The Rev. Carol Howard Merritt

Carol Howard Merritt is a first-time Celebrity Blogger AND our first ever Presbyterian contributor! Yes, it's a slippery slope and the next thing you know, John Calvin will end up in the bracket. But we're delighted Carol is aboard and we know you'll enjoy getting to know her. With over 10,000 followers on Twitter she also has the rest of us beat -- like pushing "actual" celebrity. Her official Lent Madness bio evokes the brevity of Hemingway so you may want to poke around her website a bit.

The Rev. Carol Howard Merritt (@CarolHoward) is a Presbyterian (USA) pastor and an award-winning author. Her latest book is Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with A Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church (HarperOne). She is a regular writer at the Christian Century where her blog is hosted. Visit: http://www.carolhowardmerritt.org/ or find Carol on Twitter @CarolHoward.

(more…)

Wow. All this saint stuff sure makes us hungry. Fortunately we have a Celebrity Chef on staff to assist with all your culinary needs. Maria Virginia Ross typically shares a recipe -- and some saintly insights -- on the Saturdays of Lent. You can find her posts on our Facebook page (you HAVE liked the Lent Madness Facebook page, right?). If you pray really hard, perhaps Maria will deliver the savory delight in question to your doorstep. If your prayers are less effective, you may have to actually follow the recipe and make it yourself. Either way, we're pleased to offer this bonus saintly service to the Lent Madness public.

Maria Virginia Ross

Maria Virginia Ross, Lent Madness Celebrity Chef, shares saintly recipes on our Facebook and Twitter pages on the weekends during Lent to help stave off the inevitable Lent Madness Withdrawal. A member of the laity, she attends Church of the Servant Episcopal in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she serves on the Wilmington Faiths Against Gun Violence Team. She also serves on the Blessed Bakers Team taking turns baking Communion Bread for Sunday services and cookies for inner-city youth programs. Maria blogs about Jesus, saints, angels, spiritual journeys, recovery, and food at Saints and Recipes. She’s a retired full-time mom, amateur photographer, beach meanderer, mountain hiker, intuitive empath, hippie, Whovian, and creator of the Bohemian Writers Coffee Club. Maria is writing a book about the Saints. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

1. If you could have dinner with any saint, who would it be and what would you serve? (and, duh, why?)
St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of my birthday and crazy courage. I would serve him whatever I was having for dinner because St. Francis didn’t care about food. He either fasted or ate with great appreciation whatever feast was placed in front of him. Like a Bohemian, he was all craft first. And, while he had many talents, including writing, his craft was following the Way of Jesus Christ at all times and in every situation. For dessert, I would only ever serve him Honey Almond Cookies because those were his favorite, and he’s mine.

2. What hymn would you pay money never to hear again? And which hymn are you convinced is on the play list in heaven?
I can’t remember the names of all those boring, in-one-ear-out-the-other hymns. My favorite hymn is “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light,” by Kathleen Thomerson, Episcopal Hymn 490 After not attending church during my teens and early twenties, I visited an Episcopal church, we sang this song, and that was it. I was in.

3. You're busy during Lent. Why do you make time for the Saintly Smackdown? What do you get out of it personally? 

• It’s fun.
• It’s funny.
• I’m introduced to Holy People I barely, or never, knew existed. Many times this leads me to deeper research and writing for Saints and Recipes.
• Connections are made.
• Miracles happen.

The Rev. Adam Thomas

Adam Thomas has been with the Lent Madness team ever since he had the misfortune of serving as the assistant priest in Cohasset, Massachusetts. This wouldn't have been a bad thing -- in fact it's a lovely town -- except that Tim was rector of the church in the next town. Suddenly Adam found himself in the penitential vortex and the rest is history. After serving as a Celebrity Blogger in 2012, Adam "retired" and got kicked upstairs to become the Bracket Czar. In this role he  designed the bracket itself for many years and updates it every morning during Lent. It's an unsung but vital role and we're all grateful.

The Rev. Adam Thomas, Distinguished Lent Madness Bracket Czar, had one stint as a celebrity blogger before going backstage at Lent Madness as keeper of the bracket and writer of pithy headlines on the bracket page. This Lent is his fifth as rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic, Connecticut. Adamis the author of Digital Disciple: Real Christianity in the Virtual World (Abingdon 2011), the novel Letters from Ruby (2013), and a video Bible study series Unusual Gospel for Unusual People (2014). Now he writes fantasy novels in his limited spare time, or designs board games, or plans for his next session of Dungeons and Dragons. Adam lives in Mystic, Connecticut with his wife Leah and their beautiful and precocious twins. Check out his website WheretheWind.com, for nearly ten years of content. You can fan Adam on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @RevAdamThomas.

