Starting a Bible Quizzing Team

Being involved in Bible Quizzing has many benefits! Working with quizzers is rewarding -- in the short term, the long term and in eternity. Below are some guidelines for those endeavoring to start a Bible Quizzing team. You may also want to check out how Bible Quizzing works.

Get approval from the pastor of your UPC church

Present your desire to form a Bible Quizzing team to your pastor. Ensure that your pastor agrees to and supports the startup of your team. Anyone may attend our tournaments as an observer or supporter. However, to participate in Oregon's Bible Quizzing tournaments, teams from your church must be part of the United Pentecostal Church (UPC) (from Oregon or surrounding states). Our State Finals tournaments are further restricted to teams from UPC churches in the state of Oregon.

Identify your quizzers and the division they'll quiz in

Determine which young people in your church will quiz, and which division they will participate in:

Ages 15-18 - Experienced section of the Senior division. A first-year quizzer in this age bracket has the option to compete in the Intermediate section.
Ages 12-14 - Intermediate section of the Senior division.
Ages 9-11 - Junior section of the Junior division. A first-year quizzer in this age bracket has the option to compete in the Beginner section.
Ages 6-8 - Beginner section of the Junior division.

Identify your coaching staff

Determine who will be the head coach of the team. He or she may wish to bring on several assistants to help with study, setting of assignments for quizzers, preparing for tournaments, testing the quizzers' knowledge and memorization, and so on.

Determine the setup of your teams

When competing at a tournament, a single team must have at least two and at most five quizzers.
If a church brings more than five quizzers to a tournament, the quizzers should be divided into teams of at least two and at most five quizzers. A church may bring as many teams as they wish to a tournament.
If a church provides only one quizzer, that quizzer may join with another team from another church, and form a joint team. At most, two churches may collaborate to form a team.

Have the quizzers start studying the material

Find the appropriate quizzing material for the quizzers to study. Assign them a few verses to memorize each day, and get them to start memorizing. They should spend 30 or more minutes per day studying and memorizing.

Set up a weekly practice and testing session (for example, an hour or two on Tuesday nights). Here you can set study assignments, test the quizzers' progress, practice their quizzing methods, and work on study technique. You can also teach them concepts of teamwork, persistence, and good study habits. It's a great time to prepare for an upcoming tournament.

Contact the district coordinators

Contact the appropriate coordinator, and inform them you wish to participate in the tournaments. The coordinator will provide you with tournament information and registration forms.

Participate in the tournaments

Find out the date & location of the tournaments, and bring your quizzers. There is a fee for each team that competes in a tournament. To see the fees, view the Senior registration page or the Junior registration page. You will enjoy the team competition, and the fellowship with other like-minded quizzing people. We'd love to have you join us!