarene does not have a corner on Bible quizzing. There are multiple versions in various organizations.

Marsha

PS: I think our Sunday evening "service" this coming Sunday is the annual local Bible quiz between our quizzers and their parents. The kids love being able to beat the socks off their parents in how well they know what's in the Bible.

[Walter Thompson]

As a 6th grader, this would be his last year as a Children's quizzer. Some teen programs allow the 6th graders to participate in teen quizzing. Children are doing Genesis - not the entire book but large portions of it. Usually quizzing is finishing up in March so there is still alot left. It could be discouraging at a quiz because he would have to answer all 20 questions so he would miss alot if he didn't go back to catch up. Still he could participate on the local level without going to actual quizzes. This web-site has some practice questions and other information on it.

http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/ssm/children/programs/quiz/questions/display.aspx


Teen quizzing is over Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Next year is Luke. A teen quiz is 20 questions - 3 will be memory verse questions, 1 will either be in what book and chapter or situation question (first type for multiple books, situation for single books), 4 will be according to ... questions, 1 will be a context, and the remainder are called general. Most programs are about half way through but that would not be a problem if he joined now. As Barb said, teen quizzers jump to answer the question so unlike children's quizzing, you don't have to try to answer it if you don't know it. A quizzer is finished for a round if he/she gets 4 questions right or three questions wrong. If your son is good at memory work, that is what I would recommend he do. I can quarantee you there will be at least 4 questions each round related to memory work since there are three that are strictly memory work questions (Quote, finish, and finish with reference) and at least one according to or general question that will come from the memory work. That would be an easy way to catch up - not to mention a good way to get into scripture.

If you have any more questions, let me know as I had two kids go through both programs. In addition, my husband and I met through teen quizzing and have been involved with it ever since so this is my 31st year - ouch!

Alisa

Actually it depends on his age. As a sixth grader if he is 12 and under he would be in children's quizzing. However, if he is an older 12+ 6th grader her could be in the teen quizzing category if he is in NYI at church then he should be in NYI/Teen quizzing.

[Alisa Stoll]

Actually it depends on his age. As a sixth grader if he is 12 and under he would be in children's quizzing. However, if he is an older 12+ 6th grader her could be in the teen quizzing category if he is in NYI at church then he should be in NYI/Teen quizzing.

Actually it depends on the local church and the district or regional director. The local church in that some churches want to keep 6th graders with the childrens and will not allow them to teen quiz. For competitions, it is up to the district or regional director. I know our regional director leaves it up to his district directors - ie if they quizzed on the district level then they can quiz at the regional leve. Our district allows 6th graders to compete. I know kids who have been allowed to quiz as true 6th graders not "older" 6th graders.

That is why I said some allow 6th graders to compete in teen quizzing in my original post. Obviously I do not know the position of Bruce's church or that district.

Alisa

[Walter Thompson]

Actually it depends on the local church and the district or regional director. The local church in that some churches want to keep 6th graders with the childrens and will not allow them to teen quiz. For competitions, it is up to the district or regional director. I know our regional director leaves it up to his district directors - ie if they quizzed on the district level then they can quiz at the regional leve. Our district allows 6th graders to compete. I know kids who have been allowed to quiz as true 6th graders not "older" 6th graders.

That is why I said some allow 6th graders to compete in teen quizzing in my original post. Obviously I do not know the position of Bruce's church or that district.

Alisa

Just keep in mind that some 6th graders could be 13 a month after the season starts. That's why sometimes it is better to just have them start with the teen quizzing.
At any rate quizzing is one of the best, if indeed not the best, program in churches that want their kids to learn scripture. Which is something that (overall) Nazarene kids are way behind our fellow Christian kids in other denominations. I am so amazed when we have kids from Baptist churches that know scripture better than a lot of adults do in the Nazarene Church.

[Bruce Griffis]

My son is 11. He'll be 12 the end of February.

I think I'll ask if I can sit in with him Sunday night to see how the children's quizzing works in our church. My son is not a competitive kid. As a dad, I learned that through our experiences with baseball, basketball and soccer. He much prefers hiking, kayaking, fishing and camping. While he goes to scouts, he is not very oriented towards earning badges or patches.

I'm concerned that if it is too competitive, or too much like study, he might lose his enthusiasm for reading the Bible. He reads a little each night. New Testament. We haven't gotten into the Old Testament very much. I know him well enough to know that if it seems anything like study or competition, he'll stop reading the Bible for pleasure, encouragement and enrichment.

Anyway - thanks for all the info. We'll check it out, and I'll let him decide if he wants to do Bible quizzing or go to adult services Sunday nights. He might enjoy it, and I might be reading too much into it.

Hmmmm - that sounded kind of stuck-up or mean-spirited. I didn't mean it that way.

[Alisa Stoll]

Wether it is children's quizzing or Adult service, I hope it works out for your son.

Alisa

[Cindi Hammons]

Not only does it result in Bible knowledge stored deeply in one's heart, but it is also a fantastic way to learn good study habits.

AND, it is a great way to make good friends at church AND on the District.

[Alisa Stoll]

Bruce,

Were you able to check out the children's quizzing? If so, how did it go?

Alisa

[Bruce Griffis]

No quizzing Sunday night. It was Christmas decorations. We had a great time, and I enjoyed helping put up a garland, mess with a wreath, and take candles down - preparing to replace them. Some folks decorated the tree, other folks did - well, you get the idea.

We'll see if there is quizzing next Sunday. I told my son he could chose either doing quizzing or going to the service, and Sunday morning he could chose between worship service and practicing for the Christmas presentation. Actually - he can chose between going to mass with his brothers, or coming to the Nazarene church with me. Once at the Nazarene church, he can chose what he wants to do. The only thing he can't chose is staying home in bed.

I'll try to call the office this week, to see if the kids use take home material to study and prepare, and to see if any is available.

[William Hunter]

Our daughters went to the World Quiz in Children's Quizzing at General Assm. Our oldest daughter made the dist. quiz team at the teen level and quizzed at Gen. Assm. She even got some scholarship money for making the dist. quiz team at MVNU.

We've had quizzing at all the churches we have pastored except one. We started children's quizzing here last year and had 4 quizzers. This year we have 11 quizzers. Out of this we hope to launch teen quizzing. These are wonderful programs for our children and teens.

My wife was on the dist. teen quiz team (NEI) at the old International Institute.

The church I was part of as a child and teen did not have quizzing. They did have a wonderful missionary program and got us teens very much involved in it. I prayed many prayers to be called to be a missionary. Many of my ONU friends are missionaries. I guess I was needed to help raise funds so they can fulfill their call.