The Rev. Licia Affer at All Saints' in Phoenix, AZ

As we discovered last year, many congregations successfully used Lent Madness as a parish-wide devotion. It's actually a terrific way to make for a livelier coffee hour as parishioners engage in heated debates and engage in fisticuffs over their saintly picks. Plus it gets people to focus on something other than the rector's not-so-hot sermon.

We get a lot of questions about the best way to turn up the competitive spirit by engaging in a little saintly combat. Unlike the ubiquitous March Madness office pool (evidently there's some other bracket-driven tournament out there), Lent Madness bracketology leaves people inspired and better prepared for Easter.

Here's a step-by-step guide to drawing your congregation into Lent Madness fever. But first, don't forget to order the poster-sized Lent Madness bracket to post in your parish hall and encourage people to download the Calendar of Saints e-book ("Ultra-Revised Edition!") that includes all of the 2013 Lent Madness saints along with many others. (NOTE: This book should be available by the end of January. Watch this website for details.)

1. Pick up a blank 2013 bracket from the parish office (or print it off the Lent Madness website).

2. Fill it out with your picks (be sure to put your name on top!) and submit it either to the parish office or the official parish Lent Madness Coordinator.

3. Encourage an optional donation per bracket filled out with the money going to a particular charity supported by the parish (Episcopal Relief & Development is always a terrific choice).

4. Use a simple point system to decide the winner. Last year the Rev. Chris Arnold has devised a scoring system that I'll have to put in his own words because I did horribly in high school algebra: "There are many different ways of scoring brackets. To strike a balance between correctly picking early rounds and correctly guessing the winner, we’ll award 2 points for first round picks, 3 for second round picks, then 5, 8, and 13. This gives a total of 105 possible points, and the possible points from each round are 32, 24, 20, 16, and 13." According to Chris, this worked beautifully.

5. Unless you have a CPA in your parish (or Jimmy Carter) to total things up, your Lent Madness Coordinator can do this and declare a winner after the Golden Halo is awarded.

6. To further entice participation, you may want to offer a prize to the winner. It could be a devotional book published by Forward Movement (to placate Scott) or the winner could determine which charity gets the bracket donations. Or he/she could be allowed to preach on Easter Sunday.

7. You might like to have a large bracket in your parish hall or narthex, or perhaps attached to the altar frontal. If you are blessed with graphic artists or stone masons, you could create/carve your own large bracket. Or you can order the official, poster-sized bracket from Forward Movement for just $10, two for $18.

It's that easy! And, as always, let us know if you have another system you'd like to share or give us feedback on how this has worked/is working at your congregation.

(Remember: order your own bracket poster! All the cool kids have them pinned up at home. And another at church. Maybe yet another for the office or the car.)

Do you edit a parish or diocesan newsletter? Do you have a Lenten issue coming out? Are you desperate for material? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then this post is for you. You see, here at Lent Madness we take seriously our commitment to make your life easier. We know you're busy during these waning days before Lent trying to decide whether to give up chocolate or wine or coffee (not a chance!).

So below, you'll find an informational article about Lent Madness that you're welcome to use verbatim or adapt for your own use. And if you aren't the William (or even Patty) Hearst of your parish? Feel free to send it along to friends -- it's a pretty basic explanation of what Lent Madness is all about.

If you need the Lent Madness logo to run with this, either go to Google images or contact us for a high resolution version. Or you could always use the "FREE" button you see to your left -- everybody likes free stuff!

Lent Madness 2013
The Saintly Smack Down

What do you get when you combine a love of sports with holy saints? Lent Madness, of course. Based loosely on the wildly popular NCAA basketball tournament, Lent Madness pits 32 saints against one another in a single-elimination bracket as they compete for the coveted Golden Halo. But it is more than that: Lent Madness is really an online devotional tool designed to help people learn about saints.

Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck, an Episcopal priest and rector of St. John’s Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the church’s calendar of saints, Schenck came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints, Lent Madness was born on his blog “Clergy Family Confidential.”

Starting last year, Schenck partnered with the Rev. Scott Gun, Executive Director of Forward Movement (the same folks that publish Forward Day by Day) and Lent Madness went viral, reaching over 50,000 people and getting mentioned in everything from the Washington Post to Sports Illustrated (seriously).

