SEOUL, South Korea — For members of Manmin Central Church, September has come to mean one thing: the finals of the church’s annual Bible quiz competition, a tradition now in its 25th year.
The church, led by Senior Pastor Dr. Soojin Lee, held the finals on September 6, drawing a crowd of congregants to watch finalists compete over verses drawn from across the entire Bible — 365 in total, one memorized for every day of the year.
Getting to the final stage takes work. Contestants first pass through a preliminary round styled after the popular Korean quiz show format “Golden Bell,” in which participants write answers on small whiteboards and hold them up simultaneously. 22 people made it through this year, advancing to a final round in which they had to write out memorized Bible verses or their chapter-and-verse references with perfect accuracy.
Those questions took several forms: writing out a verse or its chapter-and-verse reference after the co-hosts read a question aloud, identifying a Bible passage tied to a hymn played for contestants, and writing out a verse linked to an image shown on screen.
The competition traces its roots to 2001, when the church began urging members to memorize a single Bible verse a day, publishing the daily verse in its weekly bulletin. That modest devotional habit eventually grew into a full-scale annual contest that has kept congregants coming back year after year.
Only once has the tradition been interrupted: in 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic made large in-person gatherings impossible. Since then, the event has returned to its usual format, with the final held on-site each year.
This year’s final was livestreamed on YouTube to viewers around the world, allowing those who couldn’t attend in person to watch in real time.
Winners of this year’s grand prize will be announced in about a week, once judges finish grading the written answers.
“This tradition, which we’ve carried on for more than two decades, is more than a test of memory,” a church official said. “It’s a symbol of the continuity of our faith, built one verse at a time — and it drives a life centered on Scripture.“