Today's match-up features two amazing people with six names between them (insert Trinitarian reference here). Charles Henry Brent, bishop and missionary vs. Julia Chester Emery, lay woman and organizer of what we now know as the ECW (Episcopal Church Women). We hope you enjoy getting to know them and then, well, sending one of them into Lent Madness ignominy.
Yesterday's Lent Madness 2014 kick-off was a historic day in the annals of the Saintly Smackdown. Record turnout saw Basil the Great live up to his name while Christina the Astonishing was sent packing (given her penchant for levitation, we hope she's aware of those steep extra baggage fees). Nearly 7,000 votes were cast as Basil defeated Christina 55% to 45%. He'll now advance to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen to square off against the winner of Antony of Egypt vs. Mary of Egypt.
For those new to Lent Madness, congratulations! You're now a seasoned veteran. If you tracked the nearly 300 comments you also know that Lent Madness isn't just voting and learning about saints -- it's an online community where people share some pretty personal stories and connections as well.
Of course yesterday also saw the emergence of our first controversy. In the opening ceremonies video there was lively debate over whether Dean of the Washington National Cathedral Gary Hall's cassock was purple, as he claimed, or blue. It's a Lent Madness scandal!
Are you curious about when the various first round battles will take place? We thought so. Thus, you are invited to check out our handy Match-Up Calendar. Go ahead and print it out. Have a teenager add all the dates to the calendar on your smart phone. Put it on your refrigerator, your bathroom mirror, or have it tattooed to your spouse's forehead. Once you do, you'll know that tomorrow's battle between Alcuin and Ephrem is the only Saturday pairing in the entirety of Lent.
Charles Henry Brent
In 1901 as the Philippine-American War drew to an end, Charles Henry Brent was elected as the first missionary bishop to the islands, arriving a year later on the same ship as its Governor-General, William Howard Taft.
Bishop Brent brought with him $100,000 that he had raised before his departure in order to build churches, schools, and a hospital. Instead of staying within the American enclave, Brent worked with a wide range of people, including the Chinese community in Manila and the Igorot people. He fought tirelessly against the opium trade, chairing the U.S. delegation to the International Opium Conference.
Twice elected bishop of Washington, D.C. and once of New Jersey, he turned down these appointments to remain in the Philippines. After the first election, he sent a telegram to the head of the standing committee that read, “Must decline. I would have gone, but God bids me stay. John 3:30.”
After serving as the senior chaplain of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, he became bishop of Western New York. Prior to this, he established himself as a leader in the ecumenical movement, having attended the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910. He continued to work for the cause of Christian unity, presiding at the World Conference of Faith and Order in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1927. He died in 1929.
Bishop Brent may be best remembered for this prayer that summarizes well his life and ministry:
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.101)
Collect for Charles Henry Brent
Heavenly Father, whose Son prayed that we all might be one: deliver us from arrogance and prejudice, and give us wisdom and forbearance, that, following your servant Charles Henry Brent, we may be united in one family with all who confess the Name of thy Son Jesus Christ: who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Julia Chester Emery
Julia Chester Emery (1852-1922) was an extraordinary woman. At age 24, she took over from her sister Mary the job of national secretary of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Episcopal Church. It was the only ecclesiastical post she ever held, and she held it for forty years (and not the Biblical kind of “forty years,” either). She was a missionary whose calling was to do the often unglamorous work of organizing, administering, educating, and supporting. Her work enabled thousands of women to realize their potential for ministry at a time when women’s roles were severely limited. And she encouraged the church to broaden its own understanding of faithful lay ministry.
The Women’s Auxiliary of the Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church was created by General Convention in 1871 mostly through the work of the four Emery sisters. Mary Abbott Emery was the first national secretary, and Julia stepped into the job in 1876. During her tenure, she visited every diocese in the United States and helped organize branches of the Women’s Auxiliary in more than 5,600 parishes—nearly two-thirds of all the parishes in the U.S. Many of these branches continue today as the Episcopal Church Women, or ECW.
The primary focus of the Women’s Auxiliary was to empower women for mission and address the issue of funding for women who felt called to dedicate themselves to mission work. Chapters raised money and awareness for the support of local, national, and international mission. The Auxiliary sought to connect women one to another, to encourage them to know that they each had something to do for Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of God, in the company of Episcopal women everywhere. “There are hundreds more earnest, faithful, devoted women who would be cheered if only they knew what is being done by their sisters in the church and see their offering, small and insignificant as it seems, increased and multiplied by the union with the gifts of others” (Spirit of Missions, volume XXXVII, 1872).
Emery also created The United Thank Offering, represented today by small blue boxes with slots for coins to encourage daily giving and thanks to God. The UTO is still under the purview of the ECW, having awarded $1,517,280 in grants for mission in 2012. Thanks to Emery’s foresight and diligence, the work continues.
Collect for Julia Chester Emery
God of all creation, you call us in Christ to make disciples of all nations and to proclaim your mercy and love: Grant that we, after the example of your servant Julia Chester Emery, may have vision and courage in proclaiming the Gospel to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our light and our salvation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Vote!
