Annual California Bible Bowl

May 17, 2008

by Christina Larrechea

What are the names of the four river heads coming out of the Garden of Eden? Give up? If you were on one of the 2008 Bible Bowl teams, you would have known the answer to that question and literally hundreds of others, all taken from the first eleven chapters of Genesis.

For the past three years, the California branch churches in Los Angeles, Richmond, Sacramento, and Woodlake have put together a team of young people to compete for the title of “Bible Bowl Champs” of the year. The Bible Bowl originally started under the direction of Duane and Rosa Ross, and it has been a huge hit! This year the four teams, consisting of young people from the ages of thirteen to twenty-five, were instructed in January to study the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Reverend Mark Staller, the pastor of our church in Tehachapi, California, extensively studied these chapters for several months, and generated over 250 different questions in various categories: multiple-choice, true/false, fill in the blank, and verse memorization. There were two different point levels of questions asked in a round-robin format: two questions that were considered “easy” worth ten points, and one question that was considered “tough” worth twenty points. The easy questions had to be answered by the individual who hit his or her buzzer, while the harder questions could be discussed and answered as a team.

This year's tournament took place in Woodlake on May 17 during our annual special meetings. The activity room at the church was packed to overflowing Saturday afternoon, and the spectators wore t-shirts supporting the team from their local branch church. While the teams nervously waited, last-minute rules were determined and judges were chosen to oversee challenges to any of the questions or answers. The first competition between Los Angeles' team, “Souljaz,” under the direction of Alan Lambert and Ron Gaddis, and Richmond's team, “Gideon Knights,” under the direction of Rich and Sue Martz, ended with Los Angeles being the winner. Next, Woodlake's team, “The Coat of Many Colors,” led by Dave and Rosie Lambert and Jay and Christi Larrechea, and Sacramento 's team, “The Aviators,” led by Daniel and Daniela Mocan and Jay and Kimberly Joseph, competed against each other, with Sacramento being the victor.

After a short break with food and fellowship, the teams from Woodlake and Richmond competed for a spot in the semifinals. Richmond won, taking Woodlake out of the competition. After winning the next round with Sacramento, Los Angeles qualified for the finals. The Sacramento team also qualified for the finals after their victory over Richmond in the semifinals. The air was tense as the Sacramento and Los Angeles teams took their places for the final round. After many more questions and challenges by the teams' coaches, the Los Angeles team was pronounced the 2008 Bible Bowl Champion and was awarded a trophy.

While the competition was fierce, it was all done for the glory and honor of God. All the competitors spent an extensive amount of time inside and outside of Sunday school studying and preparing for this competition. Regardless of who won, those who participated learned the first eleven chapters of Genesis “backwards and forwards.” The California branch churches all look forward to next year's competition if the Lord tarries.