Assemblies of God News

National Bible Quiz Finals week begins

Each year quizzers from the top 40 teams from across the nation gather together for a week of fun, fellowship and competition at the National Bible Quiz Finals. The 2008 National Finals are being held in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The festivities started Sunday morning, July 6, with a celebration service, which highlighted several senior quizzers ministering in music, drama and preaching. Anointed worship led by Central Assembly of God (Green Bay) ushered in the presence of the Lord followed by a powerful message. Senior quizzer, John Patrick ("JP") O'Connor from Tacoma (Washington) Life Center spoke about putting into practice the Word of God - not just memorizing it.

Official competition started with a Senior Shoot-Out competition. Each senior quizzer participating on a National Finals team was eligible to participate in this competition. More than 20 senior quizzers competed over the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon (GEPCP) material studied to earn scholarship money for college. When the competition ended Joshua Forsman (Christian Temple, Houston, Texas) and James Pryer (Orange Hills Assembly of God, Orange, California) walked away as the top winners.

The day continued with a One-on-One tournament. Each individual participant competed against one another in a four-round seating competition to determine where they would continue to compete for the remainder of the week.

Following the One-on-One Tournament was a newly added category for the 2008 National Finals-Preaching Ministry. Each participant-team or individual-was eligible to compete in this category. Students formulated a five-minute sermon with 90 percent of their commentary coming straight out of the GEPCP material and 10 percent coming from other sources. The winners of this category will be announced at the Awards Banquet to be held on Friday, July 11.

As the first day drew to a close, students had the opportunity to participate in an Individual Dramatized Quoting category. Students participating in this event chose a chapter and then delivered the chapter in a dramatic way, which was unique to each quizzer. Winners from this category will also be announced at the Awards Banquet this Friday.

For more information on Bible Quiz, see its Web site.