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FAQs for New Ministries
How much time is spent each day?
How do I start a local Bible Quizzing ministry?
How many quizzers may form a team?
What is the best way to memorize?
How does a quizzer answer a question?
What materials and/or equipment do I need?
To where will we travel for tournaments?
How much does it cost to start a quiz team?
What is Bible Quizzing?
Bible Quizzing is a discipleship ministry of UPCI Youth Ministries for youth 12-18 years old based on the memorization and application of the Word of God.
Propelled to learn as many as 400-550 verses of scripture each quiz season, word-for-word from the King James Version of the Bible, quizzers’ understanding is tested by answering different types of questions in structured, team-based tournaments.
Through this format, key Apostolic qualities are developed and reinforced, including, but not limited to:
– Grace
– Faithfulness
– Humility
– Sacrifice
– Teamwork
– Accountability
– Thoroughness
A love for the Word of God and an alignment with His Spirit builds a foundation on which future leaders are discipled to edify the church and impact the world.
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Which ages can participate?
The Intermediate division of quizzing serves quizzers 12-14 years old and first-year quizzers 15-18 years old. The Experienced division is for advanced quizzers ages 12-18 years old. The age cut-off date is December 31st prior to the quiz year (i.e. a student will be an Experienced division quizzer if their 15th birthday is December 31st or earlier.)
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How much time is spent each day?
Quizzers average an hour or more each day in the Word, for a total of 7-10 hours of study, memorization, and review each week.
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How long is the quiz season?
A local quiz coach determines a memorization schedule and when to begin holding local practices each week. Each district schedules practice tournaments for their teams each month, typically beginning in January. A district’s finals must take place between May 15 and June 30, which serves to qualify teams for the national tournament held at the end of July. The quiz ministry is based on a 9 month season, but is adjusted longer or shorter as a local church deems appropriate for its ministry.
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How do I start a local Bible Quizzing ministry?
Begin by asking your pastor about starting a Bible Quizzing ministry in your local church. With your pastor’s approval, contact your district coordinator for information about the coming quiz season and help with your local ministry. Your coordinator will assist you in preparing to present the vision of Bible Quizzing to families in your local church, and ensure you have a checklist of recommended items with which to begin.
Building a Bible Quiz Ministry is a great resource to get further details, but, in a nutshell, the top 10 things to consider when launching a Bible Quizzing ministry are:
- Prayer
- Pastoral and parental support
- Coordinator contact info
- At least 2 young people
- Quiz material and equipment
- Learning schedule
- Weekly practice
- Quiz questions
- Budget
- Long-term, big-picture vision
How many quizzers may form a team?
Each team can have 2-5 quizzers. If you have a couple of young people and a coach, you have a team! Even if there is only one young person that wants to quiz, he/she can join another team in the same division from the same district.
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What is the best way to memorize?
There is no single, one-size-fits-all, “best” way to memorize for everyone. What works effectively for one quizzer may not be as effective for another because we all absorb, process, and retain information a little differently, however there are memorization principles that will aid all quizzers. The section on memorization within Building a Bible Quiz Ministry gets into more detail.
The daily discipline of memorization is established in levels. New quizzers may be tempted to jump right to Level 3 and begin rote memorization, but it’s hard to build on foundation that is not there.
Level 1: develop your routine and accountability.
– as much as possible, set a consistent time and duration to learn each day
– find a place to study that best fits your memorization style
– be accountable to someone, ideally the same parent or coach, each day
Level 2: understand what you are learning.
– pray for insight before you learn
– read through your learning assignment for that day/week
– with each verse, ask the question words: who? what? where? when? why? how?
– look for cause and effect (context) between/among the verses
– review the grammar used: repeated words, prepositional phrases, dependent clauses, etc.
– identify the primary meaning of the verse or passage
– make personal application(s), keep a journal of insights
– difficult verses or passages may benefit from reading a paraphrase version or modern translation
Level 3: concentrate and repeat.
– learn in an environment that helps you concentrate
– no media or phone to distract you
– break up each verse into bite-sized phrases to repeat; there are many techniques by which to do this, but the Phrase-15 method is a proven example covered in Building a Bible Quiz Ministry
– be sure to say the reference with the opening phrase of each verse to connect the reference with that verse
– focus on seeing the words you are saying in your mind’s eye or hearing the sound of the words as you say them
– write out only the first letter of each word in a verse to refer to if you get stuck when quoting
– once learned, repeat that day’s verses quietly to yourself throughout the day; the Bible refers to this as meditating or, literally, softly muttering scripture
Level 4: review daily.
– Before learning today’s verses, make sure you can quote yesterday’s verses.
– Reviewing previously-learned verses can take several forms, but the most common is using flash cards. This will quicken your recall, but should not be used to try and relearn verses.
– If someone is working with you, have him/her say the reference on each flash card, and you quote the verse in response as he/she follows along.
– If you are on your own, show yourself the reference and quote the verse out loud to yourself. If you are unsure, double check that you quoted the verse correctly.
– Any verses you couldn’t start or remember, should be placed in an incorrect pile to quote again at the end of your review.
– Use some or all of your flash cards daily, but quote them out loud to someone else at least once a week, so no misquotes slip in.
The mind God gave you is a muscle that gets stronger with reps! The more you memorize the easier it gets!
How does the quizzing work?
Two teams sit behind tables, one at the red buzzers, the other at the yellow buzzers, with no more than three quizzers at the “board” for each team. No more than two coaches sit behind their respective teams. See layout below
Each quiz consists of 20 questions the difficulty of which is relative to their point value:
– Questions 1-8 = 10 points each
– Questions 9-17 = 20 points each
– Questions 18-20 = 30 points each
The Quizmaster asks the questions, the quizzers buzz in and answer, and the team with the most points at the end of the quiz wins!
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How does a quizzer answer a question?
The quizmaster reads a question, and the quizzer who buzzes in first has the opportunity to answer it; however, if neither team buzzes within 5 seconds, the question is closed and the quizmaster proceeds to the next question.
When a quizzer does buzz in, he/she has 30 seconds to answer the question. If answered correctly, the quizmaster will state, “That is correct.” If answered incorrectly or if the 30 seconds elapse before the quizzer’s answer is complete, the quizmaster will state, “That is incorrect.” Correct questions gain the full point value of the question, while incorrect questions lose half the point value of the question.
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What materials and/or equipment do I need?
Each quizzer:
– a study guide
– a box of quiz cards, these are flash cards with the scripture on one side and the reference on the other
Each team:
– a rules manual
– a buzzer system and scoring software
– quiz questions for weekly practice
Additional resources:
– a concordance containing a list of key words throughout all the verses
– Bible Quizzer mobile app available for iOS and Android
– digital flash cards app
To where will we travel for tournaments?
Traveling is an exciting part of quizzing! Trips can include:
– monthly district tournaments within your state; contact your district coordinator for scheduling
– invitational tournaments hosted by local churches
– one of 5 regional Bible Quiz Extravaganzas (BQEs): Southeast, South Central, Western, Northeast, and North Central
– the annual North American Bible Quiz Tournament (NABQT) in a different city each year
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How much does it cost to start a quiz team?
Current materials pricing from (prices are subject to change):
– a rules manual, $10
– a study guide, $16
– a box of quiz cards for each quizzer, $25
– a concordance, $16
A USB Buzzer System and associated software with which to practice currently costs $240.
Contact these question writers to purchase quizzes for weekly practices; pricing will vary by writer.