“We try to make it fun to learn Scripture. In a nutshell, that’s what we do.”
Keith Smith serves as the president of the National Bible Bowl board and knows personally how Bible Bowl has been helping students find joy in studying the Bible for six decades.
Hear Keith and Stacy discuss the impact of Bible Bowl on the K-LOVE God Story Podcast with Reilly Gaunt below
A Growing Ministry
Bible Bowl is a nationwide organization with teams competing from as far west as Colorado to as far east as Florida. And since 2020 and the creation of a virtual league, Bible Bowl has reached teams across the ocean.
“If you're in an area where we don't have an existing in-person league, you can create a team and play in the virtual league, and we also have missionary groups that use the virtual buzzing system to play not only against each other but also against American teams," Smith said.
Smith said he never expected Bible Bowl to go international, but it’s been one of his favorite recent developments with the organization.
“It was kind of a really cool experience a few months ago when I was sitting in my house in Florida reading questions to one team who was located in West Africa and another team that was located in another part of Africa with contributing team members in Scotland, and that was all happening at the same time, which was really kind of a cool experience."
Student Impact
Not only does Bible Bowl inspire a love of competition with students -- it also teaches kids how to study Scripture like no other activity can.
Stacy Helton has been involved with Bible Bowl her whole life, from playing as a teenager to founding and coaching her own team for the past 14 years. During her time coaching her elementary school students, she discovered something incredible.
While studying the book of John, the kids remembered references to Passover from when they studied Exodus the year prior.
“I still get chills when I talk about it. Their eyes got so big, and they got so excited because they saw the connection between the story they learned in Exodus early in the Old Testament to this passage in John where Jesus is still celebrating the Passover all these years later, and the kids were just amazed. They were so excited and so amazed, and what captured their wonder was the word of God."
Bible Bowl give students the unique opportunity to study the Bible deeper than most other kids. What they lean stays with them even after graduating from the program.
Smith said that Bible Bowl alumni have come to him and told him that Bible Bowl was a direct impact in their decision to pursue ministry further.
“I know that Bible has played a very critical role in that because they've come back and told us, ‘If it wasn't for Bible Bowl and for keeping me grounded in Scripture, I wouldn't have gone onto the mission field. I wouldn't have been involved in local ministry. I wouldn't have gone on to Bible college to be a preacher or a youth leader,’” Smith said.
Bible Bowl instills the Word of God into these young people through the act of study and repetition. And by constantly immersing themselves in the Scripture, the students come out changed.
“The Word of God is powerful. The Word of God is transformative,” Helton said. “When it is in our lives, it shapes us. And the spirit of God in us uses that Word that's in our minds and in our hearts to make us more like Jesus."
How Does it Work?
Churches, youth groups, schools or co-op groups can form a team and join a local (or virtual) league. Each season concludes with a national tournament following three monthly competitions for local leagues.
Teams consist of 3-5 players and a league can be as small as 3 teams or as large as 30+ teams. Students grades 3-5 are in the “Beginner” Bible Bowl league while students grades 6-12 participate in the “Teen” league.
Modeled after modern-day Jeopardy, players choose categories and answer questions based on whatever book(s) they are currently studying. Whichever team has the most points at the end of a 20 question game wins.
Currently Bible Bowl’s biggest presence lies in Florida and the Midwest. But Bible Bowl has a growing presence in the West as well. And if unable to participate in an in-person league due to distance, teams can always join the virtual league instead.
If interested in forming a team or league of your own, you can visit biblebowl.org or contact Keith Smith at office@biblebowl.org to connect with local leaders.