History

- TIMELINE -
 

In 1997, the vision inspired Carolyn Murdock to implement the annual Biblical Champions event. In 1998, the first annual was held at Genesis Church. In approximately 2011, churches in the greater Sacramento area were invited to participate. In 2018, Pastor Ellington encouraged Carolyn to write an instruction manual, which was completed with Copyright in June 2020. In approximately 2019, the prospect of expanding to another state was noted. In 2020, the name was changed from Biblical Olympics to Biblical Champions due to a cease to desist for trademark of the word Olympics. In 2021, Carolyn’s son Shaun Murdock, established an additional component, the Biblical Champions Savings Seed to encourage financial literacy and motivate children to save for higher education and career opportunities. With the generosity of her son, Shaun, and her cousin, Sandra Tufts, every year this program awards three children (one in each age group K-2nd, 3rd-6th, and 7th-12th) a $500 CD in the child’s name for the best essay and speech on the annual topic. That same year, the logo was approved as a registered trademark. In 2022, a partnership was formed with Karlene Jones, Grace Church and the Omega Task to have the Biblical Champions program held in Grecia, Costa Rica during their mission trip. Praise God!

- ESTABLISHMENT - 
 

The vision was conceived in the late 1990’s by Carolyn after son, Shaun, participated in the Academics Olympics at the Elk Grove Unified School District. The World-Wide Sports Olympics and the Special Olympics further inspired Carolyn. Her goal is to make the Biblical Champions a worldwide event. The concept of establishing an event to praise God by studying His Word was approved by the Founder of Genesis Church, Dr. Robert Porter. In approximately 1998, the Biblical Champions event was held in front of the church congregation. The vision of the Biblical Champions event was realized. Beverly Johnson hosted a talent show, which was necessary for the program to flow while scores were tallied for the awards ceremony. (Carolyn emphasized Dr. Robert Porter’s motto “bring two” during her speaking time.) The Biblical Champions event was a huge success! Carolyn was extremely excited especially since her first attempt to hold a church-wide Biblical Champions event on a Saturday afternoon failed. It ended during set-up when she realized the vision was clear only to her. Not giving up, she returned to the drawing board to improve the format and set-up procedure. Armed with an improved setup process and a team of many members of Genesis volunteering, the Biblical Champions event continued to grow and be refined church wide. This teamwork completed the Biblical Champions creation. The Biblical Champions event continued to be held annually at Genesis Church in the Children’s Ministry. The format was similar to the Sports Olympics e.g., “challenges were held” for the children to display what they had been taught during Sunday mornings at Children’s Church. These challenges were for children to:

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1) Display Sword Drill, an exercise to use the Bible as a tool to find, read, and memorize scriptures;

2) Recite from memory the pledge to the Bible, the Christian Flag, the pledge of Allegiance; and

3) Learn the Bible Basics: Ten Commandments, Beatitudes, Fruit of the Spirit, Scriptures, and answer a Bible Quiz based on annual scriptures.

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The children received points for their knowledge of each challenge. Each child received a gold, silver, or bronze medal based on their individual score. The decision to award each child rather than the top three scoring children was easy for Carolyn to make because she knows God gives the gift of salvation to everyone.

- INVITATION TO THE GREATER SACRAMENTO AREA CHURCHES - 
 

In 2011, Carolyn was inspired to call Pastor Tecoy Porter and ask for approval to expand the Biblical Champions with an invitation to the greater Sacramento area churches. After prolonging an approach to Pastor Tecoy, she recalls that built up excitement overwhelmed her, and she finally called him. One day on her way home from work she stopped next to the park behind her house and called him. He listened carefully and understood. Her lack of courage stemmed from the thought that elation would limit her ability to explain briefly and clearly. But God! In that conversation he gave his approval, and the rest is history. The Biblical Champions event was established community-wide. It continues to happen as a meaningful community event today. In addition to sharing God’s Word, Biblical Champions is sharing pictures, photo album and video, and social media by having parents sign photography/video release forms, which gives their approval.

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PRAISE REPORT
 

The vision was further realized in June 2022 by the Biblical Champions program being held internationally in Grecia, Costa Rica, in partnership with Karlene Jones, Grace Church, and the Omega Task.