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Epworth League Quizzing Rules
Scripture Search and Sword Drill
I. PURPOSE
The Scripture Search and Sword Drill are Bible drills. Their purpose is to teach young people to handle the word of God effectively. The Sword Drill is so named because the Bible is spoken of as the Christian’s sword in Ephesians 6:17.
II. CONTESTANTS
Those eligible for the SCRIPTURE SEARCH shall be age 9 and under as of October 1. Those eligible for the SWORD DRILL shall be ages 10 to 12 as of October 1. Everyone is eligible to represent his Epworth League at each District Meeting if he is designated by his local League. Each District League shall determine the number of contestants allowed to represent each local League at the district meeting.
III. METHOD OF DRILL
A. Officials
1. Quizmaster
2. Scorekeeper
3. Two judges (one at each end of the row of contestants) to determine who will answer first.
4. Accuracy Judge: Determines whose answer will be accepted.
5. Timekeeper
B. Contestants: All eligible contestants shall sit in a row at the front of the auditorium.
C. Calls
1. “Attention”- When the Quizmaster calls “Attention,” the contestants sit down completely in a chair.
2. “Draw Swords”- When the Quizmaster calls “Draw Swords,” the contestants bring their Bibles to the waistline immediately in front of the body with the thumbs along the back edge. (This manner of holding the Bible prevents the tendency to slip the thumb into the pages prior to the charge.) It does not matter which hand is on top. Each infraction of this rule results in a penalty of one point.
3. Assignment- The Quizmaster announces the Scripture passage or other drill item. The assignment is given twice, slowly and distinctly.
4. “Charge”- At this command, all contestants begin to search for the assigned drill item. When a contestant finds the correct item he must have his finger on the correct passage before standing up. He then stands up completely (both feet must be planted on the floor and standing up straight) and waits to be recognized by the Quizmaster.
D. Bible: The contestants must use Bibles without thumb index or any other type of aid (such as underlined verses, stars placed by verses or ribbons that would assist the contestants in locating the book, chapter or verse.
E. Time: The timekeeper allows 15 seconds before calling time. If no contestant steps out during the 15 seconds allowed for a drill item, the Quizmaster goes on to the next item. The timekeeper should use a regulation stopwatch, if available. A timepiece with a large second hand may be substituted.
IV. TYPES OF DRILLS
- Scripture Search Drill: The Scripture reference is given and the contestants find the verse in the Bible.
- Book Drill: In this drill, the name of a book in the Bible is given. Contestants must find the book and be ready to tell which book comes before and which book follows it before stepping forward.
- Unfinished Quotation Drill: The Quizmaster quotes the first part of a verse of Scripture. The contestants must know its location and turn to it in the Bible.
- Character Drill: The Quizmaster will call out facts about a Bible character. The Quizmaster will start with lesser known facts and gradually give easier clues. The contestants find a verse in the Bible that refers to the character that is being described by the Quizmaster. The Quizmaster will allow five seconds for a response before moving on to the next clue. Up to five clues will be given per Bible character. A total of thirty seconds will be allowed for each question in this drill.
- Topical Drill: The Quizmaster gives a word or phrase and the contestants must find it contained in a verse of Scripture. Contestants may have different verses.
- Location Drill: The Quizmaster will describe locations, and the contestants will have to name the location being described. The Quizmaster will start with lesser known facts and gradually give easier clues until someone answers correctly. The Quizmaster will allow five seconds for a response before moving on to the next clue. A total of thirty seconds will be allowed for each question in this drill. Up to five clues will be given per location.
- Doctrinal Drill: The Quizmaster will read a verse in the Bible which sets forth some great Bible doctrine. The contestants will have to name the doctrine being described by the verse.
V. SCORING
A. One point shall be awarded to the first contestant to stand if his answer is correct. If the first contestant’s answer is incorrect, the second person to stand is then given an opportunity to answer the question and receive one point for a correct answer. No penalty is given for an incorrect answer. However, contestants many only attempt to correctly answer a given question one time. In the case of a tie in standing, both contestants will be given the opportunity to answer the question and receive one point for a correct answer.