Here’s how it works: on the weekdays of Lent information is posted about two different saints on www.lentmadness.org and then participants vote to determine who goes on to the next round. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time – usually 24 hours – and people vote for their favorite saint. 16 saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the Golden Halo. The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints. Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move into the area of saintly kitsch. It’s fun, it’s informative, it’s the saintly smack down!

To win in 2013, will take grit, determination, holiness, and perhaps some good old-fashioned luck. This year Lent Madness features a slate of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical including John the Baptist, Martin Luther King, Hilda of Whitby, Luke, Dorothy Day, Benedict of Nursia, Martin Luther, and Harriet Tubman as they vie to fill the shoes of 2012 winner Mary Magdalene.

This all kicks off on “Ash Thursday,” February 14, and will continue throughout the 40-day season of Lent. To participate, log onto www.lentmadness.org, where you can also print out a bracket and fill it out to see how you fare or “compete” against friends and family members. Like that other March tournament, there will be drama and intrigue, upsets and thrashings, last-minute victories and Cinderellas.

If you’re looking for a Lenten discipline that is fun, educational, occasionally goofy, and always joyful, join the Lent Madness journey. Lent needn’t be all doom and gloom. After all, what could be more joyful than a season specifically set aside to grow closer to God?

Here’s the annual "Lent Madness is nigh!" press release. Free free to give it to the news editor of your local paper or any network news anchors who might happen to attend your parish. Free mugs to anyone who gets national or global news coverage for Lent Madness. If you secure a national prime-time television special about Lent Madness, you can win an all expenses paid trip to Forward Movement's global headquarters in Cincinnati, OH.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Date: January 25, 2012
Contact: The Rev. Tim Schenck or the Rev. Scott Gunn

Lent Madness 2013 Announced
The fourth annual “saintly smackdown” begins February 14

What do you get when you combine a love of sports with a love of saints? Lent Madness, of course. A year after this unique online devotion went viral—with mentions in Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, and many other media outlets, Lent Madness is back.

Based loosely on the wildly popular NCAA basketball tournament, Lent Madness pits 32 saints against one another in public voting as they compete for the coveted Golden Halo. But it is more than that: Lent Madness is really an online devotional tool designed to help people learn about saints. The competition begins on Thursday, February 14 and takes place at www.lentmadness.org.

The creator of Lent Madness, the Rev. Tim Schenck, says “Lent Madness is about getting people to connect with and be inspired by some amazing people who have come before us in the faith. Some are already household names and others are virtually unknown, but we can all learn something from the unique ways they followed God. Plus, there’s no rule that says Lenten disciplines have to be dreary.”

The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for twenty-four hours, and people vote for their favorite saint. Sixteen saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the Golden Halo. The 2012 Lent Madness champion was Mary Magdalene.

Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of Schenck, an Episcopal priest and rector of St. John’s Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the church’s calendar of saints, Schenck came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints, Lent Madness was born on his blog “Clergy Family Confidential.”

Starting in 2012, Schenck partnered with Forward Movement, a publisher and church vitality catalyst in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Scott Gunn, blogger and executive director of Forward Movement, said, “Here is a chance to show that being a Christian, even during Lent, does not require us to give up our sense of humor. Too often, Christians seem dour and even uninspired.” Gunn added, “Last year we reached over 50,000 people with Lent Madness, and we hope to spread reckless joy and contagious discipleship with even more people this Lent.”

This year eight “celebrity bloggers” have been tapped to write for the project including the Rev. Laurie Brock of Lexington, KY; the Rev. Penny Nash of Williamsburg, VA; the Rev. Megan Castellan of Flagstaff, AZ; Canon Heidi Shott of Newcastle, ME; the Rev. David Sibley of Brooklyn, NY; the Rev. Laura Toepfer of San Francisco, CA; the Rev. Neil Alan Willard of Edina, MN; and the Rev. Chris Yaw of Southfield, MI. Information about each of the celebrity bloggers is available on the Lent Madness website.

