Children’s Bible Quizzing: Learning God’s Word through Competition
South Africa, 1985: Elaine Hamilton of the Horison Church of the Nazarene was told about the idea of children’s Bible Quizzing from an American, and a seed was planted that grew and grew. The idea took root for Hamilton, and she pursued Children’s Bible Quizzing with just a few other churches. Word spread quickly and soon more churches joined the quizzing fun and they were able to hold zone and district quizzes.
South Africa went through changes in 1994 with the end of Apartheid, and new districts were formed. The RSA Gauteng District was formed, and Hamilton carried the seed of Bible quizzing with her onto this new district. It did not take long for many churches to hear about the idea and grab onto it. The word spread across the district, and soon each of the 5 zones had multiple teams who wanted to compete. By 2003, children’s Bible quizzing became a key feature on the district calendar, and it continues to be that way more than 20 years later.
In the early years of Bible quizzing, the district used imported materials from the US, but each year, the materials got more and more expensive. Hamilton recognised this challenge that made it difficult for all churches to participate. She sat down at her computer and typed up everything she could find, changing the question format to fit the South African context better. She also created some new rules that reflected the needs of the local district, which included changing the age children could start. Hamilton also expanded the books of the Bible covered from 3 (Genesis, Exodus and Matthew) to 6 books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Acts and 1-2 Samuel). This addition allowed the children of South Africa who start quizzing in grade 1 to only repeat one book of the Bible if they quiz until grade 7.
Practically speaking, churches create their quizzing boxes from cardboard, wood, paper, cereal boxes or whatever they can find—no special supplies needed. The five zones on the district hold 3 qualifying quizzes per year, choosing the top quizzers from those competitions. The top quizzers from each zone come together in October to quiz for their zone and to crown the top zone on the district. Through stiff yet friendly competition, the children excitedly participate, competing for bragging rights for another year.
As she began to age, Hamilton started mentoring Mrs Penny Davids from a nearby church to take the baton of quizzing forward on the Gauteng District. Davids states that as soon as she married into the Nazarene church in 2002, she began working with children’s quizzing and was taught by Hamilton how to run the programme. “Over the years, I’ve seen first-hand how much quizzing impacts children’s lives,” she stated. “Honestly, I could write a book about its benefits!”
Davids states that the children were always celebrated for their achievements, which motivated the kids to keep going and for new children to join. “Most of our youth and young adult leaders in [my local] church today are former quizzers — a true testament to how deeply God’s Word takes root.” Davids even quipped how her own children quizzed for many years, and her 22-year-old daughter still fondly re-tells her favourite story from Matthew she learned in grade 3 (about age 9).
In addition to getting the kids excited about learning God’s Word, Davids asserts that laying the groundwork for the children is important. Going through the chapters of the Bible covered, talking about the characters, the concepts and ideas that are expressed in the Scripture is crucial. It is also a good idea for families to use the book of the Bible in their family devotion time, or for mothers and fathers to sit with the children and read through the assigned chapters each week. Bible quizzing needs to have the involvement of the parents to be truly successful, according to Davids.
Since 2022, Dr Miranda Mileke has led the quizzing to higher heights on the RSA Gauteng District. This year, more than 350 children on the district participated. “To quiz successfully requires having a structure in place,” stated Dr Mileke. “Each zone needs a leader…[but] training is also necessary. There will be a need to make the quizzing materials available to all participating churches/zones. Most important of all, is the need for support from the local church, parents, pastors and all those who love children’s ministry.” Dr Mileke would agree this is not a programme she can run on her own, but needs a team of volunteers across the district to work with her to make it a success.
Do you want to start Children’s Bible Quizzing on your district? Contact Ms Miriam Rocha, the Africa Region Quiz Coordinator, on mrocha@africanazarene.org.
