As a teen, I attended a church that did not offer any sort of Youth quizzing program. I didn’t even know such things existed, otherwise I would have jumped in wholeheartedly. I just needed an adult willing to lead.

It wasn’t until I started attending a church in Louisville, KY in my early 20’s that I first witnessed Nazarene Youth Bible Quizzing in action - and I was immediately hooked. A nine-month Bible study that encourages youth to learn scripture, develop a devotion to God’s Word, go on road trips for competitions, make friends and fellowship with like-minded teens across their community and the nation, fortify their ability to witness, and equip them to be effective leaders in the church? Um, yeah! Youth Bible Quizzing is unquestionably the most effective youth discipleship program the church can offer.

So why do so many churches not offer it? While there are many reasons (dare I say “excuses”?), the most common barrier to entry is “I wouldn’t know where to begin.” And I get that. From the outside it can seem scary and intimidating. I didn’t know where to begin when I began, either. I had to figure it out - and make mistakes - along the way. There was no guide. But, IT WAS WORTH THE COST.

So, if you are considering starting a Youth Bible Quiz program at your local church - or you know someone who would be willing to do so - my goal in this article is to make getting started as easy as following a recipe. It is a checklist, so print it out (front and back) and post it on your mirror or refrigerator. Or make it the lock screen for your phone. Let it be as much an inspiration as it is a reminder. The second page, especially, could be used all season long. But the biggest value of the guide when opened on a computer are the links that connect you directly to a wealth of incredibly useful resources.

In time, tailor this for your specific program - and pass it on to your next Bible Quiz leader when the day comes for you to “quiz out”.

​While there is never really a bad season to participate in Teen Bible Quizzing, the common perception is that a Gospel year is preferable. Especially to new quizzers, the Gospels seem easier to grasp as they tell a story. In addition, among the Gospels in the quiz cycle, John is by far the shortest.

The Book of John contains 878 verses, which is 18% fewer than Matthew (1,071 verses) and 24% fewer than Luke (1,151 verses). Also, of the 18,635 words in John, 3.7% of them (697 words) are used only once. Called unique or key words, they give quizzers the edge needed to be the first to jump and know from exactly where in the scripture the question was taken. For example, if a question began with “Who confessed…”, you would know that the question could only be: “Who confessed freely?” The word confessed is only found in John 1:20, so you know the answer is “John”. If you know these unique words and enough of the associated verse, you will be able to jump well before the complete question is read.

You can find a list of these words on the YouthQuiz web site or in the concordance at the back of your spiral-bound scripture portion. They are also in bold italics in the Nazarene Youth Bible Quizzing pocket scripture portion. A good study technique would be to highlight these words as well in your scripture portion so they will stand even more out as you read and re-read the material.

While I'm not a rocket surgeon, as you can tell I like to pretend I am one. So here is a brief statistical analysis of the Memory Verses for the upcoming quiz season covering the Gospel of John:

Reflecting on the Field and National Quizzes I have attended the past dozen or so years, I can confidently say that the most successful teams always have a skilled According To question person.

For those who may be unfamiliar, every quiz match asks four According To questions. The preamble of these questions supply the quizzer with the chapter and verse for the subsequent question. The intent of this type of question is to direct the quizzer toward a certain passage of Scripture which may be similar to other passages being studied. While the answer does not have to be word-for-word from the verse, the answer must be contained to just that verse and be precise enough to distinguish it from other verses. An example would be: According to John chapter 5, verse 1, where did Jesus go? Answer: Up to Jerusalem. Jesus went to many places in the Book of John, but in John 5:1, he specifically went up to Jerusalem.

Since answering an According To question as a multiple is permissible, it is common for these quizzers to get the jump (pun intended) on everyone else by interrupting the reading of the question as – or before – the Quizmaster is announcing the verse number. The quizzer rattles off several possible questions and their respective answers within 30 seconds in the hopes that one of them was the intended question.

Seemingly, According To quizzers appear to have not only memorized the entire study scripture, but can recall a specific verse instantaneously. In awe of this apparent superpower, I asked three former According To quizzers who have competed multiple times at the national level to share their stories and study methods: Cole Hodge and Leah Augustine from the MidSouth District, and Lydia Hutchison from the Florida District.

​Though this topic was recommended to me by a subscriber to this blog, I am writing it as much as a reminder to myself as I am writing it to share with all of you.
 
After our November quiz, the weekends get very busy. First up is Thanksgiving. A week later, my District participates in the St. Louis Top 10 quiz tournament. Not too long after that is Christmas followed one week later by New Year’s Day. So, like many of you, our District does not have a December quiz. For our small District, the St. Louis Top 10 quiz is our December quiz. But as God continues to bless our ministry, we continue to grow in numbers. So much so in fact that for the first time ever we will have more teens not quizzing at the St. Louis tournament than those who will be quizzing.

Challenges, rebuttals, and appeals. Sounds more like words you’d hear on a courtroom drama television show than in a friendly game of Teen Bible Quizzing. But in a way, you are on trial in front of a judge who is handing out a decision based on your testimony! While Quizmasters do their best to make a just ruling based on their interpretation of the Scripture and quizzing rules, they are human and therefore could make an error in judgment (though it is very, very rare, as I have been assured by some of them).

