Bryan Blankenship

1. What years did you quiz?
   1979-1985
2. Where and for what church did you quiz?
   McPherson, KS FMC
3. What were the highlights of your quizzing years?
   Flying to Seattle, WA (my first ever commercial airplane flight) for Quiz Nationals at SPU (1983); quizzing for the Alpha Omega trophy in Estes Park, CO at IYC in front of several thousand peers (1985); and, beating Mary Helen (Brown) Gensch, Tim Huff and a very strong field of STV quizzers in individual finals at a regional quiz meet in Kansas City.
4. Did you or your team win any championships? If so, what and when?
   I was privileged to quiz with my two best friends (Peter Samuelson & Kurt Gerrild) and two other upcoming quizzers at the time (Kyle Gerrild & Daniel Koehn) and win the Alpha Omega for McPherson, KS my senior year, which was 1985.
5. What was your favorite scripture? Why?
   This may sound like a copout, but my favorite scripture is the entire Gospel of John. This was what we studied my senior year, and I can still quote major sections of it today. And because of this, the Lord is able to bring them to mind time after time when I need to hear a word from HIm. I particularly feed on chapters 13-14 where he spent that amazing evening with His disciples in the upper room, modeling servant leadership for them, as well as on His most intimate teaching and prayer for His disciples in chapters 15-17. (The fact that we will be studying this again in 2010-11 during my own son's senior year makes it even more meaningful to me in these days.)
6. How did quizzing affect you as a teen?
   It kept me in the Word during times where I was finding my own way as a believer and a young man. I was a preacher's kid and had an amazing example set for me by my parents, but like every single one of us, I had to come to a place where I established my own faith apart from my parents, family, youth group, etc. It also gave me an outlet for some of my more competitive drives. Having had the curse of being a pretty decent athlete but growing up in a town and a high school that was full of exceptional athletes, when I was unable to make the high school basketball team as a sophomore I was able to continue to turn to quizzing for more than just its spiritual rewards.
7. What difference has quizzing made in your life to this day?
   A whole, whole lot! It planted in me the early seeds of a genuine love for God's Word and a continuing desire to memorize it and hide it in my heart as an adult -- not for competitive reasons any longer but for spiritual nourishment and guidance.
8. Are you presently involved in Bible quizzing in any way? If so, how?
   Yes. At the present time I am finishing my fifth year as the coach of the Wilmore, KY Bible quizzing ministry, having re-started it for the church in 2005. This is actually my second stint coaching at Wilmore in a re-start situation. Shortly after arriving in Wilmore to attend Asbury Theological Seminary in 1990, I re-started the ministry for the church and led it for a couple of years. Not to sound like a broken record, but my third coaching stint was in McPherson, KS, where I re-started their dormant program in 2001 and led it for two years before moving back to Wilmore during what would have been my third year of coaching. (Having no idea at the time I would be moving mid-year, I had asked for a one-year "sabbatical" in 2003-2004 before what I thought would begin my son's quizzing time in the fall of 2004 and likely many more years of coaching.)
9. What ministries are you currently doing? How are you presently active in serving the Lord?
   In addition to currently coaching Bible quizzing, I just completed four years of assistant coaching for my son's Christian homeschool high school varsity basketball team. I also serve as an assistant teacher in my wife's and my Sunday School class as well as various other roles within our local FMC such as serving as a Delegate, serving on a building committee, and serving currently as chair of the church's nominating committee. I also strongly view my vocational calling and role in the area of finance at Asbury Theological Seminary as a major part of my service to the Lord.