Before Challenge, There Was FCYF
Bible quizzing, talent contests and strong teaching paved the way for today’s national student conference.
The EFCA has a long history of finding unique ways to gather, resource and train students in the Bible. Challenge 2026—held on July 13-17 in Kansas City, Missouri—is the 20th conference since the first launched in 1989. Before Challenge, the EFCA had the Free Church Youth Fellowship (FCYF). Founded in 1937, the first FCYF conference—a dream of Hilding Ahlstrom of First Free Church in Rockford, Illinois—was later launched in 1940.
Originally, the FCYF conferences gathered concurrently with the EFCA national conference, often at the same venue until the numbers outgrew the accommodations. Right from the beginning, nationally known speakers drew students in great numbers.
From 1967 to about 1987, the FCYF sponsored talent contests and Bible quizzing tournaments. Hundreds of churches participated across the country. Students studied hard on the assigned books of the Bible for many weeks, often memorizing the entire text of the epistles, Matthew or even part of Daniel. Then they would compete—first among themselves, then against teams from other churches, then against others in their district. The questions were often factual but also involved understanding the themes of the text. The best teams went to the annual FCYF conference, usually in the summer. Some of the leaders for the quizzing programs were Edgar Bender, David Rodquist and David Wardle.
During the quizzing contests, seat pads connected to the control box made judging easier. The first student off his or her pad got to answer the question. Thousands of students came to know God’s Word in a new way while having great fellowship and fun with many others. Today, there are still Free Churches full of former quizzers whose lives were impacted by the time spent in the Word, and others who participated in the talent contests who are still active in church worship teams.
As time passed, the Bible quizzing and contests stayed in the districts. FCYF became ReachStudents, and the national student conference became Challenge, training and equipping thousands of students from around the country in the Bible.
Did you participate in Bible quizzing or the talent contests for FCYF?
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