Saturday, February 28, 2015
Lent Madness is an online educational activity that places 32 saints in a daily tournament. People vote online for the saint of their choice; that saint advances to the next round. The single-elimination brackets goes to the Saintly Sixteen, the Elate Eight, the Faithful Four and two to the championship. The winner is awarded the Golden Halo.
Founder: The Rev. Tim Schenck, rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in Hingham, Mass., originated Lent Madness in 2010. In 2012, he partnered with the Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement, a ministry of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to reinvigorate the life of the church. Since 1935, it has published the quarterly devotional “Forward Day by Day” and books that foster spiritual growth and encourage discipleship.
Previous winners: Charles Wesley, 2014, prolific hymn writer and loyal Anglican; Frances Perkins, 2013, Episcopalian who was President Franklin Roosevelt’s secretary of labor and influenced programs to help the needy; Mary Magdalene, 2012, one of the best known women in the New Testament and witness to Jesus’ Resurrection; Clives Staples Lewis, 2011, Anglican theologian known for his series “The Chronicles of Narnia;” and George Herbert, 2010, 17th- century English priest and poet who wrote “The Country Parson.”
Start date: Lent Madness began the day after Ash Wednesday but participants can join in at any time. The Golden Halo winner will be named April 1, the day before Maundy/Holy Thursday. The activity is open to people of all faiths.
Online: www.lentmadness.org.