Bracket Confidential

February 21, 2013
Tim Schenck

Many people have asked us recently how the official Lent Madness bracket is formulated. In other words, how are the saints chosen and who decides the match-ups? Ask Tim and he'll tell you it's one part Holy Spirit, one part Ouija Board, and one part his twisted brain. But actually the process is quite scientific and/or Spirit-led as this video will show. The Supreme Executive Committee filmed this in Hingham, Massachusetts, during a rare joint appearance following Lent Madness 2012.

So if you don't like the match-ups, remember three important facts.

  1. The bracket was out of the SEC's control, having been appointed by the likes of ferrets and smoke signals.
  2. Strange pairings encourage us to think creatively about the saints and their lives. Read the comments to the daily votes if you want a flavor of how this works.
  3. It's called Lent Madness, not Lent Sanity.

While not exactly a benevolent dictatorship, the SEC does hold a nomination period during Eastertide where the Lent Madness faithful are encouraged to submit names for inclusion. In fact, a decent number of saints in this year's bracket came from viewers like you, so stay tuned.

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8 comments on “Bracket Confidential”

  1. Dominos playing ferrets helping to select the candidates for the Golden Halo? Lord have mercy on such as we.....Bah, Bah, Bah.....Oh heavens to Murgatroyd...that's the Whiffenpoof Song. Well, they're just as qualified as you two sitting in some nether world, probably down in the bowels of the church...Is that where the organ pipes are located?

  2. For Lent Madness 2014 would you accept any Saints in the Canadian BCP or BAS that are not on the Episcopal Church's Calendar such as John Horden, Robert Machray, Henry Budd, Marie d'Incarnation, Charles Inglis, Robert MacDonald, or John West?

  3. The ferrets and Delia are wonderful! I enjoyed seeing them. and Tim and Scott also, kind of, they are not nearly as cute as the three afore mentioned creatures however, God loves them all.
    I assume that all cats were above this "madness" and chose not to participate.

  4. OK, this changes everything. Now my faith is shaken. I was fine with all the madness, with the arbitrary brackets and the trivialization of Lent, and everything. But now! I discover you guys wear shorts in the church!!

  5. Umm, in burning the name of the saint, was that a saint who was not burned in real life? (I hope!) Because it doesn't seem fair to get burned twice.