RICHARD D. SNYDER

1. What years did you quiz?
   I quizzed about 1956-1957 in the Gospel of John.


2. Where and for what church did you quiz?
   Elmira, NY in the Susquehanna Conference.


3. What were the highlights of your quizzing years?
   We took second in the Susquehanna finals if I remember correctly, beat out by Syracuse (which placed 2nd in the nation). My mom was the coach.


4. What was your favorite scripture? Why?
   My favorite verse in John is "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) My life theme verse is "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:10)


5. What difference has quizzing made in your life to this day?
   When I took the Gospel of John From Dr. Stanley Magill at RWC, I scored the highest grade anyone had ever had on that course. He used to tell this to students after I became Superintendent of the Genesee Conference. Later, one other student matched my grade. It remains my favorite gospel, though it's truths continue to go deeper than my understanding.
   Early on, Snyder made the decision to begin each day with scripture reading: "No Bible, no breakfast."


6. What ministries are you currently doing? How are you presently active in serving the Lord?

   The Reverend Richard D. Snyder, an ordained elder in the Genesee Conference, was elected to the office of bishop of the Free Methodist church on October 22, 1991 during the annual meeting of the North America General Conference's Board of Administration at Indianapolis, Indiana. He serves as overseer of the Eastern Area conferences: Genesee, Great Britain, Gulf Cost, Keystone, Maryland-Virginia, New England, New South, New York, Ireland, South Atlantic, and Susquehanna. He also oversees the work in continental Europe. Dr. Snyder is an alumnus of Roberts Wesleyan College (Rochester, New York) and McMaster Divinity School (Hamilton, Ontario). He has been a member of the Roberts Wesleyan College Board of Trustees since 1989, serving on the Long Range Planning Committee until October 1991 when he was named to the Academic Affairs Committee. He has been a member of the College Ministerial Advisory Board since 1981. Roberts Wesleyan College conferred an honorary doctorate degree on the Bishop in 1998.

   Bishop Snyder was ordained as deacon in 1965 and elder in 1967. He pastored for two years in the Canada Great Lakes Conference and 14 years in the Genesee Conference. He was elected superintendent of the Genesee Conference in 1979 and held that office until July 1991 when he was elected superintendent of the Susquehanna Conference.
   He has been a member of the North America General Conference's Board of Administration since 1979 and has a distinguished record of service to that body. He chaired the former Commission on Evangelism and Church Growth from 1985-1989 and the former Administrative Commission from 1989 to 1991.
   Says Bishop Snyder: "I wish every church would develop a quizzing ministry because the Word of God is SO powerful and we live in a society that is mostly ignorant regarding the Word of God. I think the quizzers have a huge advantage in life because they have studied and memorized and reflected on the Word of God."