(more…)

Some people think of the Supreme Executive Committee as penitence potentates, looking to gain whatever advantage can be gained from the season of Lent. But that's not the only side of the SEC. They also enjoy bestowing gifts upon the Lent Madness faithful. Thus it is, if you are looking to share the Lent Madness love with your entire congregation, the SEC has a gift for you. For the first time ever, we offer you Bulletin Inserts!

We don't think anyone needs instructions, but here's how bulletin inserts work: print them and insert them into your church bulletins. Hence the name.

We guess if you wanted to be subversive about it, you could print a bunch and stick them in:

a) The bulletins of other churches.

b) The Playbill when you finally score tickets to Hamilton.

c) The hidden stash of Super Bowl programs currently sitting in a Minneapolis warehouse.

d) Your neighbors' newspapers.

If nothing else, you will be providing a service to your fellow parishioners who are likely desperate to do something (anything!) other than pay attention to the sermon.

Download the insert right now, fire up your printer, and get ready to shake up your Sunday morning.

The Rev. Marcus Halley

Finally! A newly-minted Celebrity Blogger to introduce. We're excited to add Marcus Halley to the Lent Madness team this year. Sure, Minnesota is now over-represented (cough...David Creech...cough) but can you really ever have too much tuna fish casserole?

In other news, for your pre-Lenten reading pleasure, here's a rare, behind-the-scenes Q & A with Lent Madness creator Tim Schenck. Among other tidbits, learn which Celebrity Bloggers cause him to lose sleep with their loosely held definition of "deadline."

The Rev. Marcus Halley is an Episcopal priest and rector of Saint Paul’s Church on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A native North Carolinian, Marcus previously served as Pastor for Young Adults and Families at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri in the Diocese of West Missouri. He is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, NC), the Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, GA), and the School of Theology at the University of the South (Sewanee, TN.)  Prior to ordination as an Episcopal priest, Fr. Marcus served as a pastoral resident at Emory University Hospital – Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia. This is his first year as a Celebrity Blogger.

(more…)

Neva Rae Fox

We're excited that returning Celebrity Blogger Neva Rae Fox agreed to answer our questions despite the fact that it's Super Bowl Week. You may not know this, but Neva is a HUGE Philadelphia Eagles fan. We're not sure if she was one of those Philly fans who once famously booed Santa Claus but at least St. Nicholas isn't in this year's bracket.

Oh, and for those of you rabid football fans considering blowing off church on Super Bowl Sunday, consider this. We don't THINK God cares about the outcome of football games. I mean, presumably God has bigger fish to fry. But do you really want to take that chance?

Neva Rae Fox cannot fully express how excited she is to return to the Lent Madness crew for a fourth year, remaining the only Jersey Girl among the celebrity bloggers. Since last year’s Lent Madness season, she has ticked off a few more items on her bucket list, most notably: visiting Hawaii (thereby marking 48 off her quest of visiting all 50 states!); three more MLB parks to her current total of 16; and enjoying four exciting operas that she had never seen before. She is the Public Affairs Officer for the Episcopal Church and looks forward to seeing thousands of Episcopalian friends at our upcoming family reunion known as General Convention – stop by the media room and say Hi! Neva Rae remains active in her Diocese of NJ church as well as local, regional and national organizations and groups – some you may have heard of, and some you probably haven’t. Neva Rae is excited about the 2018 season of learning, fun and frivolity known as Lent Madness and, of course, to another mug for her collection!

(more…)

Dr. David Creech

Here at Lent Madness, we hoard Davids. We have three of them: Sibley, Hanson, and Creech (not including St. David of Wales). Two out of three of our Davids are Lutherans, but that's a mystery for another day. Today we meet David Creech, the first of our Trinity of Davids. This is Dr. David's fifth year plying the Celebrity Blogger trade. We keep him around for a variety of reasons but mostly because his doctorate lends us a veil of respectability ("one out of four doctors recommend Lent Madness for all your penitential needs").

Oh, and in case you missed yesterday's special Celebrity Blogger Week edition of Monday Madness, watch it here. It's must-see, pre-Lenten TV.

Dr. David Creech is Assistant Professor of Religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. A student of early Christianities, David knows a lot about saints—they anathematized many of his research subjects. He is a product of an Evangelical seminary and a Catholic PhD program and now teaches at a Lutheran college and worships with Episcopalians. For those looking for the ecumenical voice (read: objective and unbiased/quite confused) in this year’s competition, he’s your man. Although he does dress in robes from time to time, David brings the unique perspective of a layperson. His book title is long and boring (The Use of Scripture in the Apocryphon of John: A Diachronic Analysis of the Variant Versions) but nearly sold out of its initial print run of 200 copies. You can follow David on Twitter @dyingsparrows and read his oftentimes provocative posts at his blog by the same name. When not teaching and writing, David enjoys owning his three kids Ian, Ela, and Dylan at Sorry.