This year’s heavyweights include John the Baptist, Martin Luther King, Hilda of Whitby, Luke, Dorothy Day, Benedict of Nursia, Martin Luther, and Harriet Tubman.

Christians around the world mark the season of Lent from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The 40-day period is a traditional time of penitence, self-denial, fasting, and preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection at Easter. It is modeled on the 40-day period of Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, recorded in scripture in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Visit www.lentmadness.org to view the full bracket of saints, learn about the contributors, and, starting on February 14, to vote.

Forward Movement has worked since 1935 to bring vitality and spiritual health to the church. Based in Cincinnati, OH, Forward Movement is widely known for its daily devotional Forward Day by Day. Lent Madness is one of many ways that Forward Movement hopes to encourage people to live faithfully throughout their lives. Forward Movement is a ministry of The Episcopal Church.

–30–

Tim and Scott are at it again this week in a new episode of Monday Madness. Tune in as they discuss the Super Bowl, play-in matches, Celebrity Bloggers, and more.

Tune in to the Lent Madness channel on Vimeo for more action-packed episodes of Monday Madness. And don't forget to check out the excellent video work coming from Maple Anglican, including this outstanding recap of the third play-in by color commentators Thomas Cranmer and John Chrysostom.

Welcome to the third (of four) Lent Madness Play-In rounds! Today we have two early American bishops going at each other with the winner facing off against Hilda of Whitby in the First Round and the loser going home to do whatever bishops do when they sulk.

While one of these bishops is most closely identified with Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and the other is linked to Seabury-Western Thelogical Seminary, please don't view this as a battle between Tim (Seabury) and Scott (Berkeley). They are the height of non-partisanship and integrity when it comes to Lent Madness (though bragging rights are highly desirable in this case).

While Lent Madness contests should never be viewed as a competition between our remarkable Celebrity Bloggers, it's worth noting that this marks the debut of the Rev. David Sibley as he advocates for Samuel Seabury. Welcome to the Madness! It's also worth noting that in this Battle of the Preaching Tabs both David and Berkeley's advocate, the Rev. Neil Alan Willard, both try to work the all-important snark vote.

If you need more motivation to vote (and since you're already here you probably don't), check out the mysterious Maple Anglican's short video about this contest. Oh, and don't forget to "like" Lent Madness on Facebook. We never post cat videos.

George Berkeley

10. George Berkeley (1685-1753) was an Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop. Blessed with philosophical powers, he is therefore entitled to his own action figure. Where, pray tell, is Samuel Seabury's action figure? [Cue the sound of crickets chirping.]

9. Berkeley believed that material objects exist only because they are perceived by the mind. Some people mocked this notion, stating, for example, that a tree would cease to exist if no one happened to be walking past it. Berkeley's response to this objection was put into a humorous limerick by someone: "Dear Sir: Your astonishment's odd. / I am always about in the Quad. / And that's why the tree / Will continue to be / Since observed by, Yours faithfully, God."

8. In 1734 he published a book entitled The Analyst; Or, A Discourse Addressed to an Infidel Mathematician. Who hasn't dreamed of writing a lengthy essay such as this after becoming frustrated with math homework? Humanities students unite! Vote for Berkeley!

7. According to Judith Grabiner, an award-winning historian of mathematics: "Berkeley's criticisms of the rigor of the calculus were witty, unkind, and — with respect to the mathematical practices he was criticizing — essentially correct." So math majors and snark enthusiasts should also cast their votes for him

6. For $25 per year one can become a card-carrying member of The International Berkeley Society, "which was founded to enable its members to share their interest in George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, the eminent philosopher and theologian and to be aware of his impact on philosophy, theology, science, and culture of western civilization, both past and present."

5. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Third Edition Revised, has an entry about George Berkeley on page 193 that takes up at least three-quarters of a column. Its entry about Samuel Seabury is stuck way at the back on page 1486 and takes up less than half a column.

4. Berkeley Divinity School at Yale is named after him. That's appropriate since he was not only a person of faith but also an intellectual. One need not check one's mind at the church doors.

