Knightdale — The teens at Zebulon United Methodist Church trudge through the “begats” on to meatier Biblical subjects, take quizzes on the computer, then blog about their impressions.

This is the modern version of an age-old practice of Christians — reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

The church youth group is participating in “The Amazing Bible Race,” a two-year competitive reading of the Bible all the way through with quizzes, creative projects and blogging on Web sites, said Patty Jones, one of the two leaders coordinating the Cokesbury Press curriculum.

Some of the projects include writing newspapers and making videos and posting them to the Web site students create.

“I’m doing it because I thought it sounded cool to read the whole Bible,” said Kristin Bailey, 12. “And because it was something some members of my family had never done.”

Like Bailey, they read for the novelty, for comradery, and for fun, and learn along the way.

“I liked reading the story of Cain and Abel,” said Ryan Daughtridge, 13, “It describes really important issues in today’s world, like murder. But it also shows how God can forgive even the worst of sins.”

The group started the two-year process last fall. Three Sunday nights a month, they gather in the church youth room, eat pizza or whatever the winning team chooses, then work on their Bible reading race.

Sunday, they took on a music video about the story of Joshua’s Jericho battle.

“I applaud them,” said Katherine Smith, assistant director of the Duke University Divinity School’s Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation. “You know not all youth respond well to something like this. I think it speaks well of them for being active and engaged learners when it comes to their faith.”

Fifteen-year-old Anna-Maria Pulley, 15, used Sunday afternoon before the meeting to catch up on her 30-minute a day Bible reading. She juggles the reading with her wrestling, cross country and Future Farmers of America responsibilities at school.

Much like Pulley’s wrestling, the Bible race uses the same competitive basis as sports.

The teens are divided into three teams that compete in scores on the quizzes they take and their participation in the creative projects. After reading a passage, participants go to their computers, log onto the program’s web site and take a test. Then on Sundays, they work together as teams on group tests.

The teams also participate in the creative projects and mission work.

Eleven-year-old Avery Carpenter’s favorite was making soup in homage to the stew Esau made for his father Jacob.

For 14-year-old Zach Bouren, it was walking the “calming” prayer labyrinth at Milbrook Baptist Church in Raleigh, an actual labyrinth in which participants meditate or pray as they walk through.

“It is good seeing this church and more broadly the Methodist Church encouraging young people to be reading actively,” Duke’s Smith said. “They’re not just reading it and checking off a box. They are having to apply that in different areas.”

Smith’s own program is held two-weeks during the summer for for rising high school juniors and seniors. They live on Duke’s campus and “do theology, service projects, explore the arts and connections between faith and vocation,” she said.

Students who attend with free scholarships funded by the Lily Endowment.

“I’m particularly struck at the way they are reading ancient texts and using modern technology,” said Smith. “It makes it relevant to their generation.”

The Amazing Bible Race has another key component to hooking youth.

“It sounded like fun,” said Abigail Jones, 17. “It’s also is way for me to hangout with kids in the youth group.”

Her mother, Patty, said there’s even some value in all the Begats.

“It’s important to know the history and lineage because when you get to the New Testament, you realize that Jesus is a descendant of all these people,” she said.

To see the work of Zebulon United Methodist teens’ teams, click here. For more about the Duke program < a href="http://www.duyouth.duke.edu" > click here.