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!

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The road to the 2013 Golden Halo continues on this All Saints' Day with our second of four Play-In matches (during August's General Convention in Indianapolis you'll recall Gregory the Great trounced Gregory of Nyssa to make it into the bracket). This battle pits two 16th century musicians against one another in the form of Thomas Tallis and John Merbecke.

The polls will be open from 8:00 am on All Saints' Day until 8:00 am on All Souls' Day (that's tomorrow in case you don't speak Liturgical Calendar). Only one will live on in harmony as the other is cast into the outer dissonance. The winner will take on Janani Luwum in the First Round -- but not until sometime in early Lent.

Today's Celebrity Bloggers are Lent Madness veteran Penny Nash (Merbecke) and Laurie Brock (Tallis). Laurie is making her Celebrity Blogger debut (please send her congratulatory notes by telegram or morse code as this is one of the biggest days of her entire life).

And if you haven't already done so, be sure to "like" the Lent Madness Facebook page. There's no reason why we shouldn't have 2,000 likes by Lent (less than a hundred to go!).

Thomas Tallis

1.  Thomas Tallis is considered the father of English Church music since the Reformation. Apparently the spot for pre-Reformation church music father is still open, but Tallis has the post-Reformation spot. Take that, Merbecke.

 2.  Tallis wrote the quite cleverly titled Tallis Canon, allowing Episcopalians to sing something besides, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in a round.

 3. We don't know when he was born, we don't know if he did or didn't sing with the Chapel Royal of St. James Boys Choir, we have no idea what he really looked like, and we really don't know how to spell his last name -- the one copy of his signature we have shows Tallys. Yet he's still up for Episcopal sainthood. He's awesome enough to be a saint, even if he completely failed the background check.

 4.  His talent and political maneuvering brought him to the Chapel Royal, which served as the personal choir for the British monarch. Yep, you read that right. The kings and queens of England have their very own personal choir to sing at their command, sort of like the final 10 of American Idol, and Tallis -- or Tallys -- was awesome enough to be a part of this group.   

 5. Tallis taught, composed, and performed for Henry VIII, Edward I, Mary, and Elizabeth I and their courts and managed not to get himself executed.  Few musicians past or present have the ability to compose and perform in the style that suited the ever-changing tastes of monarchs, but Tallis did, and we all know the taste and styles of the Tudor monarchs varied drastically. Really drastically. Like beheaded or burned at the stake drastically.     

 6.  Tallis and his business partner William Byrd held the Crown Patent for the printing of music and lined music paper for twenty-one years. If you wanted to print music or get paper to write down your compositions in Tudor England, guess who you had to shmooze? Yep, Thomas Tallis. 

 7. Tallis' most well-known compositions, Spem in Alium, a sacred motet expressing humanity's eternal hope in God, is featured on the soundtrack of Fifty Shades of Grey.

 8.  Yes, you read that right. How could you not want this guy who survived four high-strung monarchs; the liturgical music swing from Roman Catholic to English Protestant back to Roman Catholic then finally to Anglicanism; and is still hip and cool enough to be a featured composer in one of the best-selling books of this year? (okay, yes, I KNOW what the book is about). 

9.  Being one of the greatest English composers didn't matter to laborers at St. Alfege Church, where he was buried. They discarded his remains.  Oops.  Doesn't that make you want to vote for him out of pity?  

10.  How could you not vote for a guy who composed this: 

-- Laurie Brock

 John Merbecke

10. He was asked by Thomas Cranmer to write service music for the 1549 (i.e., the first) Book of Common Prayer, insisting that it be singable and that every syllable should have only one note. The music was to encourage the people to participate fully in the service. Merbecke’s work was called The Booke of Common Praier Noted (i.e., set to music), is considered the “foundation of solemn musical service of the Church of England,” and is still in print.

9.  Although the use of service music fell away by the time of Queen Elizabeth, Merbecke’s service music, like many other wonderful aids to the beauty and wonder of the liturgy (such as candles, incense, and vestments, not to mention holiness and a zeal for mission) was rediscovered during the Oxford Movement and is still used in Anglican and Episcopal churches today.

8.  He was a double agent! He lived a super secret double life during the time of Henry VIII because of his increasing protestant sympathies even while he was serving as organist at the King’s Royal Chapel and Henry just wanted the Church to be the Church IN England, not a separate and reformed Church OF England.

7.  He was almost martyred when this secret double life was revealed. He was charged with heresy, on account of possessing the writings of John Calvin and for his work at writing an English Bible Concordance, and condemned to death. He was, however, saved from being burned at the stake by Bishop Stephen Gardiner, that same bishop so hated by Thomas Cromwell for his Roman sympathies in Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

6.  Unlike some other musicians of the day *cough* Thomas Tallis *cough*, Merbecke was not only a musician but a theological writer. His Bible Concordance, the first of its kind in the English, and one of the causes of his arrest, was published in 1550.

5.  New studies of Merbecke find that he was not only (or simply) a copyist and composer but also a Renaissance humanist whose music was “an Anglican epitome of the Erasmian synthesis of eloquence, theology, and music.”