A check to their power exists in Teen Bible Quizzing in the form of challenges and rebuttals. The Captain of any team may challenge a Quizmaster’s decision on a Toss-Up question if there is reason to believe that the Quizmaster’s ruling is incorrect. Before the beginning of the next question, the Captain stands and gives a concise argument regarding why the ruling should be reversed. The opposing Captain is then allowed an opportunity to rebut the challenge, explaining why the Quizmaster’s original decision was indeed correct.

Keep in mind, however, that the team is penalized 10 points beginning with their 2nd overruled challenge in a game! So choose your battles wisely!

To better understand not only when but how to make an effective challenge, I consulted with several experienced Quizmasters to get their perspectives: JD Sailors (Quizmaster at District, Field and National competitions), Darrik Acre (Quizmaster and SNU Field Quiz Director), and Matt Thrasher (Quizmaster and Trevecca Field Quiz Director). 

For my day job, my responsibilities are to inspire performance, innovate products, improve the environment, invest in people, and ultimately to make a profit for my business unit. To do many of these things, I rely heavily on making data-based decisions.

As a Quiz Coach, I try to do the same when it is applicable. While I do rely on the Holy Spirit’s leading of my heart when it comes to interacting and mentoring the teens, I do use statistics at times to refine individual study and game-situation strategies. For example:

• Jaqueline is getting more than her share of According To questions during competition. Perhaps I should encourage her and provide resources to make those her specialty in the future.
• Blake and Aaron answer a lot of Context questions. I should put them on different teams so they don’t compete against each other for that question every game.
• It’s Question 16. What’s the probability that the last Memory Verse question will be asked next? Should I substitute my bench player now or wait?
• What are my quizzers’ current averages for this tournament? Who should I start the next game?

Effective August 2017, the Nazarene Youth Quizzing Official Rules & Guidelines were revised per the direction of the Quizzing Advisory Council (QAC). And while most updates to this manual are typically minor or clarifying in nature, this time a few rules were changed that could have strategic implications on how you play and coach the game.

​When compared line-by-line against the August 2015 Rules, here are the 3 notable changes made to the 2017 edition of the Official Rules & Guidelines:

Have you ​ever wondered how the Memory Verses are chosen for each season? For the longest time I had assumed there was some ancient World Bible Quiz Association parchment of pre-selected memory verses that all the member denominations were contractually obligated to follow. But now that I’ve been around long enough to see the same books come around at least 3 times, I’m noticing that each season’s memory verses are not the same as they were 8 years prior.
 
So what gives? Sure, we recently changed from NIV 1984 to NIV 2011, but that doesn’t explain how we went from 85 single memory verses in 1993 to a mixture of Singles and Multiples covering 116 verses in 2001! Important Bible verses are still important Bible verses, amirite?
 
Fortunately for all of us, Teen Bible Quizzing is a vibrant ministry! Over the years rules are changed, new types of questions are introduced, and the memory verses change each cycle. This keeps Bible Quizzing fresh and aligned with the changing dynamics and aptitudes of today’s youth.
 
Peeking behind the curtain, it turns out the majority of the Nazarene Bible Quizzing memory verse selection process begins in the very capable hands of one person – Karl Tabor.
 
Here is Karl’s story and how he chooses the memory verses that are considered for each season:

Having been involved with Teen Bible Quizzing for two decades now *shudder*, I thought I had a firm understanding of the fundamental structure and shifting trends within this wonderful ministry.

But what I have since discovered is that - for some things – I simply didn’t know that I didn’t know. 

Earlier this year, I invited subscribers to this blog to participate in a survey about their local Bible Quizzing ministry. As an amateur statistician, even I knew this would not be a scientific study and it would have a large margin of error. Of the estimated 3,000 Teen Bible Quizzers and Quiz Leaders in the U.S., my sampling method would only capture those Quizzers and Quiz Leaders who are subscribers of this blog.

“So, what is the margin of error?”, your inner geek asks. “16%”, my inner geek replies. But I wasn't necessarily looking for precision of values. Rather, I was looking for patterns of evidence.

​Here are the results to the survey questions and how they either fundamentally changed or affirmed my assumptions:

I love Amazon. One of the biggest perks of any online store is that you get to shop from the cozy comfort of your own home while wearing pajamas. And besides being able to compare prices without burning a tank of gas and wasting your day, have you ever noticed that Amazon uses “frustration-free” packaging? That means no impenetrable hard plastic clamshell cases or M.C. Escher-esque wire ties, and a lot less – if any – chances of being one of the nearly 6,000 people who go to the emergency room annually for an injury inflicted by the razor-sharp shards of packing material. Additionally, the majority of Amazon orders are shipped in corrugated containers that contain 43% recycled materials and are 100% recyclable. So, in effect, I am helping the environment by ordering from Amazon!
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But while Amazon takes this whole “shopping from home” thing to a whole new level by offering everything from toilet paper to video games, coffee, adult Madagascar hissing cockroaches and more, they fall short with resources for Teen Bible Quizzing.