224 comments on “Charles Henry Brent vs. Julia Chester Emery”
Does a half a vote each count? I'm torn!
Julia is my girl to honor her on the eve of International Women's Day 8 March 2014. Before the Blue Boxes for ECW, we had Mite boxes always for lent, given to us by our three Deaconess at Christ Church, New Haven. Sisters Mary, Martha, and Ruby of St. Hilda's House. The Mite boxes were collected at the Evensong Service on Easter Sunday as we were given flowers to be put in the Flower Cross.
My parishes have benefitted greatly over the years from UTO grants~
Thank you, Julia.
Voting for you was the least I could do~~~!
I wonder how many Americans even know there was a Philippine-American war? Tough choice today but i enjoyed reading about both of them. I went with Emery.
There was no "Philippine-American War." It was the Spanish-American War, after which the US took possession of the Philippines.
Apparently the Library of Congress has reclassified the Filippino rebellion to US rule after the Spanish American War as a separate war. Lenten act of contrition is to google first, comment later.
Tough choice, but I am go n with Charles Henry..., The Holy Fool
Such a hard call — both are such wonderful saints! I voted for Bp. Brent simply because reading his slim volume "Things That Matter" about 30 years ago was a moving and formative experience for me. On that subject, does anyone know where I could buy a copy of this book?
Found a copy or two on amazon.com. Was even surprised to see that my brother's godfather, Frederick Ward Kates, had written a forward to this 1950 copy. That must mean something.
Long url but here it is http://www.amazon.com/Things-Matter-Writings-Bishop-Brent/dp/B00A1FED0M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394202580&sr=8-2&keywords=charles+henry+brent+things+that+matter
Thanks!
Amazon.com has it, but you have to search Things That Matter by Brent, or you'll get Krauthammer's book ad nauseam. 🙂
Thank you!
Even as a young child, I treasured my "mite" box and loved to check its increasing weightiness as my pennies and nickels were added. It served to teach me that God sanctifies small gifts as well as larger noticeable ones. I did not know that Julia was responsible for enabling all of us to add to the furtherance of God's Kingdom. She definitely has my vote.
Having worked for the church in the "unglamorous work of organizing, administering, educating, and supporting, I must vote for Julia!
Both of these saints are new to me, and both prove impressive. Yet, I had to vote for Julia. The church is the children of God - loving God and others - not ultimately any institution or building. Her life echoes the truth that the priesthood of all believers is powerful when we rely on God and together share the time, treasure and talent gifted to us. God multiplies the blessing, our cups overflow. Cheers to Julia! (Plus its International Woman's Day. Quoting Luther, "I could do no other...")
I stand corrected, International Women's Day is tomorrow March 8th...unless you are in the region around Korea or Australia, etc. Then, tomorrow is today, and I'm fine. Happy on-time or belated) World day of prayer though... http://www.worlddayofprayer.net/
I have to vote for Julia, as she did so much to advance women in the Church and also to instigate the UTO which is still offering so much in today's world.
My vote is for Bishop Brent, although both are admirable examples for us all. His sacrifices make me ashamed that I do not do more for my fellow man.
Ju-li-a, Ju-li-a!
While I have long been a fan of Charles Brent, and that famous prayer of his has always been one of my favorites, I have to give my vote to Julie Chester Emery. Brent is to be commended for his missionary work and the fact that he was probably the first person to wage a war on drugs, but it is hard not to give credit to a woman who served the church and reached thousands of women, and continues to reach women today through her work as the organizer of today's ECW. She continues to be with us in spirit has we put our hands to complete God's tasks.
Are you saying that Bishop Brent authored the prayer on page 101 of the BCP? That wasn't clear to me...
Yes, he's the author of that prayer. I'm sorry that wasn't clear.
This was a tough one. I voted for Julia Emery because I remember the days when girls couldn't be acolytes &. Women couldn't serve on vestries. That said, Bishop Brent was a remarkable man, & I love the collect he wrote. Thanks be to God for the lives & ministries of both.
As so many say, a difficult choice. I was sure I'd vote for Emery because of her ECW work till I caught the fact that Brent had written a prayer that I never fail to say in the morning and often add in the evening. I'll be happy to see Emery win, but couldn't pass by the author of a prayer that so deeply affects my life.
Vote Julia. Let's go Girlfren!
Julia!!! As a former board member of the ECW in the Diocese of Washington (and delegate to Triennial in 1979) I feel compelled to vote for Julia. Her legacy changed my life and the lives of many women. The UTO has also done extraordinary mission work.
Charles Henry Brent turned down New Jersey, so I must turn him down.
In 2009 my organization, Ghanaian Mothers' Hope, received a generous grant from the UTO to help build a primary school in a small village of Ghana. That school changed the lives of hundres of children and adults. Now there is HOPE for children to break the bonds of poverty through education. I admire Bishop Brent's work but Julia Chester Emery wins my vote and my heart! May there be more women like Julie in the ECW and in the world.
