It's Holy Week, but it's also the Week of the Faithful Four here at the Lent Dome. Tim and Scott come to you live with this week's edition of Monday Madness, the last in-season episode of 2018. They discuss the Faithful Four. They give shout-outs to huge Lent Madness fans who hold Faithful Four pep rallies. And they highlight a new Lent Madness 2018-inspired hymn (thankfully written by neither Tim nor Scott).

Get excited! The ever-approaching climactic end is near!

You can download the full hymn that Tim reads here, in case you want to insert it into the back of all your church's hymnals or sing it at your Spy Wednesday liturgy. Also, if you'd like to own a Lent Madness pint glass (kind of) like the one that Scott uses in this video, you can get a 2016 Golden Halo Dietrich Bonhoeffer pint glass of your own.

(more…)

“The End is Near!” proclaims the ubiquitous sign of the doomsday prophet. In the case of Lent Madness 2018, our sign-wielding friend would be correct. Welcome to the Faithful Four. After weeks of learning and voting and debating, the saintly field has been whittled down from 32 to four spiritual heavyweights: Esther, Maria Skobtsova, Anna Alexander, and Richard Hooker.

As we like to tell our five-year-olds when they join their first soccer team (that’s football for our friends across the pond), “there are no losers, everybody’s a winner.” Of course we’re lying. Thus, while we can sing the praises of these four saintly souls, only one Golden Halo will be awarded.

Today Esther takes on Maria Skobtsova; tomorrow Anna Alexander battles Richard Hooker; and on Spy Wednesday the championship round will take place. For the Faithful Four, we let our remaining Celebrity Bloggers loose as they answer the question “Why should Saint XX win the Golden Halo?” In other words, they’ve been charged with letting us know why their particular saint is so awesome. In this match-up, we have the unique situation of Megan Castellan writing for both Esther and Maria. Oddly enough this is familiar ground for Megan who, in 2015, also had both sides of a Faithful Four matchup in advocating for both Brigid of Kildare and Egeria. Tomorrow Anna Courie is writing for Anna Alexander and Marcus Halley for Richard Hooker.

To make it to the Faithful Four, Esther made it past Lazarus of Bethany, Michael the Archangel, and Peter, while Maria bested Thomas à Kempis, Quiteria, and Martin de Porres. Here’s your chance to send one of these inspiring women off to vie for the Golden Halo.

(more…)

Come Monday morning, it will all heat up as the Faithful Four begins. One of four saints will soon take home the coveted 2018 Golden Halo. We hope you have enjoyed the ride. It's been another great year of Lent Madness, as tens of thousands of people from around the globe have learned about the saints together. Once again, we have enjoyed a wonderful online community together. (Name another site where you actually want to read the comments!)

It can all seem a bit silly at times, we know. And that's the point. Lent Madness also gives us an opportunity to reflect on all the ways the love of Jesus Christ is revealed in women and men of all sorts, in all places, in all times. Perhaps someone from the Lent Madness Global Viewing Public will one day be remembered by the church as a saint.

Tim started this madness on his blog in 2010. Scott got involved that very year, running a proxy campaign for George Herbert, the first-ever Golden Halo winner. When Scott went to work at Forward Movement, Tim suggested they team up to kick the madness up a few notches. And the rest is history.

Back in 2012, it might have seemed unlikely. Why would a staid publishing company choose to sponsor Lent Madness, which is anything but predictable? Simply put, it's because Forward Movement was in the midst of embracing a deeper calling, to be a discipleship company, not just a publishing company.

Lent Madness is but one of many ways Forward Movement has expanded over the last few years. Families can get encouragement and ideas for practicing faith at home on Grow Christians. People have gathered for inspiring conferences on evangelism and discipleship. Free curricula are now available so that churches can teach people the wonders of scripture or the breadth of diversity in the saints. Lately, Forward Movement has offered more and more resources for free to prisoners, people deployed in the military, nursing home residents, and hospital patients.

What do all these new and expanded ways of serving the church have in common? None of them brings in much net income. The expenses to offer resources to today's church often exceed what comes in. And yet we know that these are exactly the kinds of resources that lead to transformed lives in today's church.

Here's your chance to give thanks for Lent Madness and many other new resources for the church. Please consider making a gift (large or small!) to support this work. Make your gift in honor of your favorite saint, if you like. Make your gift in honor of someone who has received free material. Make your gift in hope that Forward Movement will continue to inspire disciples and empower evangelists in tomorrow's church.

You can make a gift online, you can send a check to Forward Movement, 412 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, or you can call 800-543-1813 during business hours. Your generosity will allow Forward Movement's ongoing generous response to the needs of the world and the church.

