A discipleship ministry for children and students to internalize the magnitude of God’s love through scripture memory, Bible skills, and speech preparation, all to respond to life’s situations and strengthen their faith in Christ.
What is Bible Drill/Speakers’ Tournament 2.0?
Purpose
The purpose of Bible Drill 2.0 is to begin to develop memory skills; skills that will teach students to effectively handle the Bible, increase the student’s knowledge of the Bible, and learn how to apply the meaning of the passages to their lives.
If participation in Bible Drill/Speakers’ Tournament is just for scripture memory—we lose. If we learn scripture without meaning—we lose. If we compete just to win—we lose. We win when we make the scriptures personal, when we are changed and can apply the meaning of scriptures to our lives.
Coordinating Team
This is a team of people from all over Texas who love Bible Drill/Speakers’ Tournament and who desire to see it grow. They are the new backbone of Bible Drill/Speaker’s Tournament. If you have any questions, please contact the Coordinating Team at bibledrill[at]texasbaptists.org.
For information on Church and Associational Drills, please contact your church and/or association.
2021 Regional/State Drill Update
Out of an abundance of caution and a desire to keep participants, volunteers, leaders, and families safe, we have decided not to host regional/state drills this year. Instead, each church is encouraged to hold their own state drill at their church. Please know that we have not made this decision lightly and that a number of factors were taken into account:
- As of 2/20/2021, the rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases was still 5 times higher than it was last April. While we are trending downward statewide, the potential for spikes after Easter and Spring Break coinciding with Bible Drill Regional events presents additional risk.
- CDC states that risk increases when we bring groups of people from different areas together.
- Our universities are a helpful barometer on event gatherings. We know of one university which is not hosting Texas Baptists events through spring and another that has cancelled a Texas Baptists event scheduled for the summer due to COVID-19 safety concerns.
It is our top priority to keep everyone safe. For this reason, we have developed a plan to allow everyone to participate this year, while still including some of the celebration we would have if we all gathered together for state/regional drills. We are encouraging each church to hold their own state drill using a call sheet we will provide. We will also provide a short video that can be used at the beginning of your drill to celebrate your students' hard work this year. Finally, we will mail certificates and seals for those who participate, as well as a special surprise for each child and student.
The deadline to submit State Bible Drill Scores is May 5. The deadline to submit Regional Speakers’ Tournament Scores is April 26.
Resources
How do I begin?
Need a little help understanding how a drill should run? Click below for our training video.
Youth Speakers' Tournament
Written Speech
New Updated Guidelines
Beginning in 2019, each speaker’s written manuscript will be evaluated before the competition for content, form, and grammar. The written speech score will be included in the final score.
Manuscripts of the speeches must use the MLA format and must include either in-text citations or endnotes. Each speech must also include a works-cited page. For more information about MLA formatting and style, please reference the Dallas Baptist University Writing Center MLA Packet, available here.
Manuscripts should be emailed on the Monday preceding the regional drill and speaker’s tournament weekend to be scored before the tournament.
If a speaker continues to the State Drill, that speech will be kept and scored before the state drill. Scores will be included in the final count.
The scoring will be as following:
- Manuscript/Written Composition 20%
- Content 40%
- Delivery 40%
Topics – Red Cycle 2021
- Faith Over Fear
- Where is God in a Crisis?
- Character Versus Comfort
- My Witness
- Power from Prayer
- Prayer Changes Things
- Saved to Serve
- The Cost of Being Different
- Truths for Tough Times
- Wonderfully Made
Calendar & Schedule
- March 7-14 - Suggested Church Drill Date
- March 21 - Suggested Associational Drill Date
- March 22-April 8 - Churches will notify Texas Baptists if they intend to conduct their own state drill and an estimate of participants
- April 4 - Easter
- April 9 - State Drill call sheets and video will be sent to participating churches
- April 30 - Deadline for submitting speeches and manuscripts for State Speakers' Tournament
- May 5 - Deadline for submitting State Bible Drill scores (children, youth, and high school) to receive seals
Guidelines
Handbooks
These handbooks provide guidelines and help with some of the most commonly asked questions.
Scholarship Information
Four of our Texas Baptist Universities will offer scholarships to the winners of Bible Drill and Speakers Tournament. These scholarships are offered by the universities themselves, so contact will be made directly to them.