In the closest battle of Lent Madness 2019 to date, Nicodemus edged James the Greater 51% to 49% yesterday to advance to the Saintly Sixteen where he'll face Martha of Bethany for a shot at the Elate Eight. See? Every (single) vote counts! But be aware that multiple voting will get you cast out into the outer darkness of Lent Madness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Remember, Big Lent is watching...
Today, we head up to the Great White North of Canada to meet Hannah Grier Coome and back down to Philadelphia to encounter the pioneering ministry of Richard Allen.
Yesterday, in addition to the nail biting Biblical matchup, we offered everyone a rare glimpse behind the Purple Curtain that is the Supreme Executive Committee. In case you missed it, you can catch up here.
Hannah Grier Coome
Hannah Grier Coome was born October 28, 1837, to the Rev. John Grier and Eliza Geddes in Carrying Place, Upper Canada, and is known as the founder of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in the Anglican Church of Canada.
With her father serving as rector of an Anglican congregation, Hannah had ties to the church from the beginning of her life. On July 23, 1859, Hannah married Charles Horace Coome, a civil engineer working on the railroad. When his contract was complete, he took Hannah back to his native country of England. There, Hannah was influenced by the Oxford Movement and the local Community of St. Mary the Virgin. Hannah was immediately drawn to their works of service and their strong commitment to the mission of Christ’s church in the world.
While living in England, Hannah became pregnant but lost what would be her only child after a dangerous fall. Following a lengthy convalescence, Hannah and Charles left England and ended up in Chicago, Illinois, where her husband died a year later. Hannah returned to Toronto and connected with a group of devout Christians who felt the need to establish a monastic community for women. This group of men and women began working together to raise funds and find a permanent location to establish the sisterhood. Hannah left for upstate New York to train at the Community of Saint Mary in order to gain the education she needed to lead the order.
Sister Hannah returned to Toronto in 1884 to lead the newly founded Sisters of St. John the Divine (SSJD). The sisters were called to serve as nurses to soldiers in the Northwest Rebellion and returned to Toronto to grow the ministry; the Sisters of St. John the Divine continues to this day as a thriving monastic community.
Mother Hannah died on February 9, 1921, on an Ash Wednesday surrounded by her family of sisters. The order she founded lays claim to sister houses (past and present) in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Toronto, British Columbia, and Alberta. The sisterhood is known for training nurses, providing rehabilitative care, opening hospitals, providing education and shelter, and care for the elderly. SSJD serves both urban and rural areas of Canada and founded St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.
Collect for Hannah Grier Coome
Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Hannah, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with her attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Richard Allen
Many Episcopalians have heard the name Absalom Jones; however, few know of Richard Allen, Jones’s Methodist counterpart and co-conspirator for racial justice.
Born as an enslaved man, Allen and his family were sold to a man who owned a plantation in Delaware. The plantation owner was convinced by a Methodist preacher that slavery was sinful and eventually offered his slaves the opportunity to buy their freedom, which Allen did in 1780, changing his name from “Negro Richard” to “Richard Allen.”
Credentialed as a Methodist minister in 1784, Allen eventually moved to Philadelphia to minister to the burgeoning population of free blacks. He became a minister at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church but was relegated to early morning services for black congregants. This segregation was a constant source of tension between the white and black congregations of the church. While at St. George’s, Allen met Absalom Jones, another minister at the church, and the two founded the Free African Society.
In 1787, Allen, Jones, and other black worshipers were pulled from their knees during prayer, and the entire black congregation walked out, vowing never to return. While Jones went on to become an Episcopal priest and lead the Free African Society toward affiliation with the Episcopal Church, Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church for those who wanted to continue in the Methodist tradition. Originally, the church operated out of a blacksmith shop and had to rely on white pastors for oversight and sacramental functions, but Allen was eventually ordained as a Methodist minister in 1799; in 1816, four other churches joined with what was then Bethel AME Church to establish the African Methodist Episcopal Church as the first independent black Christian denomination. Allen was elected as the first bishop, a ministry he served until his death in 1831.
In addition to making history as a religious protestor and founder and first bishop of the first independent black Christian denomination, Allen and his wife Sarah also operated a station on the Underground Railroad.
Collect for Richard Allen
Loving God, who makes us all your children by adoption in Jesus Christ: May we, following the example of your servant Richard Allen, proclaim liberty to all who are enslaved and captive in this world; through Jesus Christ, Savior of all, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Marcus Halley
[poll id="244"]
203 comments on “Hannah Grier Coome vs. Richard Allen”
I'm touched by Mother Hannah's story but am voting for Bishop Allen. God used him mightily both to preach his Word in the pastoral ministry and to fight for social justice.
Hannah for me. When in Alberta in the late '70's I would go to the SSJD convent in Edmonton for Retreats where we would be joined by the Sisters' 2 Standard Poodles as we prayed and meditated. Now living on Vancouver Island, BC I enjoy retreats etc. lead by the Sisters in Victoria. Sadly no poodles attending.
I'm deeply respectful of Richard Allen's journey but I'm a Canadian girl born in Toronto. Bravo Sister Elizabeth - even if Hannah doesn't go forward - thank you!
I must say the Sisters did a great job campaigning for Mother Coombs. I had an article about her almost every day for the last two weeks on my facebook page. Bravo, good Sisters. Keep the faith, dear Babes!
A a nurse I have to vote for Hannah! I do admire and respect Alien but, without nurses healthcare would crumbles they are the first line of defense for patients!
First time commenter.
