Learn More About Quizzing

History of Teen Quizzing

Questions and Answers

Rules

Practices and meets

History

Teen Bible quizzing was initiated within the Kansas City Youth for Christ organization in the fall of 1946. The idea of young people studying God's Word and answering questions competitively quickly spread to other youth organizations and denominations. At the 1950 Youth for Christ International Convention, the first National Bible Quiz Tournament was held.

Quizzing was picked up by the Church of the Nazarene in 1957. Not until the 1964 Nazarene Young People's Society Convention did quizzing become an official part of the youth program. The first Nazarene National Bible Quizzing Tournament was held in Estes Park, Colorado, in 1966.

The Nazarene teen Bible quizzing program underwent such a rapid period of growth in the early 1970s that a separate division of Nazarene Publishing House, Quiz Specialties, was organized to produce and distribute only quizzing resources and materials. Quiz Specialties quickly became and has remained the largest producer of teen Bible quizzing materials, resourcing both Nazarene and non-Nazarene quizzing organizations.

Teen quizzing saw the establishment of the interdenominational World Bible Quiz Association (WBQA) in 1974 and the switch from the King James Version to the New International Version of the Bible in 1978.

After experiencing a decline in participation during the late 1970s, teen Bible quizzing was rejuvenated during the 1980s by an increased emphasis on disciple making. The 1980s also saw the expansion of the study cycle in 1984 and the establishment of numerous invitational quizzes. The state of Bible quizzing in the 1990s is one of health and continual stability in participation. More and more teenagers and youth leaders are realizing just what an impact Bible quizzing can have on their lives!

Questions and Answers

What is quizzing?

Quizzing is a sport where you study the Bible, (they also have math and science quizzing at FOL but this page is about Bible quizzing,) go to meets, answer questions, jump, and have great Christian fellowship all at the same time!

What parts of the Bible do we study?

We study 8 parts of the New Testament (one per quiz season) in cycles. After we've done all 8, the cycle starts over agian.

2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Romans and James	Acts	Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon	Luke	1&2 Corinthians	John	Hebrews and 1&2 Peter	Matthew

Is there an age limit?

Yes, quizzers must be between 6th and 12th grades. Younger kids on our district can see Angelina Jones about children's quizzing. Those over the age limit should consider being involved as coaches or scorekeepers. I know Renee (our district leader) will appreciate your help!

When do we practice?

See Practices and Meets at the bottom of this page

Quizzing Rules

This is a rules summary from YouthQuiz.com. It is solely intended as a general guide to youthquiz.com's set of quizzing rules for informational purposes only, and should not be substituted for the complete rules set. See YouthQuiz.com for more.

THE TEAM

Quizzers:

A regular team has five members. A team can have fewer or more than five members, but only five may participate in any one round. During quiz rounds, there are four quizzers and one substitute. Substitutes can only replace an active quizzer during time-outs or when an active quizzer has answered four toss-up questions correctly or three incorrectly, or has committed three fouls. One quizzer is designated the captain. Only the captain may address the officials regarding appeals, challenges, rebuttals, or time-outs.

Coaches:

Each team can have one adult serve as a coach during a quiz. The coach can request time-outs and make substitutions during them. Only the designated coach may be in the quiz area with the quiz team. The coach cannot talk to the team during questions.

THE OFFICIALS

Competition Director:

The competition director organizes the quiz and recruits other officials, meeting with them to determine rule interpretation. The competition director is responsible for getting the questions to be used to the quizmasters and content judges. The competition director is responsible for publicity, location, awards, and other aspects of the quiz.

Quiz Master:

The quizmaster reads each question for the quizzers, and recognizes the first quizzer to jump after the start of the question. The quizmaster rules on the correctness of answers to toss-up and bonus questions, and on appeals. The quizmaster calls any fouls, and may call fouls for conduct. The quizmaster's interpretation of the official rules is final.

Content Judge:

The content judge assists the quizmaster with rulings on challenges and rebuttals, and listens for misreads or errors in questions. The content judge informs the quizmaster of any fouls. The content judge can also serve as a timekeeper.

Scorekeeper:

The scorekeeper records the official team lineups, points gained or lost, and final individual and team scores. The scorekeeper supplies the quizmaster with score updates, and notifies the quizmaster when a quizzer has answered four questions correctly or three incorrectly, or committed three fouls; and when a team has five errors, two overruled challenges, or has requested a substitution.

THE QUIZ

Questions:

All English language questions should be based on The Holy Bible, New International Version. Toss-up questions are read only once. If no quizzer answers within five seconds, the quizmaster reads the answer, and then the next question. Questions can be appealed based on misreading or erroneous information among other things. The quizmaster must announce what type of question each question is before reading it.

Quiz Area:

All quizzers have to sit facing the quizmaster. Only officials, coaches, quizzers and substitutes may be in the quiz area during a quiz, including during time-outs.

Team Lineups:

Each team turns in its lineup before each round. Lineups can't be changed once they're turned in. Late lineups result in point deductions. Teams that are over ten minutes late forfeit the round. Teams found violating the lineup receive a foul.

Time-outs:

In a two-team quiz, each team gets two 60-second time-outs. In a three-team quiz, each team gets one 60-second time-out. Only officials, coaches and captains can call time-outs. No time-outs can be taken after question 18 has been pre-announced.

Quiz Length:

A quiz is 20 toss-up questions long (11 general and 9 specialty questions). If there is a tie after 20 questions, single general questions are asked until there is not a tie at the end of a question. No lineup changes can occur during tiebreakers.

Jumping:

The first quizzer off the seat is recognized and given the opportunity to answer the question. Either electronic equipment or three jump judges are used to determine who jumped first. The quizmaster stops reading the question as soon as a quizzer jumps. The quizzer has 30 seconds to answer. If the question was not completed when stopped, the quizzer must finish the question as part of the answer.

Scoring:

Correct answers to toss-up questions are worth 20 points. Correct answer to bonus questions are worth 10 points. There are various bonus scores available as well. Fouls, incorrect/over-ruled challenges and rebuttals, and some errors cause a 10 point deduction. Points scored or deducted during tiebreaker questions do not affect scores for that quiz, and are only used for tiebreaking purposes.

Team Standings:

The most popular methods for determining team standings in a competition are Round Robin Win/Loss Record, Round Robin Olympic Points, Round Robin Modified Olympic Points, and Single-/Double-/Triple-Elimination Tournament. However, alternate methods can be used as long as they're agreed upon by all participants.

Practices and Meets

We meet on Sunday afternoons @ 4pm @ our church, but you might meet differently with your church. Sunday and Wednesday nights are great. The quiz meets and tournaments are listed on our quizzing homepage.