Families from every state in Australia submitted entries for the first “The Big Family Build”, which this year was based on Genesis, the first book in the Bible. The competition winners were announced on September 7, with eight finalists chosen. Among their detailed brick creations were scenes from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3), Noah’s Ark (Genesis 6-8), the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) and Jacob’s dream of the stairway to heaven (Genesis 28).

Entries were judged by Lyn and Matt – the grandmother and grandson team from the LEGO Masters TV series who spoke to Eternity in May. Lyn looked for a clear representation of the Bible passage and families having fun, while Matt judged technical ability and overall design. The two criteria for all models were that they be based on a scene, character, theme or passage from Genesis, and they had to be made with the participation of at least two members of the same family.

The overall winner was a family of six from NSW, who won a $400 Lego voucher for their build ‘Out of Eden’, based on Genesis 2-4. According to the judges their model “perfectly represented their Bible passage with amazing technical ability”.

Winner of The Big Family Build: ‘Out of Eden’

The runner-up was a family of four from NSW, who were awarded a $250 Koorong voucher for their model ‘God’s Promise’, representing Genesis 8:1-21 where Noah and his family are departing from the ark.

Runner-up in The Build Family Build: ‘God’s Promise’

Six more finalists were awarded $100 vouchers from Lego or Mitre 10, including a special category for kids who built their models without assistance from adults. Another surprise winner was the brother and sister team from Queensland, who won a $50 Lego voucher when all entries were put into a second-chance draw.

Another finalist: ‘The naughty serpent’

According to creators of the competition, new Christian company Zenos Media, the competition was successful for more meaningful reasons than just the Lego models it produced.

“We wanted to encourage families to be diving into God’s word together in a creative way and that’s certainly what has been achieved,” Jenny Hanslow, a creative director at Zenos, told Eternity.

“Families actually used it as part of their devotions together.” – Jenny Hanslow

“Some of the stories behind the builds were really meaningful. Families actually used it as part of their devotions together. One particular family, who were church planting and didn’t have a church to go to, had been using [the Lego building] as their church …

“We had a number of people comment that this has been a wonderful way to connect as a family in reading God’s word together; and because it was a competition, there was incentive to do it.”

She also notes that churches that used the competition as an evangelistic event also gave great feedback.

The success of the competition means that it looks set to become an annual event. Next year’s competition will be held after the second series of LEGO Masters, so stay tuned for entry dates and keep your family’s Lego box handy.

For more information about this year’s winners, check out the video below. You can also view other entrant videos at zenosmedia.com. To stay in the loop about next year’s competition, make sure you like the Zenos Media Facebook page.