The CGGC Bible Quizzing finals wrapped up this last week at Camp Sonrise Mountain in Markleysburg, PA. Junior and Senior high teams from churches all across the denomination competed to take first place in their categories, while individual quizzers were also competing for a shot to stand out. Young people from the ages of 10-20 years old can compete in different categories, which means CGGC Bible Quizzing is represented by a diverse group of kids who might spend a large portion of their young life quizzing.
Pastor Nancy Hiser, from College First Church of God, coached her teams to victory in the Sr. High, second and sixth place in Jr. High. When asked about the impact of Bible Quizzing on kids, Pastor Nancy said, “If my quizzers do all their years, just the time at meets and practices, and if they never study on their own, they spend 1000 hours in the Word throughout the program. There isn’t really another program that I know of that gets them into the Word and that far into the Word for that long.”
Having been a bible quizzer since she was in 6th grade, and a quiz coach for the last 18 years, Pastor Nancy is well situated to speak about the benefits of the CGGC’s Bible Quizzing program. While not every church does it exactly the same, the quizzing program at College First boasts a retention rate in their quiz program that far exceeds any of their other youth programs. That means that not only does quizzing get kids deeply into the Word of God, but it’s more likely than even youth group to keep them there.
Over Pastor Nancy’s 18 years of coaching, she’s seen multiple kids come through the quiz program and move onto full-time ministry, and even those who don’t often come back to help coach or are far more likely to stay invested in the church after they graduate and go off to college or to work. “It gives them a place to belong for a really long time,” Pastor Nancy said. “I’m sure some day I’ll have quizzers come back and I’ll be coaching their kids. [laughing]”
It might seem counter intuitive, but Quizzing isn’t just limited to church kids either. In fact, Pastor Nancy suggests that a traditional youth group is less likely to attract kids from outside of church precisely because there is no secular-world analogue. While College First certainly has a youth group, Pastor Nancy freely admitted that, “Youth group is a kind of a weird concept if you’re not religious. But [non-religious people] understand what it means to be on a team. That’s a secular concept. We have this team, we have jerseys, we study, and we compete. There isn’t a secular counterpart to youth group but there is to bible quizzing. It’s called quiz bowl.” Parents want to see their kids engage in reading, study, and memorization rather than any number of other extra-scholastic activities that could end up influencing them, and bible quizzing hits that intellectual and competitive niche, even for non-Christian parents who are looking to keep their kids involved in healthy activities.
Not convinced to start a bible quizzing program? Pastor Nancy believes a quiz team is actually ideal for smaller churches with only a few kids because, as she said, “it gives them a chance to travel and meet other kids. When you’re a small church you might not be able to pull off a big mission trip but you can still be a bible quizzing team with 2-5 kids and have them form relationships with students from other churches.”
(College First's quizzers speak about their experience.)
If you or your church is interested in getting a quiz team started, then the best person to talk to is Rachel Neely-Pletcher, the CGGC National Bible Quizzing Director. Below, Rachel provides her own reflection on this last year, and how CGGC Bible Quizzing is impacting kids all around the denomination.
(CGGC Bible Quizzing logo)
From Rachel Neely-Pletcher – CGGC National Bible Quizzing Director
When was the last time you saw teenagers competing for the privilege to pray in public, quoting the Word of God, explaining the Trinity, and cheering each other on? For me, it was last week at our CGGC Bible Quizzing Finals. It was an amazing, Holy Spirit-driven event, that was the culmination of a year’s worth of teens and coaches studying the book of Acts together. Teams came from Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to compete, worship, pray, play, spur one another on, and laugh together at Camp Sonrise Mountain. It was crazy hot with no air conditioning, and worth every minute.
In the Churches of God, we say, “The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice.” To make that meaningful, we must know God’s Word deep in our hearts as we live as disciples of Christ. CGGC Bible Quizzing, from its humble beginnings 45 years ago, has continued to prove itself effective at just that. According to the rulebook, “Bible quizzing exists to aid youth in securing the scriptures in their hearts and minds for quick and ready reference in times of decision and need.” Beyond that, as if that weren’t enough, it also helps youth gain experience in listening for God and following his lead, leadership skills, impulse control, public speaking skills, good sportsmanship, study skills, lifelong friendships, and so much more. Many of our quizzers have gone on to be pastors, missionaries, regional leaders, seminary presidents, worship leaders, and community leaders.
In recent years, we’ve had fewer churches participating. However, more than 70 CGGC churches have participated in quizzing over the years. From Eastern Pennsylvania clear to Tsaile, Arizona, youth have enjoyed this ministry. Bible Quizzing is an excellent, very workable youth ministry for churches with 2 youth or 200 youth. And as more former quizzers become parents, quizzing is experiencing a revival in many of our churches.
CGGC Bible Quizzing invites teens from 6th grade up through age 19 to dive into God’s Word (And some of our regions have little league divisions for even younger students.) We rotate through an 8-year cycle of the gospels, Paul’s letters, Acts, James, Hebrews and 1 & 2 Peter.
2 Peter 2:20-21 explains, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
And 2 Peter 2:1 goes on to remind us, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
From the Garden of Eden itself, getting caught up in false teaching has been an issue. And today’s world is no better. Now, teaching of all sorts is available at the click of a button. Recently, there has been a lot of talk and fear over new AI’s, ChatGPT, and other groups being accused of secret agendas to indoctrinate our children. There has always been, and always will be a fight over our children’s minds. Bible Quizzing isn’t fancy or complicated, but it hinges on what is most important: hiding the Living and Active Word of God deep in our hearts. Bible Quizzing over every word in these books, challenges our youth to not only learn the Word, but wrestle with the difficult passages, see how each book is connected to the greater story, and have the resources to develop and own their faith.
Is it possible to accomplish all that on your own without Bible Quizzing? Of course! But you don’t have to! Bible Quizzing makes it fun, adds some accountability, and accomplishes so much more along the way! Thank you to all of you who have participated at any point along the way! If you are interested in more info or in joining us for the next season, check out the CGGC website https://cggc.org/resources/bible-quizzing/ or please contact me, Rachel Neely-Pletcher, , (814) 931-2487. Starting in September, we will be quizzing on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Get Started with Bible Quizzing
CGGC eNews—Vol. 27, No. 31
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