Listen to this article
by Lisa R. Smith, Captain
The Northwest Division’s Wenatchee, Wash., Bible Bowl team took the championship at this year’s Territorial Bible Bowl competition.
Eight divisions sent four-person teams to compete. They were quizzed in detail on the Gospel of Matthew. Three matches at Crestmont on Friday afternoon narrowed the competition down to three finalists: Wenatchee, Wash.; Oceanside, Calif.; and Oxnard, Calif.
With junior soldiers on vocals, keyboards, guitar and percussion, the Oakland Garden Center, Calif. junior praise team started Saturday morning’s gathering off on a wonderful note as they led the congregation in a time of praise and worship. With that focus of praise established, the championship match began.
It was clear that the teams had taken their study seriously. The audience witnessed each team answering detailed questions and quoting verbatim several different passages of scripture from the book of Matthew. At the end of two 20-minute halves, the game concluded with the following scores: Wenatchee—600, Oxnard—530, and Oceanside—110. Wenatchee’s winning team included team captain Charles Keifer (14), and Ashleigh Smith (14), Robin Smith (12), and LJ Henneigh (12).
At the end of the championship game, Territorial Youth Secretary Captain Kyle Smith gave his acknowledgment and thanks to corps officers and local leaders. “I want the leaders of all corps Bible Bowl teams to know how much we appreciate their investment in the lives of these kids. Their efforts in making the time to help kids learn the Word of God will result in more spiritual dividends than we could ever imagine.”
The impact of the Bible Bowl program is well understood by Captain Kimberley Soriano, Wenatchee corps officer and coach of their Bible Bowl team. “This year, each of our Bible Bowl team members memorized 24 passages from Matthew,” Soriano explains. “During one of our Bible studies a team member commented how one of her verses helped her through a tough time she was going through at school. Another team member mentioned that studying the book of Matthew confirmed his call to officership. We have seen our kids grow in the Lord, and become positive leaders among their peers in the corps through Bible Bowl.”
Saturday evening, in the appointment service for the Preparers of the Way session of cadets, Commissioner Phil Swyers presented the championship trophy to Wenatchee’s team, adding his own words of encouragement and congratulations.