In yesterday's Faithful Four matchup, Maria Skobtsova defeated Esther 73% to 27% to make it to the Championship Round. Who will compete with Maria to vie for the Golden Halo? That's the question to be decided over the next 24 hours as Anna Alexander, the Georgia Deaconess, faces Richard Hooker, the Anglican theologian.
To get this deep into the Saintly Smackdown, Anna defeated Peter Claver, Edith Cavell, and Eglantyne Jebb, while Richard got past Mary of Egypt, Margaret of Scotland, and Phocas the Gardener.
Anna continues to be shepherded through the bracket by her namesake Anna Fitch Courie. Richard's advocate is Marcus Halley, who...shares a last name initial with Mr. Hooker.
Finally, did you watch the final in-season episode of Monday Madness? Of course you did. But here's the link nonetheless. You know, to share with your friends and family and Facebook friends you've never actually met.
Anna Alexander
Anna sighed as she began her walk between Darian and Brunswick. The day was already stifling hot and the sun had not yet reached its peak. The mosquitoes were already out in full force and the dust from the road was turning her habit from black to brown. She prayed for a breeze to cut the air that was so thick you could swim through it. Although the day was already shaping into a typical southern day, Anna couldn’t help but smile as she heard the sweet chirping of cicadas in the trees. The birds were greeting her with their morning chatter and the magnolias were in bloom. There were signs of God everywhere on her daily journey and these comforted her with her mission ahead.
With each step, Anna prayed for each of her students by name and prayed God would bless them with skills to change the world. She worried that the world would never see her children as equal in God’s sight. She worried that they didn’t see themselves as equal either. Anna’s shoulders dipped with the weight of worry and love she felt for these boys and girls. She worried that she had the skills to show them why reading, writing, learning, and God were so important. She wanted them to know the Bible tells us that God made all men and women in God’s image. Anna wanted her students to know that the most important lesson is that we love each other.
Mostly, Anna prayed that her students would learn that even when the world tells them otherwise, that Jesus tells us to treat each other the way
we want to be treated. Maybe if Anna’s students treat others the way they wanted to be treated that soon the world would treat them that way as well. Anna knew that following God was far more important than the noise of the world. After all, she had been told for years that she couldn’t make a difference being black and a woman. She hoped that with her firm persistence, following the love of Jesus, and the passage of time that she was showing that each of us makes a difference in our own way just because we are children of God.
As Anna neared her destination, she gave thanks to God for this time in prayer on her journey. Each step was a prayer that reaffirmed her faith and relationship with God. She felt strengthened by this time to serve her community. Her walks each day gave her that time to pray and reflect on where she was called to go. As she headed off to deliver the clothes, food, and books she gathered for her flock, she smiled. Today was going to be a good day.
Richard Hooker
Dr. James Cone, father of Black Liberation Theology, suggests that “theology is loving God with the mind.” It is easy to dismiss Richard Hooker’s theologizing as aloof, ivory-tower naval-gazing; but, it is important to note that loving God with our hearts, souls, and minds is a command straight out of the Gospels. The practice of theological scholarship is important to the life of the Church and, while its importance can be taken to the extreme (as with all things), it provides the necessary framework to wrestle with incredibly challenging questions. His commitment to the field of theology impressed King James (of the King James Bible fame), who said of Hooker, “I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language; but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures, the fathers and schoolmen, and with all law both sacred and civil.”
Richard Hooker did Anglican theology in a time of fierce religious division. Using the scriptures and Christian tradition, Hooker was able to weave together a system of faith that graciously navigated the Via Media between the excesses of Roman Catholicism and the austerity of continental Reformation Christianity. He allowed the Sacraments, the Church Mothers and Fathers, and Christian tradition to speak to a new age of Christians who were asking incredibly deep questions about how their age-old faith was going to interact with a world exploding in knowledge and size and scope. His Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie has a reach beyond Anglicanism into the field of English prose and political theory. Here is a real, flesh-and-blood man dedicated to a theology that improves the world.
Episcopalians are who we are, people who weave the richness of the Christian tradition into conversation with the real world around us, in no 
small part due to Richard Hooker. His system of scripture, tradition, and reason creates a framework of faith that is solid at its core and soft at its edges. Our faith is firm enough to affirm the ancient, Trinitarian faith, but soft enough to invite, include, celebrate, and be transformed by the presence of those of us formally closed out of the life of the Church – people of color, women, queer, and trans people, native and immigrant people. While we may not have been on his mind, his system of faith provided the framework that allowed many of us to experience true freedom in Jesus Christ.
Richard Hooker might not be remembered for feeding and housing people on the margins, but his system of faith nourishes and provides spiritual shelter for many, with the potential to add many more, for there is “plenty good room” in the Kingdom.
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421 comments on “Anna Alexander vs. Richard Hooker”
Voting for Anna from Peoria, IL
Voting from Los Angeles, California. What a great experience Lenten Madness is. I’m looking forward to making this a part of my Lenten practice every year.
Richard Hooker is a giant and will most likely win this round. I’ve voted for him previously but Being a former teacher and growing up in the south, Anna won my heart. This woman truly was a Saint and her journey was not an easy one. Thanks from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington for another awesome Lent Madness.