4.  Thus, Merbecke’s life was spared because he was a “mere musician.” But in fact, his work was about spreading the new Reformed ideas throughout the Church of England in concert with Cranmer. Who doesn’t love such a delicious irony?

3.  A great choir was named after him. The Merbecke Choir for men and women sings in the Southwark Cathedral in London and is directed by a Huw Morgan. The choir has pictures of itself with Desmond Tutu and Rowan Williams on its website, proving that they are a Big Deal in the Anglican world. And if the choir is a Big Deal, then so should be Merbecke, no?

2.  Merbecke’s heresy trial was held in an area of the Southwark Cathedral (hence the whole choir-named-after-him thing) that is known as the Retrochoir. It is Very Fashionable for a Saint to be Retro.

1.  We all know that God is Mystery. But so is Marbecke! He may have been born in 1510 or perhaps 1505 or 1512; he may have died in 1585, but nobody knows, perhaps because his name is variously spelled Marbeck, Merbecke, and Merbeck. Not only that, but the Wikipedia entry on John Merbecke is described as having unclear sources and insufficient online citations to be reliable. Anyone who can outwit Wikipedia deserves a shot at the big leagues that is the Lent Madness bracket.

-- Penny Nash

Vote! (perhaps early, but not often -- the Supreme Executive Committee is watching)

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Here at Lent Madness we believe there's a fine line between a teaser and a foretaste. Actually, in this case they're synonymous as we tease you with a foretaste of the Lent Madness 2013 that is to come. This year, we're offering four play-in matches leading up to the official 32-saint bracket that kicks off on Ash Thursday (February 14, 2013).

As Lent Madness Day is commemorated throughout the world, we give you the first ever play-in match: the Great Battle of the Gregorys: Gregory the Great vs. Gregory of Nyssa. Here's the deal -- the winning Gregory makes it into the official bracket while the losing Gregory goes home to lick his wounds and pray that he makes it in next year. We figured we'd ask two veteran Celebrity Bloggers, who just happen to be in Indianapolis for General Convention, to do the write-ups. We tried to find two people named Gregory to do this but we've settled for a Heidi and a Laura.

Heidi Shott is the Canon for Communications in the Diocese of Maine. While at convention, you can check out Heidi's three-minute nightly video Convention wrap-up at The Daily Lap. Of course at some point she'll be focusing on Lent Madness which makes Tim worried that he'll have to sit on Scott's lap.

The Rev. Laura Toepfer is also at this year's General Convention letting people know about Confirm not Conform. Check out this innovative confirmation preparation curriculum and sign up for the monthly e-newsletter. If you're at General Convention, come meet her at the Forward Movement Booth.

The play-in format is straightforward: we've asked for a Top Ten List answering the question "Why should Gregory of/the ______ be included in the 2013 bracket? For those keeping score at home, the winner will face Martin of Tours in the First Round of Lent Madness 2013.

View the full 2013 bracket here.

Gregory the Great

10 . Gregory the Great was a liturgical innovator of the 6th Century whose contributions to the order of worship endure to the present day.

9. Gregory the Great listened to the Holy Spirit and enjoyed a very interesting relationship with doves.

8. Gregory the Great was great. Everybody said so. He was canonized by popular acclaim, and John Calvin called him “the last good pope.”

7. Gregory the Great was a monk. Even after he became POPE and could have really lived it up, he eschewed a sybaritic lifestyle.

6. Gregory the Great, unlike a certain other Gregory, didn’t ride into ecclesiastical prominence on the coattails of his older brother, though he did come from a prominent family with ties to the Church. Nor was he, unlike you-know-who, virtually unremembered until the mid-20th Century when theological scholars had to dig deep into the shrouded veils of Eastern church history to find new dissertation topics.

5. Gregory the Great was into chant before chant was cool, as in Gregorian chant. (Though naming it after him a couple of hundred years after he died was a marketing move to capitalize on his venerated name in order to standardize liturgical practice across the Frankish empire.)

4. Gregory the Great is survived by a boatload of his sermons, commentaries and letters. What he had to say must have been pretty memorable and important to last 1,400 years. Just sayin’.

3. Gregory the Great was a huge advocate for the health and well-being of the poor and those displaced by war. He gave lavishly from his own substance and and became a gadfly to wealthy Romans by inducing them to give generously as well.

2.    Gregory the Great was concerned about all the churches in Christendom not just a squirty, little place called Nyssa  that only a few serious church history geeks could, if pressed, find on a map of Central Asia without looking it up on Wikipedia.

and finally....

1. Gregory the Great’s compassion for the plight of young Anglo-Saxon slaves (“Non Angli, sed angeli” -  They are not Angles, but angels) he encountered at the Roman Forum so moved him that he sent St. Augustine to England as a missionary and, well, here we are in Indianapolis.

-- Heidi Shott

Gregory of Nyssa

 10. For all his conceptual thinking, apologetical writing, and doctrinal teaching, Gregory of Nyssa still said, “Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything.”