Was all set to vote for Charles, a role model of mine who went out to the people, instead of making them come to him. But Julia's work - and the foundation it laid for all missionaries - cannot be ignored. We received UTO grants in Sudan and Haiti. And for decades, it was the women who paid for the missionaries, this enabling people to follow Jesus' call to the ends of the earth. I received a scholarship for my doctorate from a bequest from a woman who had been a missionary in West Africa in the eat 1900s, who had been supported by, no doubt, Julia and her work. How could I not support her?
Truly a difficult choice. Sigh. As much as I have been, since quite young, pro-women in the church, I feel I must vote for C. H. Brent. Bishop Barbara C. Harris, you're still Top Ten in my book! Give my best to all in my former Diocese of Massachusetts, especially Bishop Tom, when you are there.
Charles Henry Brent was an excellent exemplar of a missionary, but I'm going to side in favor of Julia Chester Emery passion, commitment, and organization behind the scenes made the missionary work of the Church possible. It's important to be reminded that in any organization or movement, the people in public eye who get all the attention would be no where without the organizes and administrators behind them.
Amen to 'dat!
Let's hear it for the laity and their often unrecognized leadership in the background!
This is one of those happy match-ups where either one winning is totally fine with me, but I had to go with Brent. I really appreciate those who work toward ecumenism (hi, my name's Christiana, and I'm a United Methodist...) and the "blue boxes" are unfamiliar to me, so they don't mean as much. It's great to hear the stories of all of you for whom those are such wonderful things, though!
Hi Christina. The mite boxes and blue boxes are little cardboard "un-piggy" banks, into which a person drops cash to express thanks or mindfulness of God's goodness or hope or whatever moves the person in the course of a day. At some point the boxes are gathered and the contents, now a sum mightier than a mite, are used to good purpose. Anyone can do this, with any container of any color.
Ahhh, okay. Does each family keep one at home?
It's optional. When I was a kid, we'd get the mite box in Sunday School, one per child. The UTO boxes are taken home voluntarily, then gathered at particular times by the parish's volunteer chair person of that program. It's all optional. Each member of a family could choose to have one. The UTO folks would LOVE to have every family keep one (or more) at home.
My wife has a practice of keeping a UTO offering box on top of the washing machine, and all the loose change that comes out of pockets goes in there. If you leave it there long enough it gets pretty full!
Thanks for the lovely explanation, Peg! I'm Roman Catholic & I'd never heard the term "mite box" before it was mentioned at Ash Wednesday mass this week: apparently before there was Operation Rice Bowl, family Lenten offerings went into something called a mite box.
But I love the idea of dropping in some money as a thanks or praise or prayer offering at any time during the day. I don't think I've ever heard that concept before: when I hear talk about giving money at church, it's either framed as stewardship, responsibility, sharing our gifts, or giving alms. This seems spiritually much richer to me!
Christina, I feel similarly (raised Catholic, now somewhere in the Lutheran/Episcopalian family tree). Voting for Brent, but I think I will ask at my parish for a blue box this weekend...
I feel I've done Bishop Brent a disservice, here, since all the comments seem to point to his missionary work and fight against the drug trade. What I wasn't able to fit into this brief bio was how important he was in establishing what we now take for granted in ecumenical relations -- actually working with Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc. was pretty much unheard of at the turn of the 20th Century. Bishop Brent had a huge role in changing that.
I don't expect he'll move on to the next round; heck, I almost voted for Emery myself. But I hope I represented Brent adequately in his Lent Madness debut.
Laura, it seems clear that all the saints' bios are going to be "crowd sourced" anyway. I don't envy your job of having to be concise and complete at the same time. Thanks for your hard work.
btw, w/o ECW, TEC'd b like CUL8R. YKWIM? JCE!! JCE!!
This was not an easy one - particularly since it is Friday and my morning prayer group would always use Bishop Brent's collect at the end on Fridays (hard wood of the cross reference to Good Friday, you see). I also cannot understate the value of ecumenism and the awesome-ness of his tweet-like decline; however, I owe as much to Ms. Emery as much as all the women in the church do. Besides the fact I wouldn't be the Christian I am today without both female clergy and lay people, her broadening of lay ministry (and I think ministry in general) partially helped me pay for graduate school and has opened the church up both to its lifelong (or mostly lifelong) members and to newcomers. I'm sure the Revs don't mind the extra help, either.
I've signed up but never received the confirmation email to "click" so I'm not getting the new ballot every day. I'm going to sign up AGAIN and hope it works. Help! I've managed to keep track but must go to the home page to be able to vote. I'll be delighted when the emails come at 8:00 EST. Thanks!
Bishop Brent was a friend Bisho p of my grandfather. And is still a legendary figure. In the diocese of Western New York.
Having been the first female acolyte at my church growing up, I cast my vote for Julia, who carved out work for women at a time when there was a lot the church wouldn't let them do. Sorry, Charles!