March 20, 2004

Dear Bible Quiz Leader:

I trust you are having an enriching Bible quizzing season and that you are looking forward to participating in the exciting conclusion to this season at the Bible Quiz Finals at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Michigan. On the web site you will find the registration forms for Quiz Finals. These need to be sent to Spring Arbor University, postmarked by May 20, 2004.

DATES: Opening registration will be on Monday (June 28) from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Please note that no meals will be served on Monday. The closing banquet and subsequent awards ceremony will be early Friday afternoon, July 2. Everyone will be free to head toward home Friday afternoon. (Friday night housing is not included.) Additional lodging at SAU is available at an additional cost. (See Additional Housing Form.)

FORMS: There are four registration forms: Payment, Housing, Team, and Individual. All four of these need to be mailed to Spring Arbor University with your payment by May 20, 2004. Also, a completed medical form for each person in your group (quizzers, adults, children) must accompany these forms. (In addition, if you need housing for extra nights or transportation from the airport, please fill out the additional form for these needs.)

How well these forms open up on your computer depends on the operating programs your computer has. Most word processors on computers should be able to open these files that are in the RTF format. If you have trouble opening any of these or if the forms appear distorted in any way or if any of these forms do not fit on just one page, you can visit our quizzing web site where the same forms can be downloaded and printed out as PDF files. If your computer distorts the above linked RTF forms in any way or takes more than one page per form, I would suggest that you use the PDF option.

HOUSING & MEALS: Registration for quizzers and adults is $155.00 for programming, four nights lodging, eleven meals, and a t-shirt. Housing on campus will be limited to the first 700 persons that register. A block of hotel rooms has been reserved in nearby Jackson for those who do not make it in the first 700. ($65 of the registration fee will be refunded to those not staying on campus, and that can be applied toward the cost of the hotel rooms.)

LINENS: Towels, sheets, blankets, and pillow cases will NOT be provided, though a limited number will be available for those flying in or arriving by train or public transportation bus. Everyone else will need to provide their own towels, sheets, blankets and pillows. (There were no businesses around that could handle a group our size.) This is a big change from the past: LINENS WILL NOT BE PROVIDED. If you are flying in and renting a van, make sure that Spring Arbor knows that you need linens.

CHILDREN: The rate for non-quizzing children ages 10 and under who sleep on the floor in their parent’s room is $60 for ages four to ten, and free for three and under. Non-quizzing students over 10 will pay the full amount.

TEAM QUIZZING: Each team registration will be $150. This cost covers the quizmaster expense, Quiz Finals expenses, and what it takes to run the quiz program through the year. We may run eight divisions, with an A and a B level in each division. Please mark the appropriate division for each of your teams on your team form. (We reserve the right to move teams from A to B, or from B to A, based on their performance during the season, particularly after 16 teams have already registered for a division.) There will be no C divisions. Remember that in order to be a rookie team, the team can have only one experienced quizzer. If a team has two quizzers who have each quizzed at least one half of a year before this quiz season, then they must be a veteran team. (Quizzing in 6th grade and under does not count toward this experience.)

SPECIAL TEAM REGISTRATIONS: Any coach wishing to register a team that is not made up of members as defined by the Rulebook must contact the Denominational Director before registering such a team. This includes teams made up of quizzers who do not all attend the same church, teams that have quizzers under 6th grade, and many other possible scenarios which may occur. Quizzers without teams can attend and be placed on a "pooled" team of like quizzers, but must compete in a "B" level division.

INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION: Please register quizzers for Individual Competition. The cost is $5.00 each. In the top Senior Teen Veteran Individual Division, scholarships to any Free Methodist College will be awarded in the amounts of $2,000 for 1st, $1,750 for 2nd, and $1,500 for 3rd place. For any of these top three quizzers who decides to attend Spring Arbor University, SAU has offered to continue the same scholarship for the second year.

DISABILITIES: If you have a quizzer with a disability for whom you would like to request special considerations in the competition, please send your request as soon as possible to the denominational director for consideration. ADD is one condition that may be considered in this category.

JUMP SEATS: Quiz Seats are needed. Please bring them. Also please bring your broken down sets. Three knowledgeable electricians have been recruited to work throughout Quiz Finals to repair jump seats as no cost to you. Let’s make sure that all our jump seats are in good working condition not only for this tournament but also for the next quiz season..

QUIZMASTERS will be contacted directly concerning their participation in Bible Quiz Finals, after the Denominational Director has received recommendations from the Conference and Regional directors. A quizmaster is not confirmed until he/she has received confirmation from the Denominational Director. Selected approved staff will not be charged the registration cost.