To the Bible Quizzing Family,   

Another very fine day of Bible Quizzing is in the record books.  I’m very glad you all were able to be there, and am very thankful for the many who worked to make it possible.  The longer we do this, the more conscious I am of this being an event that brings glory and honor to God, for whom we quiz.  There is joy in being able to do this unto Him, and I’m thankful to be a part of it with all of you.

Devotions and Worship: Jeremy Marquez and Josiah Faas led us in a wonderful time of worship and devotions.  Thanks so much, guys!  It really sets the tone for the afternoon.  We have openings for someone to lead us in worship in December, and for both worship and devotions for the remaining months after that.  Please consider volunteering, and contact me about it.

Olympic Memory Challenge: Congratulations to the many quizzers who participated this past month.  There were 31% of the A/B League quizzers, and 87% of the Little League quizzers who earned certificates.  What an awesome thing!  Keep it up!  I can testify that you’ll see rewards from memorizing God’s word that are beyond what you expect. 

Upper Bracket Individual Round Quiz: I heard nothing but positive comments regarding the change we made, so we’ll plan to continue doing it each month:  In the upper bracket room for the individual round in both leagues, quizzers will error out with their second error.  This significantly reduced the number of errors in these quizzes.

News from the Tally Room: First, a huge thank you for the excellent job in filling out the scoresheets this month.  We’ll continue to make sure the quizmasters have the scorekeeper guideline summary in their packets, as perhaps that was instrumental reducing scoring errors this month.

Second, we will need some people to work in the Tally Room during our January quiz.  If some of you would like to volunteer to do this, please let me know.  If you’re unfamiliar with the data entry program, we’ll need to have you work in the Tally Room in December for some on-the-job training.

Crown College Tournament: Crown College is in St. Bonifacius, Mn, about 30 miles west of the Twin Cities.  The tournament will be January 16-17, 2009 (Martin Luther King weekend) for our A/B League quizzers.  Plan to arrive Friday night at 5:00pm for registration and supper, with quizzing starting afterwards.  The tournament should end about 9:30pm on Saturday, so it will be a late-night drive home.  Here are some specific details:

•    Registration is due when we meet for our December quiz.  Please try to work out your team arrangements ahead of time.

•    We would like to take entire teams.  Where that is not possible, we will combine individual quizzers into other teams.  There are “A” and “B” divisions, and our strongest teams, as well as quizzers who have been to this tournament several times, will need to compete in the “A” division

•    Registration fees are $55 per person, for both quizzers and coaches.  For families with multiple quizzers and/or coaches, the fee per person drops to $45 beginning with the third person.  You can pay your registration fee at either our December or January quiz.  Costs for spectators will vary depending on how your meal and housing arrangements.  We’ll have those details at the December quiz.

•    The tournament will cover Luke 1:1 - 3:24, chapters 9-11 and chapters 13-17.

•    You will need to bring sleeping bags and your own personal items.  We will be sleeping on the floor of dormitory rooms and/or lounges.  School will be in session, so we’ll be part of normal college weekend life.

•    We will need some adults to go as coaches and/or drivers.

Help Needed: We need volunteers each month to help with setup and tear down.  All months are open for the rest of the year.  Please contact me to sign up.  Thanks

Bible Quizzing Videos: I mentioned that we are very interested in having video promotions for the program.  We’re encouraging you to get creative and make some.  We’d like to have them on our website so people can get an idea of what quizzing is all about.  Work individually, or work together in groups.  If you need someone to help with video editing, I’m sure there’s someone out there who would be willing to do that.

Bible Quizzing 25th Anniversary Celebration: We’re wanting to plan a really special event.  If you’ve got ideas, we’d like to hear them, and we’d love to have a few of you be part of the planning group to make this happen.  Contact Martha to volunteer!  In addition, if you can start giving us contact information for former quizzers or quizzing families, we’ll add them to the list of people to contact about the celebration.

Lost and Found: We’re accumulating a pile of sweatshirts and other things.  If you think you’re missing something, please contact us, and we’ll see if we’ve got it.

Finances: We’ve got about $767 in our general fund that is used for normal operating expenses.  We’re okay at the moment, but will need donations throughout the year to make ends meet.  Please consider whether this would be a good time to make a donation.  Thanks much!

Next Month:  Our next quiz meet is coming up on December 13, at 1:00pm at Emmanuel Baptist Church.  The A/B League will quiz over Luke 10:25 - 11:54 and all of chapters 13 and 14; the Little League will quiz over all of chapter 6.  Points earned in this meet will be multiplied by 140% when accumulated for the year

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.  And, thank you for your support of Bible Quizzing.

Karl Kirkman, Bible Quizzing Director