Oklahoma Wesleyan University recently hosted the 2012 National Wesleyan Bible Bowl Tournament, held June 27-30 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The 15 teams participating in this year’s tournament represented 12 churches from eight different states, spanning from Oklahoma to New York.
Approximately 180 guests attended the event on the OKWU campus, 75 as competing quizzers. Remaining guests were coaches, judges, family, friends, and spectators.
This year, teams memorized Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter in entirety. Some teams began studying for the competition last August. The competition consists of three days of quizzing with students competing both individually and as a team. Each team quizzes against every other team for the first two days of the competition. On the third day, the teams are ranked into two brackets. The two teams losing the least amount of games head to the final match.
This year Christ Wesleyan Church from Milton, PA, took home the title.
Every student competing in the National Wesleyan Bible Bowl can win scholarships to any of the four Wesleyan Universities. This year, OKWU doubled its scholarship for the student who chooses to attend the university.
Each morning at the conference, Jake Follis of Voice of the Martyrs led devotions, while OKWU staff and alumni led worship.
“The 2012 National tournament will be remembered for several things: the incredible hospitality of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, our partnership with Voice of the Martyrs for our daily messages, and the integration of technology into our scoring system, including real-time updates at a central kiosk,” said Jim Terwilliger, Wesleyan Bible Bowl national director.
“But we also hope that what will be remembered by each quizzer more than anything else is the Word of God. Quizzers put in hours of study and it is the hope and prayer of each leader that this study will lead to life transformation.”