3. The city of Berkeley, California, is also named after him. Strange but true.

2. Although Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Berkeley, California, both use the pronunciation BERK-lee for themselves, serious students of religion and philosophy know that BARK-lee is the proper way to refer to the bishop himself. Voting for George Berkeley is the best way to show others that one knows how to pronounce the man's name correctly.

1. Berkeley Divinity School at Yale possesses the writing desk of that other bishop, Samuel Seabury, which serves as the altar in St. Luke's Chapel at the Berkeley Center, 363 Saint Ronan Street, New Haven, Connecticut. I'm not sure what relics of George Berkeley are in possession of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. Come to think of it, I'm not sure where Seabury-Western Theological Seminary is these days. Since, however, it's still perceived in the mind of God, I'm sure — thanks to the philosophical writings of George Berkeley — that it does continue to exist somewhere.

-- Neil Alan Willard

Samuel Seabury

10. Samuel Seabury literally put the “Episcopal” in the Episcopal Church: he was the first American Bishop.

9. Seabury felt called to be a priest at a very young age; and, because he was too young to be ordained after his graduation from Yale, went to Edinburgh to study medicine –- you know, just to pass the time until he could be ordained.

8. Seabury abounded in fidelity to his understanding of his call. During the Revolutionary War, Seabury – who was a staunch Loyalist and defender of the Crown and Church of England – was arrested, and paraded around upon his imprisonment. His family was beaten and his possessions plundered, and his wife ultimately died during that period. Seabury believed the only course for him would be exile in England – not a hearty prospect for someone who was born and raised in Connecticut.

7. Seabury’s fidelity to his call, however, transformed his life. He was ultimately chosen by clergy in Connecticut in the spring of 1783 to be the First American Bishop – but, despite his Loyalist tendencies, he was ultimately unable to be consecrated in England - because he refused to swear the required oath of allegiance to the King.

6. Seabury had no problem with the Holy Spirit at the Eucharist. In order to receive consecration as a Bishop, he went to Scotland, and there signed an agreement with the Scottish Episcopal Church, which included the promise to include elements of the Scottish liturgy – most importantly the invocation of the Holy Spirit (Epiclesis) – in the Eucharistic prayer.

5. In fact, he didn’t have a problem with much of anything about Eucharist at all – in  1789, he wrote a letter to his diocese – “An Earnest Persuasive to More Frequent Communion” – in which he expressed his desire that churches celebrate the Holy Communion every week – an opinion that set him apart from the vast majority of the church at the time, and ahead of his time liturgically.

4. Seabury’s writing proved he could be pointed, and yes, a bit snarky. In his letter on Communion, he wrote: “It is to be feared there are some who never think enough of the subject to make excuses about it. To these I have nothing to say at present.… I hope none, among you [are] in so hopeless a condition.” Reports do not say whether he gave opponents of weekly communion the silent treatment, but your author chooses to think he did. [Edited for premium snark value.]

3. Seabury was instrumental in the founding of King’s College, New York – which would later become Columbia University. Columbia has produced well over 50 Nobel Laureates, minds that led such advances as the splitting of the atom and the development of the laser.

2. Seabury is now remembered in many provinces of the Anglican Communion – including the Church of England that once denied him episcopal consecration – on November 14.

1. And finally, how can one not vote for someone who rocks the rochet and chimere with such gusto as our first bishop? His portrait was often described as picturing a giant standing against the whirlwind, of the times. He did just that, and for his resilience and fortitude, he remains a giant, and worthy of your vote.

-- David Sibley

 Vote!

[poll id="40"]

In an attempt to compete with the excellent Lent Madness videos coming from Maple Anglican, the Supreme Executive Committee has released a Pre-Game video to highlight tomorrow's contest between Samuel Seabury and George Berkeley (make sure you pronounce his name correctly). This is the third play-in match, to determine whether Seabury or Berkeley will earn a spot in the first round of Lent Madness.

[vimeo 57572532 w=500 h=281]

For the record, the Supreme Executive Committee have passed a unanimous resolution condemning Maple Anglican for, on the one hand, mispronouncing Tim's name and, on the other hand, making Scott's photo too small. Aside from those huge problems, we commend Maple's introduction to Lent Madness.

Tune in tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time to cast your vote for Berkeley or Seabury.