B. The contestant must have his finger at the beginning of the correct passage before standing up. An infraction of this rule is considered to be an error and therefore he shall be ineligible to answer the question.
C. Each contest will involve ten questions. All questions must come from the official Sword Drill Handout.
D. The contestant with the highest number of points shall be declared the winner. The contestant with the second highest number of points shall be declared the runner-up. In the event of a tie, three additional items shall be used in a tie-breaking drill in which all rules apply as in the original contest.
VI. MATERIAL TO BE USED
During the first, second, and third quarters, use the materials listed for each specific quarter. The fourth quarter will be a review quarter covering all material from the first three quarters. There will be no new material included in the fourth quarter.
For the Sword Drill competition, during the first quarter the Book Drill and Unfinished Quotations Drill will be used. During the second quarter, the Character Drill and Topical Drill will be used, and during the third quarter, the Location and Doctrinal Drill will be used.
At the conference level of competition, contestants will be using Nelson King James Version Holy Bible: Gift and Award Edition.
BIBLE BOWL
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of the Bible Bowl is to promote the study of the Bible among our teens. To know God we must know His Word. Therefore, the intent of this Bible game is to help the teen in the study of the Word of God. Judas asked Jesus how he was going to make Himself known to them. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23
II. CONTESTANTS
Those eligible for the BIBLE BOWL shall be ages 13 to 18 as of October 1. Each local league is to encourage the teens to study the materials for the Bible Bowl. Each local League is to have a team of no more than five. They are to represent their local League at the District meetings. (If a local League does not have enough contestants for a team, they may team up with another local League or Leagues to form a team at the District meeting.) Each team is allowed to have up to five contestants participating but does not have to have five to compete.
Each District is to pick an “All Start Bowl Team” to represent them at the Annual Conference Epworth League Meeting. Each District can determine the method of choosing their all stars. An “All Star” must come from those who were in the District Bible Bowl for that year. Each district can pick as many “All Stars” as they would like, but only five contestants can represent the District at the Annual Conference meeting.
III. METHOD OF DRILL
A. Officials
1. Quizmaster
2. Scorekeeper
3. Two judges (one at each end of the row of contestants) to determine who will answer first.
4. Accuracy Judge: Determines whose answer will be accepted.
5. Timekeeper
B. Contestants: All eligible contestants shall stand with their team. They are not to converse with each other until thequestion is read. One person on each team should be designated as the team spokesperson.
C. Format: Each team will be asked at least three questions. This will be determined by the number of teams who are in the Bible Bowl Game. The Quizmaster will draw a question from among the questions. (The Quizmaster should have the questions formatted so that he does not know the question to be asked. This will take away any suspicion of favoritism from among the contestants.) The question will be presented to the team and they will have fifteen seconds to converse. The Quizmaster will ask for the answer and the team spokesperson will give the answer. If the answer is wrong, only the first team to step out has the opportunity to correctly answer the question. The other teams will be given ten seconds to respond. If no one responds, the answer is given by the Quizmaster. The Quizmaster then goes to the next question for the next team.
V. SCORING
A. One point shall be awarded to the team if their answer is correct. If the first team’s answer is incorrect, the second team to step forward is then given an opportunity to answer the question and receive one point for a correct answer. No penalty is given for an incorrect answer. However, contestants many only attempt to correctly answer a given question one time. In the case of a tie in stepping forward, both teams will be given the opportunity to answer the question and receive one point for a correct answer.
B. The team with the highest number of points shall be declared the winner. The team with the second highest number of points shall be declared the runner-up. In the event of a tie, the teams that are tied will select one member of their team to represent them. These representatives will then be given three tie breaker questions in the form of a Scripture Search contest.
VI. MATERIAL TO BE USED
The Annual Conference Epworth League Executive Committee will select the book(s) of the Bible that will be studied during each conference year. A study book will also be recommended to help in the study. The book will be divided into four sections, with each section being covered during one quarter.Questions will be sent directly to each District from the Youth Director for use at the District level meeting. The King James Version of the Bible will be used when writing the questions.
EAC Epworth League Quizzing Rules