Awana Bible Quizzing Questions…

Bible Quizzing season is among us and for the month of February I am scheduled to be assisting (2) different missionaries in (3) States at (4) Bible Quizzes. In some areas, participation in regional Bible Quizzing is dropping and missionaries and their ministry teams are scratching their heads wondering why and how participation can be increased.

Once again I believe it falls to the passion and interest of leadership. Let me “argue” my case from personal experience.

At a club I previously was a commander, we participated regularly and generally would come home with first place in at least one handbook group. I was the “driving force” behind the club’s participation. I saw the benefit and made sure clubbers knew about it, encouraged participation and made sure clubbers were prepared. When I stepped down as the commander and moved on to a new church plant, that participation in Bible Quizzing ended. A few years later I was asked by that church staff if Bible Quizizng had stopped and if not, why they weren’t doing it. I was able to share that Bible Quizzing was still going on but that they no longer paerticipated simply because the new commander did not have the same passion for Bible Quizzing as I did. He wasn’t familiar with it and it was not a priority as it had been with me. I am not speaking poorly of the new commander, it is just a fact, they do not have the same passion for participating in the regional Bible Quiz as I did.

I wonder why more teams/churches do not participate in regional Bible Quizzing.

  • Is it because they don’t know about it?
  • Is it because they’ve lost interest?
  • Is it because they don’t understand its purpose?
  • Is it because they’ve seen it run poorly?
  • Is it because they cannot motivate clubbers to participate?
  • Are the clubbers & leader schedules so full that they don’t think they have time for it?

It may be a compilation of multiple items, but if we are “Awana” clubs, then why not participate? Remember that Awana stands for “Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed”. What better place to help them share what they’ve learned, not being ashamed, then at a Bible Quiz? It helps re-enforce what they’ve learned in a fun (if run properly), but competitve, atmosphere possibly reaching parents and friends who may come to watch them compete. It becomes a good training ground, building confidence, and great way to share the Gospel.

Now if you thought that this post would give you some practice questions for quizzing, then you’ll be disappointed. For the past week I have been working on which questions to use for Bible Quizzing in a specific region and to help maintain the integrity of quizzing, I do not provide questions to anyone but Awana missionaries (not even my own clubbers preparing for quizzing – they get the same resources available to anyone). The best I can offer are quiz guides and links to other sites/products that are have found to be assests in preparing for quizzing. You can find those by clicking here.

So to conclude, if you have never particpated in quizzing, then observe one and plan to attend next year.

  • If you have participated in quizzing, then share with us why you do and why others should participate.
  • If you do not participate, then please let me know why not and if anything might encourage you to particpate.

5 Comments

  1. Melissa Garris

    I, too, am very interested in this topic. I am the Bible Quiz Event Coordinator for my regional Awana Missionary. We started quiz back up in this region three years ago after it had been gone for several years (maybe 5 or more). We have done our best to promote quiz through e-mails, letters, announcements at Conference in the fall, and yet each year attendance is dropping. We try our best to run a well organized training session and event, and I believe we meet that goal. So why are people not participating?!

    I can tell you why the club at my church participates – leadership. I totally agree with what you said about leadership. I am the Commander at our local club, so each year in December, I start looking at who will be ready or who we can motivate to be ready to participate in Quiz. I meet with our T&T Director and we go over everything and then talk to the clubbers to see if they would be interested. We send out formal letters inviting the clubbers to participate, hold practices, and attend Quiz. Granted, it is a bit easier for us than other churches in our region since the Quiz is held at our church, but I know we would do the same even if we had to travel to get to Quiz. And the clubbers who have participated in the past from our church look forward to it each year. I even have some Sparks that are excited about getting into T&T because they want to participate in Bible Quiz.

  2. Ellen

    I think much has to do with those in leadership either not understanding it or not knowing exactly what the benefits/requirements are.

    I know that our Girls T&T director tells our girls, at the beginning of the year, that they need to be through Discovery/Challenge 6 before Christmas if they want to Bible Quiz (that is so they can make Truth Tracker). So it becomes a “known” thing from the beginning of the year. We usually field 1-2 teams in each book. it is also listed on the club calendar that the families get each year.

    It is also something that requires spreading the word from those who have “gone before”. In the beginning of the year, when there are parent meetings, sign ups, etc… Games and Quiz should be introduced, with the reasons you have stated above. Obviously not every clubber will participate, but the more exposure you have, the more participation you will have. Then many of those clubbers as they move into Trek/Journey will be interested in Quizzing at that level.

    If there was a way to have a “presentation” to the various clubs of what Quizzing is about, there might be more interest from the parents.

    Our family has been quizzing for most of 9 years (illness is about the only reason we didn’t) and my kids have thoroughly enjoyed it. We have done both T&T quizzing (Pals/Pioneer before) as well as gone on to Trek/Journey Quizzing the last couple of years.

  5. It’s really great to see solid organizations like AWANA continuing to stay with Bible quizzing. There are very few things that have the positive spiritual impact that Bible memorization does, and Bible quizzing is the perfect complementary activity to AWANA’s terrific handbooks.

    My kids have participated in AWANA and also in a broader based Bible quizzing program for many years, and they love both.

    Keep up the good work.

Comments are closed.