Make Bible Study a Team Sport
Group Challenges in Ori let youth pastors create custom weekly challenges — read three chapters, memorize a verse, attend small group, complete a devotional — where every student earns points that go toward their team’s score, not just their own. Small groups compete against each other on a shared leaderboard. When Bible engagement becomes a collective pursuit, students show up differently. The group is counting on them.
How It Works
- Pastor creates a challenge. Name it, write a short description, set the time window (daily, weekly, or custom), and assign a point value.
- Students earn points by completing it. Each completion logs automatically in Ori. No manual check-ins. No follow-up texts.
- Points roll up to the team score. Every student’s points add to their small group’s total. The leaderboard reflects each group’s collective effort.
- The team leaderboard updates in real time. Students can see where their group stands. Leaders can reference it mid-session to celebrate progress.
- The pastor sees exactly who engaged. The leader dashboard shows individual completion rates per challenge — so you know who needs a follow-up and who’s been quietly leading.
Why Team Points Change Everything
Individual streaks and personal accountability are valuable. But they’re also easy to quietly abandon. Nobody notices when one student stops opening the app — except the student.
Team accountability is different. When a student knows that their small group’s leaderboard position is tied to their participation, the dynamic shifts. Dropping out isn’t just a personal decision — it’s letting the group down. That social weight is exactly what keeps students from drifting in the weeks between big programming moments.
The research on peer accountability in adolescent behavior is consistent: teenagers are more likely to maintain habits when those habits are visible to and supported by their peer group. Group Challenges are designed to make that principle structural, not accidental.
Challenge Ideas to Get You Started
You can create any challenge your ministry needs. Here are ten to start with:
- Read a chapter of Scripture — 5 points
- Attend small group this week — 15 points
- Memorize this week’s verse — 10 points
- Share a reflection with your group — 8 points
- Complete a devotional in the app — 5 points
- Pray for a teammate by name and tell them you did — 7 points
- Bring a friend to youth group — 20 points
- Write out this week’s memory verse from memory — 12 points
- Read the same passage in two different translations and compare them — 8 points
- Share one thing from your reading with a parent or mentor — 10 points
Works Alongside Everything Else in Ori
Group Challenges layer on top of Ori’s existing feature set — they don’t replace it. Students completing a reading plan still earn their individual streaks and points. Attendance logged through Ori still feeds into your leader dashboard. Challenges add a team dimension to everything your group is already doing, without creating a parallel system to manage.
One platform. One place your students check. One place you see what’s happening.
Create Your First Group Challenge
Set up a challenge in under two minutes. Try Ori free for 14 days — full access, no credit card required.