Calvary Church Wins National JBQ Title

Calvary Church (AG) of Naperville, Illinois, survived a close challenge to take home the Junior Bible Quiz (JBQ) team quizzing title during the 2016 National JBQ Festival held June 9-11 at the Sheffield Family Life Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Calvary Church edged out Living Word Community Church (AG) of Mechanicsville, Maryland, for the title. Both teams finished with a 7-2 record in the Level 1 quizzing finals, but Calvary won the head-to-head match 160-145 to give them the championship. Central Assembly of God, Springfield, Missouri, finished third.

According to Calvary Church JBQ program leader Bonnie Papendick, the church has had at least one team qualify for nationals every year since 1988. This is Calvary Church’s fifth national title.

Bobbie Barnes of First Assembly of God, Benton, Arkansas, was the top individual scorer for the festival, with 2,875 points. Gabi Acevedo of Church in the City (AG), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was second in scoring with 2,830 points, and Ryan Yumang of Hyland Park Assembly, Fayetteville, Arkansas, was third with 2,820 points.

Papendick, who has been involved in Calvary Church’s Bible quiz program for 34 years, says all five of her children (now grown) are JBQ sponsors, joining with other parents who volunteer their time to help kids memorize key Bible facts from the Bible Fact-Pak.

“I have seen it over the years,” she says, “kids getting involved in ministry, becoming pastors, missionaries, and church leaders because of JBQ — being grounded in the Word of God. I’ve had kids come back and tell me that they are serving God today because of JBQ.”

With the event being held in Missouri, the “Show Me” state, the theme for the festival was Show Me the Truth. In a brief devotional on the JBQ Festival website, it explained that “what’s showin’ on the outside is what’s growin’ on the inside,” referring to Galatians 5:22-23 and the Fruit of the Spirit.

“I tell kids and parents that our JBQ program is not about the competition,” Papendick says, “it’s about what they learn and what they live — that’s the bottom line and that’s what I want for these children.”

Mark Entzminger, senior director of AG Children’s Ministries, attended the national festival. “I am always impressed with how much dedication and commitment these kids have to God’s Word,” he states. “I was pleased to see an incredible amount of encouragement and support for every team regardless of where they finished in the tournament.”

Entzminger also commented on the excellent attitudes and spirit demonstrated by the coaches and kids he was able to interact with during the event. “I was really impressed with the spirit of the kids and the coaches who took an ‘attitude-before-competition’ approach.”

For complete results from the 2016 festival, see the JBQ National Festival website. For information about the JBQ program, click here.

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.