9.  As a leading figure in the Council of Constantinople in 381, Gregory played a primary role in the Nicene Creed we know and love.

8. He and his brother Basil made the Trinity the Godhead it is today.

7. He may have been a pretty lousy bishop, but was a darn good thinker. Hey, at least he was cleared of that embezzlement charge.

6.  His experience as Bishop of Nyssa during the Arian controversy makes General Convention look like a cakewalk with delicious frosting and pretty flowers on top.

5. When he said he didn’t want to be a bishop, it’s because he really, really didn’t want to be a bishop.

4.  Despite the fact that Gregory didn’t have much good to say about pilgrimages, he put Nyssa on the map. The Cappodocian Board of Tourism owes him big time.

3. He was an early and vocal opponent of slavery, asserting since all are made in the divine image, all are radically equal.

2. He showed proper deference to his older sister Macrina (as younger siblings ought, ahem), and became a Christian through her witness and guidance. He was devastated by her death in 379.

and finally...

1. Gregory of Nyssa would be an excellent patron saint of home-schooled children.

-- Laura Toepfer

Vote!

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Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment you've been waiting for since the lighting of the New Fire at the Easter Vigil: the unveiling of the 2013 Lent Madness Bracket! We received many, many nominations -- thanks to all who took the time to prayerfully submit them. The Supreme Executive Committee took the process of selecting saints very seriously as you can tell from this video. However, as it says (somewhere) in the Bible, many are called yet few are chosen.

Click here to view the bracket in all its glory (special thanks to Bracket Czar Adam Thomas). We're excited to release the bracket in conjunction with Lent Madness Day at General Convention, which we're petitioning to become the first-ever worldwide holiday (negotiations with the UN are ongoing).

One of the new features is the inclusion of four "play-in" matches. These will take place before the official kick off on Ash Thursday (February 14, 2012). The concept is simple -- two saints do battle, one advances to the 32-saint bracket, the other rues the day and plots to get in next year. The first play-in match will take place today, July 6th, starting at 8:00 am with voting being closed on July 7th at 8:00 am. This will be forever known in the annals of Lent Madness as the Great Battle of the Gregorys as it pits Gregory the Great versus Gregory of Nyssa. It will be epic.

If you happen to be in Indianapolis for General Convention, stop by the Forward Movement booth to meet Tim and Scott, have your picture taken with a giant cardboard cutout of last year's Golden Halo winner Mary Magdalene, tell us how annoyed you are that Saint XXX didn't make it into the bracket, and generally revel in the Kingdom of Heaven-like aura that is Lent Madness. If you're not in Indianapolis (and don't feel too bad since it's 100 degrees here), we'll look forward to seeing you online!

PS. If you haven't yet "liked" us on Facebook click here. Your reward will be in heaven.

Nominations for next year's saints are currently being accepted from the floor! And the ceiling and the undercroft and the slate roof and any other part of the church that might be  susceptible to a touch of deferred maintenance.

As always, we seek to put together a balanced bracket of saints ancient and modern, Biblical and ecclesiastical representing the breadth and diversity of God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. In other words, kindly submit your nominations to the Supreme Executive Committee but don't throw a hissy fit if he/she is not accepted this year. There's always Lent Madness 2014 or Lent Madness 2029.

This year's bracket was formed with input from the Celebrity Bloggers and a Ouija Board (with the Holy Spirit hanging around behind the scenes). But for next year we decided to open the nominations to everybody. Don't worry, the SEC is not suddenly becoming a democratic institution -- the only time democracy rears its ugly head in Lent Madness is during the actual voting. Still, there may well be saints we didn't think of (hard to fathom) or a particular pairing that is worthy of the madness.

We're also considering two or three pre-Lenten play-in match-ups to keep things interesting and whet everyone's voting whistle in the waning days of the Season after the Epiphany.

As you discern saints to nominate, please keep in mind that a number of saints are ineligible for next year’s "saintly smack down." This includes the entire field of Lent Madness 2012 and those saints who made it to the Round of the Elate Eight in 2010 and 2011. Here is a comprehensive list of ineligible saints. Please keep this in mind as you submit your nominations.

The field from 2012:

Joan of Arc
Lancelot Andrewes
Mary Magdalene
Augustine of Hippo
Monnica
Evelyn Underhill
Nicholas
Margaret of Scotland
William Temple
James Lloyd Breck
John Cassian
Thomas the Apostle
Enmegahbowh
David Oakerhater
Martin of Porres
Thomas Cranmer
William Law
Columba
Catherine of Siena
Emma of Hawaii
Paul of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus
Rose of Lima
Brigid of Kildare
James the Apostle
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thomas Merton
Philander Chase
Jerome
John Patteson

From 2010 & 2011:
Aelred
Francis of Assisi
Julian of Norwich
Peter
Theresa of Avila
Hildegard of Bingen
George Herbert
John Chrysostom
Polycarp
C.S. Lewis
Clare of Assisi
William Tyndale
Thomas Beckett
Constance
Perpetua
Vincent of Saragossa