Despite many challenges in the planning process, World Quiz 2021 attendees believe the event was a success. More than 4,000 participants, including nearly 1,100 quizzers, joined together in 26 different competitions around the United States and in Trinidad & Tobago. 

The 2021 event was originally scheduled to take place at the 30th General Assembly. When the assembly was postponed to 2023, organizers had to think fast about what quizzing would look like in 2021, especially given the quickly-changing COVID-restrictions that differed from city to city. 

“We had a plan A, plan B, and plan C just in case since you’re never positive whether everything is going to work,” said Dorothy Whipp, lead organizer for Children’s World Quiz 2021. 

Whipp said organizers started some of the basic planning back in August 2020. Some of the events held special things surrounding it to make it feel more meaningful. 

“One group did a carnival on the Friday night before, with inflatables and different things,” Whipp said. “Another did theirs at their campground so that they could have other things to do. People were appreciative to have it, even though it wasn’t normal. But it felt like it was getting a little bit closer to that.”

Whipp and her leadership team felt it was important to hold a World Quiz event in 2021 so the fifth and sixth graders who would age out of the program before the 2023 General Assembly got their marquee event. 

Each of the 26 event sites uploaded a video to a shared YouTube channel, and the videos were shown after the competition to introduce everyone to each other virtually and bring the whole event together. 

While Whipp is pleased with the event, she is looking forward to the 2023 in-person gathering. 

“For a first and second grader, you can try and explain to them about how big and broad the Church of the Nazarene is,” Whipp said. “Sometimes it’s hard for them to envision that. But when they get there and see all of the other students and all of the different color t-shirts at World Quiz, where every region has a different t-shirt, it’s a great visual for them that ‘Hey, the church is bigger than my church with my four different Sunday school teachers.’”

Whipp was grateful that the 2021 World Quiz was able to be pulled off.

“It takes many different avenues, programs, people, and prayers to help our children navigate their spiritual development from infancy to adulthood,” Whipp said. “Thanks to a faithful quizzing program and an even greater God who allows us to be a part of this glorious discipleship journey, even greater days are ahead.”