Yeah, yeah. So we're not perfect. The first email featuring Anna Alexander vs. Eglantyne Jebb didn't have a vote button. It's been updated but here's a link to the fixed post. Now stop complaining and go vote!

Anna Alexander vs. Eglantyne Jebb

Today marks the fourth and final matchup of the Elate Eight as Anna Alexander takes on Eglantyne Jebb. To make it this far, Anna made it past Peter Claver and Edith Cavell while Eglantyne cruised past both Seraphim of Sarov and Catherine Winkworth.

Yesterday Maria Skobtsova swept away Martin de Porres and will face Esther in the next round. So the Faithful Four is nearly set: Maria, Esther, Richard Hooker and...today it's your job to complete this sentence!

Then take a deep cleansing breath and get ready for the last three battles of Lent Madness 2018. On Monday and Tuesday it's the Faithful Four. And then on Spy Wednesday the scene will be set as we collectively crown the Golden Halo winner. The end is near!

(more…)

The fast and furious pace of the Saintly Sixteen continues today as Martin de Porres faces Maria Skobtsova. To get to this round, Martin defeated John of Beverley and Dymphna while Maria took down Thomas à Kempis and Quiteria.

In yesterday's saintly action, Richard Hooker and his three-legged stool buried Phocas the Gardner and will face the winner of tomorrow's battle between Anna Alexander and Eglantyne Jebb in the Faithful Four.

As we get deeper into the season, many of the Lent Madness faithful must decide between two saints they voted for in previous rounds. Oh, the agony! And yet in the end, despite all the amazing saintly souls, only one will emerge victorious.

(more…)

In the second matchup of the Elate Eight, Phocas the Gardener faces Richard Hooker. Our ever-creative Celebrity Bloggers daily earn their keep (well, their Lent Madness mug) in the Round of Saintly Kitsch as they scour the internet for your voting pleasure. To make it to this round, Phocas bested Isidore the Farmer and Katharina von Bora while Richard made it past Mary of Egypt and Margaret of Scotland.

Yesterday, Esther narrowly defeated Peter, in an epic start to the Elate Eight, to become the first saint to advance to the Faithful Four.

Can you feel the excitement? We are getting ever closer to awarding the 2018 Golden Halo. Every vote counts!

(more…)

Congratulations! You've stuck with Lent Madness as a Lenten devotion and the field has been whittled down from 32 saints to eight. After a long and winding road, we have made it to the Round of the Elate Eight. There is now light at the end of the Golden Halo and by the end of the week we’ll be down to the Faithful Four.

We begin this round with an epic battle of Biblical proportions as Peter faces Esther. To make it this far, Peter defeated Paul and John the Evangelist while Esther got past Lazarus of Bethany and Michael the Archangel. The remaining matchups in this round are Phocas the Gardener vs. Richard Hooker, Martin de Porres vs. Maria Skobtsova, and Anna Alexander vs. Eglantyne Jebb. One of these eight will win the 2018 Golden Halo.

The Elate Eight is also known as the Saintly Kitsch round. After basic biographies, quotes and quirks, what else could there be? There are always some folks who take offense to this approach — we call them Kitsch Kranks. Tim and Scott discussed this in yesterday's edition of Monday Madness. This is not to belittle or demean our saintly heroes but to have some fun and gaze in wide wonder at the breadth of devotional practice. So kindly relax and enjoy the spirit of the Madness as we push ever onward to our goal.

(more…)

This week, Tim and Scott span the globe. Tim comes live from coffee country in Nicaragua. Scott is in Cincinnati. And they are both live, discussing the Elate Eight. They also warn about people who could be grumpy about this round, so the Supreme Executive Committee once again delivers the two great commandments of Lent Madness.

Check out the bracket tab as you plan your week around Lent Madness Elate Eight contests. Best thing is to vote once (and once only) but refresh your browser dozens of times an hour to check results constantly.

(more…)

Today in Lent Madness, it's the last matchup of the Saintly Sixteen as Eglantyne Jebb squares off against Catherine Winkworth in the Lent Dome. To get to this round Eglantyne routed Seraphim of Sarov while Catherine upset Isaac Watts.

If you had a big weekend and/or your memory is shaky, on Friday Martin de Porres defeated Dymphna 62% to 38% to advance to the Elate Eight where she'll face Maria Skobtsova.

Tomorrow we begin the Elate Eight, aka the Round of Saintly Kitsch as Peter faces Esther. Hold on to your Bibles, folks!

(more…)