The 2018 Bible quizzing season ended on a high note with the North American Bible Quiz Tournament (NABQT) in Springfield, Missouri. And what a wonderfully anointed note it was! From the opening worship in orientation to the final prayer at the banquet, the Lord was present!

Our new Senior Bible Quizzing branding was a surprise reveal to all our teams as they gathered for orientation. The new logo combines the written Word that is memorized and studied with the spoken word that is not only asked and answered at the quiz board, but then shared with a world in need. It represents the dynamic synergy between the Logos and Rhema that is alive and powerful in the lives of young people.

With fifty-seven (57) intermediate teams and fifty-eight (58) experienced teams participating, congratulations to The Anchor Church from Zanesville, Ohio (Pastor Aaron Bounds) and Calvary Apostolic Church from Concord, Georgia (Pastor Tim Grayson) for emerging as champions in the intermediate and experienced divisions respectively! Both of these churches continue a tradition of raising strong young people in the Word. The Anchor not only won intermediate nationals but also junior nationals. Calvary Apostolic is in rare company as back-to-back champions (2017 and 2018).

Devotions by our General Youth President, Joshua B. Carson (“Clearing Customs”) and Pastor Aaron Bounds (“All Mixed Up”) are available on the Senior Bible Quizzing Facebook page and are must-watch messages. These men of God were in sync with the Holy Ghost and with each other, which led to eager and submissive responses to the Word in God’s lingering presence.

The annual Prayer & Share service saw thirty-five young people conclude 270 cumulative years of quizzing with inspiring testimonies of the impact of God’s Word in and through their lives. Just as the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites faithfully walked and left the results to God, they were charged to continue to walk in the Word they had learned despite challenges, despite confusion, despite questions—and to trust that God’s plan will always yield results. As good as it has been, God has better things ahead!

After twenty-five years as an NABQT official, Bishop James Beardsley is stepping away from his seat at the judges’ table. Bishop Beardsley was a catalyst for and instrumental in the advent of the intermediate division of Bible quizzing. He shared in its vision, championed its purpose, helped develop the proof of concept, and piloted the division locally and within the New Jersey-Delaware District. From his quizzers and their families, he planted three daughter works that are now autonomous churches. At his last banquet as an official, we honored him by having him present the inaugural James Beardsley Intermediate Division Coach of the Year Award.

After Pastor Norman Paslay II regaled us with stories of quizzing-gone-by at our fiftieth anniversary quiz banquet last year, we never thought he wouldn’t be with us to share in another. Having Sister Paslay and Kristen Ellis, their eldest daughter, join us this year brought a blessed salve to our loss as a quiz family. We pray the comfort was mutual. As our keynote speaker, Kristen spoke beautifully and transparently about her dad’s quiz legacy as an eleven-time champion and the only three-time Coach of the Year recipient. Sister Paslay then graced us by presenting the inaugural Norman R. Paslay, II Experienced Division Coach of the Year Award.

Thank yous abound to all who made this quiz season and the 2018 NABQT possible. Thank you to our UPCI Youth Ministries executives, Brothers Carson, Reinking, and Thomas; thank you to our UPCI Youth Ministries staff, especially Tamra Schultz and Jared Hunt; thank you to our promo team, Taylor Locke, Heather Reece, and Brenae Hord; thank you to all our NABQT officials, especially our split-session quizmasters Brian Huffman (intermediate) and Jay Lytle (experienced); and last, but in no way least, to our intermediate division quizmaster Clay Strawn!

It is early, but if you’ve not yet been involved in Senior Bible Quizzing, 2019 is the season to wait no longer. In an ever-turbulent world awash in unstable politics, swayed by empty rhetoric, and overwhelmed by cultural compromise, our youth will stand firm on “Unshakable” Bible doctrine.

Russ Faubert serves as the Bible Quizzing Director for UPCI Youth Ministries.