From News and Staff Reports
Quiz fans who also are working toward racial healing and justice likely will love a new resource for an award-winning book by a United Methodist pastor.
The resource, titled “Quiz-Style Companion to Our Hearts Were Strangely Lukewarm,” is a learning and teaching aid for the book by the Rev. Dr. John Elford, pastor emeritus of University UMC in Austin, Texas, which won the coveted 2023 Jesse Lee Prize from the General Commission on Archives and History.
United Methodist layman Bill Dunklau, a former math/computer science teacher, created the quiz resource.
Bill Dunklau
Courtesy Photo
Dunklau told United Methodist Insight that he initially created the quiz in preparation for Dr. Elford’s March 30 presentation to First UMC in Dallas, Texas, because that’s how he retains information. The multiple-choice question-and-answer format seems to help identify and relate the main points of study, Dunklau said.
The quizmaster said he found the format especially helpful for Elford’s book because history in general and church history in particular aren’t his forte. He acknowledged that the choice of four questions with four answers for each chapter is arbitrary, but the format seems to work well.
The “Strangely Lukewarm” quiz companion is Dunklau’s second attempt at a study guide. In summer 1995 he was teaching from John Dominic Crossan’s Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography in his adult class at White Rock UMC, also in Dallas, and he created his lesson notes in a quiz format.
First UMC-Dallas was inspired by Elford’s presentation to continue organizing study groups focused on the book as a catalyst for conversations, Dunklau said. Elford’s book also has been adopted as a resource by the General Commission on Religion and Race, which has created a separate study guide.
The GCORR Study is designed especially for groups up to 13 and can be purchased in bulk. The quiz document is designed for individual or group study and is available free of charge from JohnElford.com. The book itself is available from Abe Books, Thrift Books, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Dunklau suggested that while purchasers wait for the book to arrive, the quiz can provide a preview of the material. Once the book is in hand, the quiz can be used alongside the book as an organizer. After completing the book, the quiz can provide a summary or review. In a discussion group, the main topics addressed by the questions can help keep the conversation on track, as well as possibly leading to further points of interest, Dunklau said.
Oh, and the answers to the quiz? Dunklau responded: “The answers are in the book!” For impatient students, the answer key is also available via email from Elford.
United Methodist Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle contributed to this article.