About 800 youth and hundreds of adults at the Episcopal Youth Event received a rare visit from the Supreme Executive Committee today. Tim and Scott invited participants to cast the first vote of Lent Madness 2015, deciding whether St. Francis of Assisi or St. Gabriel the Archangel would earn a spot on the bracket. Here’s the video of the SEC that was played on the giant screens for 1,000+ people.
Later that day, participants cast their votes. While the results were being tabulated, the SEC offered two workshops on the saints. Dozens of EYE youth came to talk about saints and this new approach to Lent.
Also today, the Presiding Bishop posed for a selfie with the SEC. Were they posing with her? Or she with them? You decide, but take note of the way she showed her love of Lent Madness by wearing a purple shirt.
This evening, on the last day of EYE, the results of the vote were announced just before the closing Eucharist. Here’s how the crowd reacted to the news.
Tune into Lent Madness on Twitter or Facebook for more photos from the day. While the SEC usually talks about how honored everyone else is by their presence, today we can turn the tables. It was a treat and an honor to join hundreds of the most passionate people in the Episcopal Church for a day of learning, fellowship, worship, and, of course, voting.
Ah, good for St. Francis! And now for a bit of news that just may come as a surprise..
Brace yourselves….
I am un-tilting my lance, throwing in the towel, done nagging the SEC about putting Fred Rogers in the bloody bracket!!!!!!
I am tired of running into the spiky, broken-glass-and-carpet-tacks-embedded wall that Scott and Tim have come to represent!!!!
Don’t misunderstand me.
Fred Rogers continues to be a model of all those enduring qualities that make for sainthood. He has earned his Golden Halo many times over, but if the SEC wants to remain stuck in it’s stubborn, inflexible, unmoving stance well there’s nothing I can do about it!!!
Go in Peace(?!)to Love and Serve the Lord,
Gnashing my teeth all the way,
Madeleine L. Baier
I agree with Madeline!
(sound of crickets chirping)
Amen sister!!
Great way to introduce 1000+ people to the Madness in Lent.
Archangels are considered saints? I thought saints were human beings. So I could nominate Uriel? I’m not sure that’s widely understood. Maybe it’s just me.
Thou protesteth too much, dear heart. Methinks with glistening eye it may be a feigned device. And if truth be told, there is a ribald tale or two to charm one’s ear in Assisi.
and the crowd went wild….wasn’t st. francis on a recent bracket? is that Kosher?!
But wait a minute–really? All those kids cheering wildly for a saint? It gave me goose bumps! Outstanding outreach, SEC! Gabriel is smiling through his tears.
It was Archangel St. Michael the Sacred Warrior who spoke to St. Joan of Arc, not Gabriel. Oy vey, I could write a book.
Maria, you might want to check the internets.
http://bit.ly/1oUSX7Q
While Michael may have spoken to Joan, she also claimed to have spoken with Gabriel.
Clarification: I was merely writing dear Madeline and offering a comforting aside. I was sleepy and slow. Here’s to the SEC! Happy Summer!
Our young people chose well– as if there was a poor choice!
Yes indeed!! As an unapologetic animal lover, Francis of Assisi is a favorite.
My cat, Esther, agrees. Don’t you kitty?
Three CHEERS and four HUZZAHS…..whatever they may be…..to the SEC for knowing how to drum up more interest in LENT MADNESS for 2015. Just think of the explosion when 2015 finally gets here. And getting the PB to stand with you guys as she proudly donned a shirt of the best shade of purple, not that reddsish-blurple color of most bishops shirts. Hurry, hurry 2015 !!!
That was fun. …loved seeing our PB with you both. Awaiting my time with you in Lent….
Being relatively new to Lent Madness, I’m wondering if and when the 2015 bracket is published. (Now that we know one of the saints.)
Don’t forget the possibility of St. Raphael the archangel, patron of healing, travelers (especially important since St. Christopher was disowned), and felicitous meetings (and therefore, often of singles’ groups — and how about internet dating?).
I am not giving up on getting Fred into a bracket sometime. Anyone want to put him up at general convention for recognition as a ‘holy man’? i will write the resolution if someone will take it.