Article published August 15, 2009
Toledo-area Bible quizzers win title in Nashville
From left, National Senior Quizmaster Russell Faubert stands beside First Apostolic Church of Sylvania’s Jeffrey Patrisso, assistant coach; quiz team members Marissa Patrisso, Gregrey Patrisso, and Jil Rickard, and head coach Lisa Patrisso.
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BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
A team of Toledo-area teens from First Apostolic Church captured their denomination’s North American Bible Quiz Championship in Nashville last week, beating a previously undefeated Texas quiz team twice in the final round.
“It was intense,” said Marissa Patrisso of Sylvania. “I snapped the buzzer on the first word and had to quote the verse perfectly. You can’t stumble or repeat it.”
The 18-year-old team captain pounced as soon as the quizmaster said the first word of the question — “Either.”
Miss Patrisso had been studying the Gospel of Luke for months and knew there were only two verses in that New Testament book starting with “either.”
She guessed correctly that, since it was the contest finals, the chosen verse would be the longer of the two, Luke 6:42.
“Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.”
Her answer sealed the Toledo team’s victory in the first part of the final round.
In the second round, it was 16-year-old team member Jil Rickard who pushed the Jeopardy-style buzzer and answered a three-part cross reference question that won the championship.
Rounding out the Toledo church’s Bible Quiz lineup was 13-year-old Gregrey Patrisso, Marissa’s brother. It was quite a family affair because the coach of the winning squad was Lisa Patrisso, mother of two team members.
The Toledoans had a comfortable lead going into the final round and the pressure was all on their competitors.
First Apostolic needed only to get one of the final three questions correct, while their competitors from Pearland, Texas, had to try to answer all three.
“I figured they were probably shaking over there,” Marissa said. “We were not extremely nervous but we were excited. We knew we were in the finals.”
During a timeout, she said, “We all prayed and stuff and Mom told us what to do.”
Mrs. Patrisso said that although Miss Rickard knew the answer to the three-part cross reference question immediately, she paused briefly just as she had been trained to do.
“Jil knew the answer right away but I always tell my kids: ‘Before you say what you think, think!’” Mrs. Patrisso said.
Miss Rickard’s correct response sealed the North American championship for the Toledo team.
“There was not a whole of celebration at that moment because you’ve got a team next to us who’s not so happy,” Mrs. Patrisso said.
Mrs. Patrisso, who has coached Bible Quiz teams for 20 years, said the team members studied the King James Version of the Bible for about 45 minutes a day at the beginning of the season and then spent three to four hours a day as the national tournament drew closer.
But the goal is not just to memorize words and win contests, Mrs. Patrisso said.
“Really the motivating factor is just to get to know God on a deeper level,” she said.
Each team member had to memorize 525 verses from the Gospel of Luke, along with other Bible questions.
A total of 90 teams competed in the tournament that was sponsored by the United Pentecostal Church denomination. The competition was held in the Nashville Convention Center over a four-day period.
Similar Bible quiz tournaments are conducted by various other denominations including the Assemblies of God, Nazarenes, and Free Methodists.
First Apostolic Church of Toledo beat 48 other teams in their “experienced” division to win the title.
In addition to winning the team trophy, Marissa Patrisso came home with highest-scoring individual honors and Lisa Patrisso was named coach of the year.
Marissa, a student at Apostolic Christian Academy, said she has been competing in Bible Quizzes since she was 9 years old and would like to use her leadership skills in the ministry.
She was a member of First Apostolic’s team in 2006 when it also won the North American championship. The captain that year was Marissa’s older sister, Lindsey.
“It was exciting in 2006 but it was more exciting that we won now because I led the team this year,” Marissa said. “We worked all year long and I didn’t let the nerves get to me. We didn’t make any stupid mistakes.”
— David Yonke
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