Topeka, Kansas, home of Brown v. Board of Education, which integrated the nation's schools. Linda Brown, may she Rest In Peace, died yesterday at the age of 76. Of course, I voted for Anna.
This Lent I've been ever more aware of the saints among us, right here daily in Madison, Indiana. For this reason, I'm voting again for Anna.
From Merced, central California, this Methodist voted for Richard. Although Anna tugs at my activist heartstrings, Richard had greatest over all influence even beyond his denomination.
Upper Lefthand Corner of the contiguous U.S. in Sequim, Wa
Voted for Anna; her modeling of the walk to which I aspire was hot, dusty and for her apparently, joy filled.... a challenging balance in the reality of life.
Milton, Ma, United States
Deerwood, Minnesota in the heart of the Lakes. Today Anna got my vote. This was a tough choice.
Good morning from the San Francisco Bay Area!
I loved the way Mr. Halley captured the relevance of Hooker's theology, but as a teacher, Ms. Fitch Courie struck a chord in my heart. Thankful for Deaconess Anna and all the faithful teachers of history.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Best part of Lent Madness is learning about saints I never knew (2nd best part is reading comments from all over!). My vote goes with Anna as a most contemporary example for us all, especially in light of ongoing racism and inequality in education (and more). Originally from the SF Bay Area, I am one of the rare Presbyterians (PCUSA) in Maine and some of my best friends are Episcopalian, which is how I came to know Lent Madness. 😉
Milwaukee Wisconsin.....sorry I haven't been reading these comments all along.....and the last few days the votes have been very hard.....but my vote today goes to Hooker...as a cradle Episcopalian and one who has never consider leaving...I owe him a LOT!!
A vote for Richard and his 3-legged stool from Sun City, AZ
Good afternoon from slightly chilly Pocatello, ID where another vote comes for Richard Hooker and his 3 legged stool! I too was very torn, especially being in a church that has a weekly meal for the hungry called "My Brother's Table" which totally resonates with Anna's work, and having been a cradle born Methodist. I was also very drawn to the way that Hooker laid the foundations for a church that welcomes, and reaches out to all and that really resonated with me. Also an aside- This was my first year participating in Lent Madness and it was wonderful as was Monday Madness! I am also a stage 3 breast cancer patient although only on the left side, thankfully although four lymph nodes were taken out as well. Treatments are also going well thanks to a really good Oncology Department, and all the prayers of my church I have been experiencing. During the chemo I took my little computer up to the hospital with me with me one day and Lent Madness provided good entertainment, and a great devotional time- thanks so much SEC! I am also now grateful Chemo is over although it's now on to a month of radiation treatments which hopefully will also go as well as the first half of this journey!
Praying for you, for strength and healing, Terrie. The LM Global Viewing Public is a mighty group of prayer warriors, so I know that you are in the right place!
Yikes, the race is neck and neck. Go Anna! I am posting from Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Tough call today. Love the comments and sad to be coming to an end ! From Wasaga Beach, ON, Canada.
I was really torn, and I confess that I was tempted to vote for Richard Hooker partly because Maria would have a better chance against him! But I went with my better angels and voted for Anna, although, as others have pointed out, we all owe a great deal to him and I have tremendous respect for his work.
Good afternoon from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Morganton, NC
Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of Lent Madness. It has been an enlightening journey.
Coming from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I voted for Anna. I'm glad I got to learn more about Richard Hooker, but did not think he should have won out over Margaret of Scotland. Plus, I started out my ministry as a deaconess in the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod before hearing the call to ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, so I have to pull for my sister deaconess here. (I also can't believe that Phocas the Gardener won out over Katharina von Bora. I think the SEC needs to look into vote rigging. 😉 )
Living outside Sheridan, Wyoming. It is good to see a few other Wyomingites on this site. RIchard Hooker is my choice for his mind, and what am impressive mind it is.
Darned auto correct. That should read "an impressive mind!"
Maryland's Eastern Shore - Westover, MD
I usually don't post, but I want to thank those who do. I live in Brattleboro VT and go to St. Michael's Episcopal Church here. When I have had to agonize over the choices, their comments have often given me clarity I needed to make a good choice. I also voted for Anna. Deacons are in short supply, and their calling is so different than the priestly calling. We need more of them, in my opinion.
Agreed.
Anna, voting from Kailua-Kona HI! And, just for the record, not Episcopalian! Worship and serve at an independent congregation!
Marcus Halley for the Golden Halo! What a magnificent summation. I am for Hooker all the way (definitely the foundation of the Church I love) but even if not an adherent, Marcus Halley would have convinced me. I had tears in my eyes as I finished reading. I am printing that to put in my Prayer Book. And I will pray that Marcus Halley has a long and illustrious life and that he keeps writing and publishing.
Tough decision for Dearborn, Michigan today. But, I'm going with Anna.
Mentor, Ohio (25 miles east of Cleveland). I think this matchup was the most difficult of all. I had picked both going into this round, but ended up with Anna.
From Kalamazoo, MI. I love Anna story, but I voted for Hooker. He was a big favorite of one of my priests and I love the"3-legged stool".
In Grand Blanc, MI I supported Hooker whom I had studied as a newly minted Episcopalian as I have from the beginning.
A lake in rural Maine
Sequim, WA