I have to vote for Mother Hannah because I know first hand of the wonderful work the SSJD continue to do to this day. From the prayers for my son's best friend's recovery from a catastrophic injury, and the comfort the Sisters gave me during those first few horrific days after the accident, to the nursing care given to so many, and to the peaceful and meditative retreats they offer for the healing of the soul, the Sisters give so much in terms of physical and spiritual healing. Thank you, Sisters, for all that you do. Thanks be to God.
It took 220 years for St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church to say they were sorry for segregation.
Tragic.
Two wonderful saints whose lives continue to witness to the Gospel in our day.
But may I point out the trivial but annoying grammatical error in the collect for Richard Allen? The peroration begins: "Loving God, who MAKES us all your children." Since God is being addressed, the verb should be in the second person, i.e., "make" instead of the third person singular "makes." If that sounds awkward in modern English, then rephrase the opening sentence of the prayer, please. Thank you.
The solution adopted by the 1979 Prayer Book is “you make.”
I loved reading about Hannah and would likely have voted for her against many other saints. But being a Detroiter, where the AME Church is vital, I had to vote for Richard Allen. I've had a fondness for him for a long time, and loved when the USPS issued postage stamps in his honor a few years ago! (I can't bring myself to use them up.)
I have framed stamps occasionally in the past. You might consider doing this with one of yours.
I really want to vote for both, unlike Monday where I voted based on who the last comment made at the time supported because I really didn't want to vote for either.
Sister Elizabeth tipped the scales for her Foundress with The Seven Joys of Mother Hannah.
Being a Methodist clergy myself, my vote is for Richard!
Cheers for Mother Hannah!
Hard to choose between these two. Chose Hannah.
Pitting two immensely worthy people from different oppressed groups against each other? I'm crying foul!
The sisterhood originated by Hannah is known for training nurses, providing rehabilitative care. This very close to my heart. Broken, sick mentally, emotionally people receive gods care through the work done by the sisterhood. God bless their work done on opening hospitals, providing education and shelter, elderly care in a many yeas to come.
Methinks the statisticians for LentMadness may have goofed: On the the page "Bracket 2019" in "Round of 32", the following is listed: March 11th: John Chrysostom (47%) defeats Margaret of Cortona (47%)
6% abstained in protest over the extreme asceticism modeled by these saints.
The US could have solved a lot of problems by giving the former slaves some variant of "40 acres and a mule" after the Civil War. Even small stakeholdings and assistance in finding their family members would have gone a long way toward preventing today's strife over the very concept of "reparations." But then Reconstruction would have needed to be much more robust and longer lasting. And we would have needed to invest in public education and (no "separate but equal") a reformed legal and judicial system. It's dismaying even shocking to see how entrenched racism is in our culture still. I'm afraid that the concept of "federalism" has become so perverted (by parasitical eponymous societies, say) that we will have to revisit the constitution itself or we'll never cleanse ourselves of the nation's original sin. Peculiar exceptionalism, indeed.
If only . . . and if only there were some easy way out of the morass.
Boy, these matchups are not getting any easier! I admire Richard Allen and his congregants for their dedication and perseverance in the face of prejudice and segregation. Yet I am pulled to Mother Hannah, who suffered the loss of her child and het husband, yet turned her strength to God and to the service of God’s people. And she is a fellow nurse, so my vote goes to Mother Hannah today
Go Richard Allen! Avenge Richard Hooker’s loss last year!
Hannah gets my vote today - I identify with her being widowed at a relatively young age, yet she persevered and continued pursuing a life of faith and service in the name of Jesus. My kinda lady!
I appreciate and celebrate the comments about Mother Hannah. However, Rev. Allen, from former slave to Underground Railroad host and Founder of the AME, has my vote. Anyone who has fought against "America's original sin" (J. Wallis).
I wish you would explain the initials "sjv" again. I thought you said "jesuit volunteer," but I do not know what the "s" is: "Society of Jesuit Volunteers"?
Minister Allen has it for the dedication to moving forward with worship for those who were marginalized by slavery. To guide those for their spiritual development. He received my vote.
Both have compelling stories, but I chose Richard Allen for his faithfulness and determination to serve God in spite of the ignorance and inhumanity of his fellow humans.
Lent Madness challenges my already indecisive nature every day. This is no exception. I vote for Richard Allen. Such inspiring saints. Are they really just "folk like me"?
Don't know much about Hannah Coome
Know less about Richard Allen
But I do know God loves them both
All halos should be tossed aside
Both had compassion and cared for all
There we find the eternal vote
What a wonderful world God has made
Thanks, Karen.
Allen's persistence and courage has always been a beacon for me. Her could have become an angry man; instead he persisted and tended to the needs of his people.
My sentiments exactly
I will always vote for those born on October 28 !
Scorpios are a tight-knit bunch.
Richard's story is very worthy but voting for Hannah today in happy remembrance of the wonderful SSJD women I've met over the years.
where is OLIVER? is he ok? maybe he's too cool for Lent Madness?
Good question! Hannah has my vote.
Thank you for this wonderful hymn, Sr. Elizabeth Ann; am proud to have voted for Mother Hannah, the first Canadian woman to be included in this competition!
A beautiful poem! Thankyou Sr. Elizabeth Ann
! My vote is for Mother Hannah!
He's still here.. There are just so many comments it takes a bit longer to find him. We're an expanding community, in so many ways.
I am a Canadian nurse with great appreciation of the work of the SSJD. I guess I could not vote any other way!
I had never before heard of Mother Hannah and the SSJD. Thank you, Lent Madness!