BIBLE BOWL UPDATE 7/2/20

Due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 Virus we have decided to host a virtual bible bowl this year. We are excited to introduce this option to allow everyone to participate as it will cut down on the uncertainty of social distancing requirements. At this time TTU has not even finalized any sports schedules and the Hooper Eblen Center is NOT available. Unfortunately there are no other venue options that would host such a large event here in Cookeville where we would be able to meet in person. We did consider having the event at multiple locations but were worried about the possibility of a future travel ban that would necessitate cancelling Bible Bowl. We wanted to have a safe option that would eliminate the possibility of having to cancel Bible Bowl entirely!

We are saddened about not getting to see all of our brethren in person on September 12th here in Cookeville but we are also very enthusiastic and eager to provide a virtual bible bowl alternative this year. By going online we are hoping to reach more participants in other states across the country or even different parts of the world! God has a plan for Bible Bowl this year and we are thrilled to be on this journey! To God be the glory!

This year, we will record videos of the questions being read and powerpoints slides (tol replicate how we normally have Bible Bowl) for each round and post them to our youtube channel at 8:30 On September 12th. Each team of participants will answer questions from their own home congregation, the venue of their choice, or at members homes. All that is required is an internet connection and a computer and projector, or a Smart TV. We can email the questions, as a pdf or the pptx, to any congregation that needs or wants them too.

This also allows your congregation to have Bible Bowl at the time of your choosing, you do not necessarily have to start at 8:30. Your congregation could even have it on Sunday following church service. You can pause the video for young achievers to go get snacks, go to the restroom, or even take a nap and never miss a question!

We do want all congregations to still register so we can track how many congregations and “teams” we have participating but we are waiving the registration fee for the Virtual 2020 BibleBowl since we will be neither renting the Hoop nor the projectors and screens.

We ask each congregation to submit their participants' individual scores on our website by noon on Monday Sept. 14th, so we can compile a list of top scorers to be put on the website. No scores will be accepted after this deadline, but a congregation could still have their own Bible Bowl at a later date.

We also encourage each congregation to design tee shirts and to set up as teams to compete within their congregation. We will not be collecting any team scores, as we are not doing any team competition this year. We will post videos of the semi and final rounds for the congregations that want to use them for their own competitions.

Participating in the 2020 Virtual Bible Bowl will count towards 5/10/15 years awards. For this year's 5/10/15 participants, we will send the congregations the info on where to order awards for their participants, if they so choose. We will also have them submit the names for us to recognize on our website and to create a video to be posted to our youtube channel as well. We will also provide awards next year. We will also have a video listing all the 5/10/15 year award recipients for this year that are submitted during registration.

We will utilize social media for sharing pictures, shirt designs, videos and would also ask each congregation to share pics with twitter/instagram hashtags (specific tag to be determined) so we can see tee shirt designs and pics of our “teams” and participants. We will post pdfs of our coaches forms, scorekeeper forms, ABC cards, etc for congregations to print their own to use. A form will also be loaded on our website for each congregation to upload their individual scores.

The Bible Bowl Committee