Who can participate in Bible Drill?
Children’s Bible Drill is for fourth through sixth grade students. Although there are Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills materials to use with first through third graders, first through third graders will need to wait to be eligible to participate in Bible Drill. Children’s Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills, which includes the Bible Drill activities, also includes activities for boys and girls who may not choose to participate in Bible Drill. Bible Drill is one of the choices of the Bible Skills, Drills and Thrills.
What is learned in Bible Drill?
Due to the variety of activities included in Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills, children have opportunities to learn in the way they prefer. Every child will learn the books and divisions of the Bible, Bible verses, Key Passages, Bible book content, Bible history, Bible people and life application. For those children who desire to participate in the Children’s Bible Drill, leaders will spend time helping children develop Bible skills and Bible Drill participation skills so the children are ready to drill in a church, association and state Bible Drill. Children learn presentation skills from the drills as well as Bible skills.
When do I begin Children’s Bible Drill?
Most churches begin with the new church year in September. Beginning this early allows them to use a variety of activities to help children learn the verses, key passages, and the books of the Bible. Some churches wait until January to begin. Beginning in January means children must learn most of the material at home and spend class time practicing drilling.
How many leaders do we need?
Recommended ratio for every group is one leader for every six children with a minimum of two leaders for each group.
Skill Centers can be set up and led by Skill Center leaders or by parents who have signed up or been enlisted to lead the Skill Center time. Parent sign-up sheets as well as tips for promotion and teacher ideas are provided in the Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills materials.
The curriculum for churches wishing to conduct Bible Drill is Bible Skills, Drills & Thrills, may be ordered from http://www.lifeway.com/
TO PREPARE FOR CHILDREN’S BIBLE DRILL
You may find the following helpful as you prepare your children for Bible Drill.
A Sample Countdown for Church Children’s Bible Drill Completion Date
___________ 1. Enlist leaders.
___________ 2. Get current cycle (Green cycle; Red cycle; or Blue cycle) verse cards. Choose the scripture version of your preference from Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills Verse Cards KJV, or HCSB
___________ 3. Place the following dates on the church calendar.
___________ Church Drill (Prior to Associational Drill. Set a date convenient for staff, parents, congregation and the participants.)
___________ Association Drill: Prior to State Drill. Obtain the date and location for the associational drill by calling your associational office.
___________ State Drill: The State Drill is set for the first Saturday in May of each year. The location may change. The date and location can be obtained from www.bgco.org (state convention website) or by contacting the Childhood Ministry Office, Baptist General Convention 405.942.3800.
___________ 4. Train leaders. Decide on the schedule and number of sessions for the training. For a conference or training video contact Preschool and Children’s Ministries, Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, 3800 North May Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK, 73127; phone 405.942.3000 x4642; email childhoodministry@bgco.org.
___________ 5. Promote the Children’s Bible Drill Ministry to parents and children
___________ 7. Meet with parents and children. Plan to introduce “first time” children to the ministry concept. Give all parents a calendar with scheduled weekly meetings and other special retreats, fellowships, practices, church drill, associational drill, and state drill dates.
___________ 8. Conduct weekly sessions and special planned sessions, retreats, and fellowships.
___________ 9. Enlist and train three judges and one timekeeper for the Church Drill.
____________10. Conduct the Church Drill. Sample calls may be found in your Church Packet or you may download a church drill at www.bgco.org/bibledrill
____________11. Send to the associational office any information requested by your associational office at least one week prior to your Associational Drill or by the date set by your association office.
____________12. Recognize all church drillers in a church service. Certificates may be downloaded at www.bgco.org
____________13. Plan a special review and training event for all drillers.
____________14. Conduct one or two review sessions prior to Associational Drill.
____________15. Attend the Associational Children’s Bible Drill with the children.
____________16. In a church service, recognize and commend all who participated in the Associational Drill. Avoid embarrassing or making a child feel inadequate by calling attention to the number of correct responses, etc. Certificates may be presented if appropriate.
____________17. Attend the State Children’s Bible Drill with the drillers, whether or not there are any to enter the state drill from your church. The state drill is a very rewarding experience for all children whether or not they qualified. Some churches plan to spend the night in Oklahoma City, attend the Drill, and then take the rest of the day for a special outing (Frontier City, Zoo, etc).
____________18. Evaluate this year’s preparation, practices, and drills.
____________19. Begin to make plans for next year’s Children’s Bible Drill.
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