How to Prepare for Bible Quizzing

While I was the commander at one church and participated in Bible Quizzing for several years, I was blessed to have at least one team come in 1st place every year except for one. The teams had access to the same resources that any other club has access to and I excuse myself from participating in the practices. In my current church, we quizzed one year so far and both of the teams I had participate placed 2nd in the quiz. It was the first time any of the clubbers had seen quizzing and while other teams had practiced for weeks leading up to the quiz, my teams only had one practice for about 20 – 30 minutes the Sunday night prior to the Saturday quizzing. I share this not to boast in the success of the teams we have sent, but to show that there are some proven techniques to help clubbers do well in quizzing.

Here are some basic tips to clubbers perform well in Bible Quizzing:

Practice Makes Perfect

I personally believe that you should keep practices to a minimum. The purpose of the practice is NOT to quiz the clubbers on information (though you are doing that). The purpose of the practice is to get clubbers comfortable with the format of the quizzing. Have someone serve as the “Quizmaster” (the person asking the questions) and make sure they understand how the questions will be asked. This is generally found in the Bible Quiz Rulebook for your area. This is important as it helps the clubber get comfortable with the way the questions are asked, and the more relaxed the clubber is, the better they will do in quizzing.

Studying the Material

Provide clubbers with the materials they need, such as:

• Study Guides – I recommend the ones available on this site 🙂
• Sample questions – ways to practice. Again, I recommend the Quizzing Game which provides questions that can be printed out and also allows the clubber to test their knowledge via the game. Another option is the 2 Timothy 2:15 site with options to study.

What the clubber knows ultimately falls back to the clubber. They need to study and know the material. The coach can help motivate, but the clubber needs to do the learning. One way to help them learn is to have them make index cards with the information. As they write the definitions, verses, etc, on the cards, it helps embed the information in their minds and allows them to carry them with them more easily to study as the have time.

The Main Focus

As you prepare for quizzing, always remember the main purpose of quizzing, and keep that focus. While we want our clubbers to do well, I would rather have a team come in last with a desire to know God’s Word and not being ashamed to share it, then a team who’s motivation is to be first (or best) and are upset if they are not, and frustrated with themselves if they miss a question (yes, I have seen it). Quizzing is held not only to see what clubbers have learned, but it is an outreach for family members and friends who may not come to church, but will come to see the clubber compete and then be given a chance to hear the Gospel.

So as you prepare, do not be overly focused on personal achievement, but focused on personal evangelism.

 

Celebrate

After our club participated in Bible Quizzing, I always had a time of celebration afterward. Pizza, or whatever, to celebrate that they studied God’s Word and were not ashamed to share it with others, no matter what place they finished.