(more…)

Here we are in the midst of Celebrity Blogger Fortnight Week. In this week's edition of Monday Madness, Tim and Scott welcome our three newest Celebrity Bloggers and give some advice on how to act when you meet one of your favorite Lenten personalities in person. Autographs are fine but show some decorum, people! Don't be labeled a Lentarazzi.

Of course, it wouldn't be Monday Madness if we didn't urge you to stock up on Saintly Scorecards (single, bulk, or Kindle) and Giant Bracket Posters. In fact, why not head over to the Lentorium for all your Lenten tschotske needs? Despite your denials, Lent is just around the corner!

Have you followed Lent Madness on Twitter? Have you liked Lent Madness on Facebook? Remember, if we don't get to 20,000 likes on Facebook, a Lent Shutdown is almost certain. Tell everyone you know to like Lent Madness on Facebook. We have over 500 new likes since last week, but we still need about 1,600 to reach the goal.

Lastly, if you're looking for something for Lent besides Lent Madness, check out this year's Lenten book from Forward Movement (Are We There Yet?), or buy Tim's Lent/Easter book, or shop around for Lenten resources at Forward Movement. Or just send Scott or Tim a $20 bill and they'll email some stuff they printed out about Lent. Hey, it might be good. You just never know.

(more…)

Welcome to Celebrity Blogger Week! Over the next week (or so), we'll be highlighting the amazing people who will make the magic of Lent Madness 2018 happen. Our slate of 32 saints doesn't just come to life on its own (excluding the whole Resurrection thing). No, it takes our gifted Celebrity Bloggers to tell their stories in engaging ways and we're grateful to all of them for being part of the vaunted Lent Madness team.

If we're being honest, it will take more than just one week to highlight our 11 celebrity bloggers and a few others like our Bracket Czar and Celebrity Chef. But Celebrity Blogger Fortnight just doesn't have the same ring. So enjoy reading about these fantastic folks. We share their basic bios and then ask them to answer three carefully hand-crafted questions. We've also asked them to provide a photo of them doing something they're passionate about (besides writing saintly bios).

In case you were wondering about the lineup presented, we run these features in the order in which they are received. So Anna Fitch Courie is number one because she submitted her responses to the Supreme Executive Committee first. Also, she's Number One because she is the defending Golden Halo Champion, having shepherded Florence Nightingale to the highest of honors in 2017. But that's just mere coincidence.

Anna Fitch Courie

Anna Fitch Courie Anna Fitch Courie is an army wife, nurse, layperson, and the author of “Christ Walk: A 40 Day Spiritual Fitness Program” (Church Publishing, Inc., 2015); “Christ Walk Kids” (Church Publishing, 2016); “Sally the Comet” (CreateSpace, 2015); “Sally and the Constellations” (CreateSpace, 2017), and “The Adventures of Cancer Girl and God” (Church Publishing, 2018). Anna finds her calling where health and spirituality intersect. Anna is a registered nurse by training and has been working in the health care field for the past twenty years. More recently, she has been a consultant on building community coalitions on health. Anna is a graduate of Clemson University, the University of Wyoming, and Education for Ministry at Sewanee: the University of the South. She is currently enrolled at Ohio State University in the Doctoral in Nursing Practice program. In her spare time, she fights cancer, consults in public health, and runs Christ Walk, retreats, writes books, and blogs for “50 Days of Fabulous” and “Lent Madness.” In her dream world, she hikes the El Camino and Mount Rainier, sails, travels, cooks, reads, and attends every Clemson football game each season. Home is wherever the Army (and God) sends her. You can find her on her blog at Christ Walk; on Facebook; on Twitter @christwalk1; and on Instagram @christwalk1.

(more…)

After last week's "Monday" Madness on Tuesday edition, you'll be relieved to know that all is again right with the world. Monday Madness has returned to...Monday. This week, Tim and Scott discuss the Lent Madness pre-season, a time when the saints prepare for the Lenten grind that is to come. They're hitting the gym for their saintly workouts, doing Halo Yoga (which is like hot yoga, but holier), and getting their souls into mid-season form.

Also, and most important, the Supreme Executive Committee is considering a Lent Shutdown. How can you avert this looming catastrophe? Well, Tim and Scott, stubborn overlords that they are, are demanding 20,000 likes on the Lent Madness Facebook page. With "only" 17,774 likes, it is critical to get to 20,000 before Ash Thursday. So make sure you invite your neighbors, co-workers, and every single person at your church to head over to the Lent Madness Facebook page and LIKE THAT PAGE. Lent itself hangs in the balance.

It wouldn't be a Monday Madness without mention of the Lentorium, so fear not. Scott and Tim remind you that your go-to source for Saintly Scorecards (single or bulk) and Giant Bracket Posters is online. Buy now to beat the rush. And then make sure to get yourself into tip-top Lenten shape by doing finger curls to strengthen your voting finger. In a close match-up, it could make all the penitential difference!

(more…)