On the second day of Celebrity Blogger Week Lent Madness gave to me…not two turtle doves but a single Lutheran! Beth Lewis is what you might call an overqualified Celebrity Blogger and we’re delighted she agreed to join us for the 2016 Lenten season. Read on!
But first, in case you missed yesterday’s edition of Monday Madness, be sure to tune in as Tim and Scott highlight the start of Celebrity Blogger Week and explain why Westminster Abbey is basically a monument to Lent Madness.
Beth Lewis has served as President & CEO of Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, since September 2002. During this time, the company has transitioned into a leader in delivery of digital content for congregations, higher education and families through their Augsburg Fortress, Fortress Press, sparkhouse, and Sparkhouse Family imprints. This call followed 20+ years of work for several Fortune 500 publishing companies and owner of a computer and technology career school. Beth is a popular speaker in ecumenical groups on a wide range of topics; some of the most popular are Gutenberg to Google: Effective Use of Technology for Congregations, Strategic Planning for Faith-Based Organizations, and Congregational Hospitality. Having been raised Lutheran in Lexington, Kentucky, Beth continues to be a dedicated fan of UK Wildcats basketball, so brackets are among her favorite things to follow! She writes the One Mission blog and you may connect with her on Twitter @bethalewis and on Facebook.
1. Since being named a Celebrity Blogger is obviously your greatest lifetime achievement, how will you handle the inevitable post-Lenten letdown?
I’m thinking a nice bottle of red wine will do the trick; perhaps one of my favorites, Druid’s Fluid from Troon Vineyard in Grant’s Pass, Oregon?
2. What is the single strangest thing you’ve learned about one of your assigned saints?
Dominic’s emblem in art is a dog with a torch in its mouth. It is reported that it is a pun on his name because the Dominicans are sometimes called the “Domini canes,” the hounds of the Lord.
3. What is your favorite saint-inspired food and why?
Chewy German pretzels. I assume that one of my favorite saints, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, having lived most of his life in Germany, must have enjoyed plenty of these! Besides, they are bread-like, so make me think of communion. The best ones have plenty of salt — “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6).
And, I find this bit of legend/history regarding their Trinitarian form interesting: “Though the exact origins of the pretzel remain mysterious, legend has it that the story began around A.D. 610, when Italian monks presented their young students with treats of baked dough twisted in the shape of crossed arms. At the time, crossing one’s arms was the traditional posture for prayer. As the custom spread through medieval Europe, the pretzel’s three holes came to represent the Holy Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and the twisty baked good became associated with good luck, long life and prosperity.”
4. Besides Lent Madness, what do you most look forward to during the season of Lent?
This Lent, it will be celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary with my husband! Yes, a Lutheran pastor and a Lutheran publisher were married in Lent! Probably slightly scandalous in some circles!
The Rev. Megan Castellan, Distinguished Celebrity Blogger, is Assistant Rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Kansas City, Missouri, and diocesan youth coordinator for the Metro Kansas City area. Previously, she has lived and worked in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, and that period of time in the West Bank that the government can’t know about. Her ongoing adventures and strong opinions are chronicled in her blog Red Shoes, Funny Shirt and on Twitter @revlucymeg. (From time to time, you can also catch her writing in various other places, like House of Deputies News, Episcopal Café, or Fidelia’s Sisters, though the snark factor is significantly lower there). In her spare time, she enjoys singing, playing with yarn, throwing jellybeans at politicians she disagrees with on TV, and cheering on KC-based sports ball teams.
This week, the 
So head over to the website and 
While much of the world is recovering from the Halloween sugar high, the rabid Lent Madness faithful cast their collective eye toward Lent 2016. It may be more than three months away, but the 
Celebrity Blogger Week: David Creech
One of three Celebrity Bloggers named David (shockingly we have none named Goliath), David Creech is entering his third year as a Lent Madness contributor. As a professor with a fancy PhD, he makes us all appear to be smarter than we actually are. We are grateful for that, even if we’ve never been able to figure out why his blog is named Dying Sparrows.
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.
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