Author Archives: Tim Schenck

Anna Cooper vs. Charles Wesley

After yesterday’s Harriet Havoc, it appears we have our first true Cinderella in Harriet Bedell since Emma of Hawaii made it to the championship round in 2012. She trounced Harriet Beecher Stowe 74% to 26% in the first blowout of the week after three days of tense back and forth battles. Today we finalize the Faithful […]

Harriet Bedell vs. Harriet Beecher Stowe

We can’t call this the “long-anticipated” Battle of the Harriets since, be honest, did anyone predict Harriet Bedell to make it to the Elate Eight? Nonetheless, we have a match-up rivaling the earlier Battle of the Catherines (of Alexandria vs. of Siena) plus we have a better name: Welcome to Harriet Havoc! Which Harriet will […]

Phillips Brooks vs. Julia Chester Emery

The second match-up of the Elate Eight pits a renowned preacher and bishop against a tireless lay woman. Both were spiritual giants, although at six foot six and nearly 300 pounds, Brooks was also a physical giant. To get to this point, Phillips Brooks defeated Simeon and Catherine of Siena while Julia Chester Emery was victorious […]

Basil the Great vs. Lydia

It’s a big day in Lent Madness 2014 as, after a long and winding road, we have made it to the Round of the Elate Eight. The original field of 32 saints has been narrowed to eight. The light at the end of the Golden Halo is slowly emerging and by the end of the […]

Thomas Merton vs. Charles Wesley

In the last battle before the start of the highly anticipated Elate Eight (aka the Saintly Kitsch round), Thomas Merton takes on Charles Wesley. Poet vs. hymn writer. Both were brothers, of course — one a monastic brother (Trappist) and one an actual brother (to John Wesley). It’s the final match-up of the Saintly Sixteen! […]

Harriet Bedell vs. Thomas Gallaudet

Since they were both teachers, among other things, Harriet Bedell vs. Thomas Gallaudet can mean only one thing: Educational Armageddon! The winner of this penultimate (we just love saying that word) match-up of the Saintly Sixteen will square off against Harriet Beecher Stowe in the next round. Yesterday Phillips Brooks defeated Catherine of Siena by […]

Phillips Brooks vs. Catherine of Siena

Today’s match-up features two saintly souls with devilish potential for misspellings. Calling Phillips Brooks “Philip” is like calling Johns Hopkins “John” while spelling Catherine’s home of Siena with two “n’s” rather than one is like spelling Saint Monnica with one “n” rather than two. Wait, what? Anyway, there’s a lot of spelling on the line […]

Lent Madness love from NPR

If you woke up to the sound of Tim’s voice this morning, we apologize. If your commute was rudely interrupted by talk of Lent Madness, we’re sorry. If you spilled your skinny latte all over yourself and nearly drove your Volvo off the road at the mention of the Golden Halo, we’re not liable (according […]

Lydia vs. John of the Cross

It’s hard to believe but we are now officially halfway through the Round of the Saintly Sixteen. Four more battles and we’re on to the Elate Eight. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. To savor each day and immerse ourselves in the match-up at hand is part of the Lent Madness discipline. […]

Marketing Deal Announced

The following article first appeared on Episcopal Cafe’s The Lead. While we’re generally grumpy about the fact that this “cafe” still hasn’t delivered our double espressos, we’re impressed with their nose for news. They scooped every other media outlet to get this story, including the SEC. Tim and Scott did want to squash one rumor, […]