World Bible Quiz Association
Starting a New Quiz League
Young people across the country getting into Bible quizzing, gaining an intense desire for the word of God, and entering a deep relationship with its author. Bible quizzing is a great way to encourage young people to study the Scriptures. Through quizzing they will experience a deep fellowship commitment with their own team, their competition, and, most importantly, with Jesus Christ.
By starting a quiz team or a quiz program you are taking on a noble and rewarding task. The goal of this section of the website is to provide you with necessary materials and information so that your ministry will run smoothly. We have divided the process into the four steps listed below. Since each individual and group is unique, you may wish to add your own creative ideas to those we have provided.
During the process of beginning a quiz league, you will undoubtedly have questions. Please feel free to contact WBQA by emailing us at wbqaexec@gmail.com or dropping a note to 1234 Broadway Street, East McKeesport, PA 15035.
The following four steps, along with a lot of prayer, will get your quiz league off and running:
1. RECRUITING
We have listed recruiting first because you will want some idea of who is participating before you plan your schedule. Of course, recruiting is an ongoing process, and once a program is started you will find that its participants themselves will do a great deal of recruiting. Your main goal should be getting both students and adult leaders excited about the prospect of starting a team. Listed on this page are three commonly used methods of introducing people to quizzing.
Word of Mouth
Perhaps the best method is to spread the word to everyone you know. Have in mind the location and date for your first event, and be positive that this event will take place. Talk to every contact you have in a church, public school, and Christian school. You may also get interest through advertising, recruitment, letters, and assemblies.
Quiz Demonstrations
One effective way to promote quizzing is through quiz demonstrations. Even before any quizzers are involved, you can demonstrate quizzing to a youth group by having them try out quizzing for themselves. This method of recruiting has been found to be quite successful . Since most people are unfamiliar with quizzing, this a great way for them to discover how much they will enjoy it. To those who are interested, you should be ready to hand out scripture portions, rules, and sample questions for the first quiz. A sample quiz demo is available here.
Written Correspondence
You may also wish to send out letters. You will be able to reach a large amount of people, but without personal contact you will probably receive a low percent of response. However, it is worth the effort for even one response, and by mass mailing you are giving the maximum number of groups an opportunity. A sample letter is available here. Advertising in a newspaper, newsletter, or other media is also a great way to reach a large amount of people.
2. SCHEDULING
Once you have your first date set and an idea of who will be involved, you will want to schedule your quiz year. You may eventually want to rotate churches, but for starters, we suggest you find the largest, most central, most available church or school. It will add a lot to your event if you can use a faculty that has not only rooms for quizzing, but also a recreation room or gym, as well as a large "main" meeting room.
Find the best day and time and keep it as consistent as possible (i.e. "second Saturday of each month").
A sample schedule is listed below. You may also choose to accumulate material throughout the year.
October: 1 Corinthians 1-4
November: 1 Corinthians 5-8
December: 1 Corinthians 9-12
January: 1 Corinthians 13-16
February: 2 Corinthians 1-4
March: 2 Corinthians 5-8
April: 2 Corinthians 9-13
3. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
A listing of contacts for equipment and materials is provided in the Connections section of the WBQA website. You will need the following equipment:
Electronic Quiz Seats
You will need a quiz box and pads. We recommend one of the following three sets.
1. Quiz Time: This battery operated set is the lowest priced and is extremely reliable.
2. Electronic Quizbox: This set includes timers and an option to connect to a scoreboard.
3. Quiz System: Similar to Electronic Quizbox with benches also available.
Depending upon the equipment and options, you will spend between $200 and $450.
Scripture Portions
Scripture portions are available from the WBQA at a low cost. Each new quizzer and coach should receive a scripture portion for the material you are covering.
Questions
Questions are available from WBQA and from other denominations. WBQA questions are taken word for word from the Scripture text, so as to encourage direct study and memorization of the Scriptures. Since these direct textual questions are not interpretive, quizzers from different denominations can compete together on an equal basis.
It is a good idea to provide sample questions to quizzers and coaches. Questions are an excellent study aid, as they help teens to learn the Scripture, and familiarize them with the format of the questions in an actual quiz. Some sample questions are provided in the WBQA information manual. Question books are also available.
For your actual quizzes, you will want to order Quiz Generator, a computer program to generate sets of questions. With minimal work, you will be prepared with as many sets as needed.
Scoresheets and Rules
The WBQA Official Rules, Rules Summary and Scoresheet are located in the Download section of the website. They can be downloaded and printed.
4. PLANNING YOUR FIRST QUIZ
The following are components of a good quiz day:
1. Opening / Devotions
Open with prayer and a short devotion on the material being studied. Make any necessary announcements and rules clarifications.
2. Preliminary bracket
Each team should quiz at least 3 preliminary quizzes. You will want to print the questions for each round prior to your quiz day. You may call WBQA for question sets, or order the Quiz Generator. Depending on the number of teams, you may want to run quizzes in more than one room.
Teams draw numbers to determine the preliminary bracket. For a half day, each team should have three preliminary quizzes; for a full day, we suggest six apiece. Allow a half hour per round when you map out the schedule, and keep a leader board on which to tally team standings. The following is a sample bracket for a 15-team event:
Some sample brackets are provided here.
3. Playoffs / Championships
After Preliminaries, teams place into a playoff or championship round. Teams are ranked by 10 points for each first place, 5 points per second, and one point per third. Total score points are used to break ties. If time is short or there are less than 9 teams, you may wish to place the top 3 teams directly into championships. The sample brackets here have worked well for many groups.
4. Awards
Everyone should gather for the championship quiz. As soon as this quiz ends, present awards to the top 3 teams and announce the top individual places for the day. You may wish to give ribbons, medals or trophies. Announce any future events and close with a time of prayer.
5. Fellowship
Recreation and fellowship times are extremely beneficial. Quizzers who spend time with each other will want to return for the next event. Some groups schedule events on a Saturday afternoon, then have a fellowship time in the evening. Even if this time is short, it is critical to include this opportunity somewhere in your schedule.