2026 ARCH Madness
ARCH St. Charles (MO) · Feb 5-7, 2026
Jr. Apol. Questions and Rules
Junior Apol Questions and Rules
Junior Apologetics
Juniors Apol Questions:
∙ Who is Jesus?
∙ How does the Holy Spirit help us?
∙ How do we see God in creation?
∙ What is the fall?
∙ Why did Jesus have to die?
∙ Can a person do enough good things to get into heaven?
∙ What is grace?
∙ What is repentance?
∙ What is sin?
∙ What is the Bible?
∙ Why must Jesus be truly human and truly God?
∙ How many persons are there in God?
Description: In Apologetics, the speaker is given two minutes to prepare a speech which defends a tenet of the Christian faith. Apologetics should motivate students to study and articulate the core issues of their faith.
Goal: Competitors will be motivated to study, articulate, and defend the core issues of their faith in a knowledgeable, sincere, and respectful manner. The focus may or may not be evangelistic. The audience’s acceptance of the truth of the Bible should not be assumed. Content outweighs delivery: greater weight should be given to the speech content, rather than the presentation style.
Junior Apologetics Preparation Rules:
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Students prepare for Apologetics through Bible study, research, and topic organization.
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Each competitor should create a card file with Scripture, definitions, quotations, and any other material deemed to be helpful.
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Students may work together on boxes prior to the tournament, but students may not share boxes during competition.
Junior Apologetics Presentation Rules:
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At least one judge in each room will be given instructions and the envelope of topics to distribute to the student.
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In the room, the speaker will receive three single topics from the judge, choose one, and return the other two topics before leaving the room.
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A two-minute preparation time begins as soon as the student receives the topic choices.
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The speech must be the original work of the speaker.
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During prep time, the speaker may use a Bible, access card files, and write additional notes on note cards.
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During the speech, the speaker should use only note cards.
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All questions/topics will be posted on the tournament site upon registration.
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Apologetics judges should be sympathetic to the ideals of Stoa.
TO MAXIMIZE PERFORMANCE, COMPETITORS SHOULD:
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Consider a personal story, statistics, or quote to introduce your speech.
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Be sure to answer the specific question asked.
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Know what your cards say, so as not to read the entire time. This allows for making eye contact with the judge.
Speaking Time Limit: five (5) minutes. No minimum time. No student will be penalized for going over the suggested time.
Tournament Events
Speech Pattern A
- Apologetics Qual
- Dramatic Interpretation Qual
- Extemporaneous Qual
- Humorous Interpretation Qual
- Open Interpretation Qual
- Original Oratory Qual
Speech Pattern B
- Duo Interpretation Qual
- Expository Qual
- Impromptu Qual
- Mars Hill Qual
- Persuasive Qual
- Slam Poetry Qual
TP/LD
- Lincoln Douglas Qual
- Team Policy Qual
Parli
- Parliamentary Debate Qual
Junior Speech
- Junior Apologetics Juniors
- Junior Bible Story Impromptu Juniors
- Junior Duo Interpretation Juniors
- Junior Expository Juniors
- Junior Impromptu Juniors
- Junior Individual Interpretation Juniors
- Junior Story Reading Juniors
- Juniors Platform (OO and Persuasive) Juniors
Junior Debate
Tournament Timetable
- Community Judge registration will open at 12:00 pm Fri 12/19/2025 (Central)
- Tournament Status will update to Open at 9:36 pm Fri 01/16/2026 (Central)
- Tournament Status will update to Drops only at 9:05 am Mon 01/19/2026 (Central)
- Tournament Status will update to Closed at 12:00 pm Tue 01/27/2026 (Central)
- Script submission will open at 5:21 pm Wed 01/28/2026 (Central)
- Script submission will close at 5:22 pm Wed 01/28/2026 (Central)
- Meal registration will close at 12:00 pm Thu 01/29/2026 (Central)
What the statuses mean
- Setup
- The tournament is still being set up.
- Open
- Registration is open — families can register for the tournament.
- Drops Only
- No new entries are allowed, but families can drop existing ones.
- Closed
- Registration is closed — no adds or drops. Contact the tournament director with questions.
- Completed
- The tournament is finished.