"God loves you, and there is not a thing you can do to change that."

That's the winning entry in an impromptu online contest for the best of "365+ Reasons For Becoming an Anglican/Episcopalian," which will soon be part of a book released by Morehouse Publishing. The entry was penned by the Rev. Tom Van Culin of Honolulu, Hawaii, a past member of Executive Council and a frequent deputy to General Convention. The win means Executive Council member Dr. Louie Crew, who came up with the idea for the list, will donate $100 to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) in Van Culin's name.

Sixteen people agreed to read all the entries without the authors' names attached and ranked their first 10 choices. Morehouse has chosen its own favorites from the list for the book 101 Reasons to be Episcopalian, which will appear in spring 2003. All profits from the book will go to ERD.

The second most popular entry was written by the Rev. Phil Wilson, Morristown, New Jersey: "Where the only requirement at Communion is that you be hungry!" The third most popular entry was anonymous: "Where the Bible is taken seriously, not literally." Of the 365 entries, 145 (40%) appeared in the top 10 of at least one of the 16 judges.

"Basically, I started my own list of reasons that I liked for being Episcopalian, with a mind to using them on a rotating basis," said Crew. "After writing the first dozen or so, I decided it was much too much fun to keep to myself. I invited others to send entries, and over several months they poured in.

"As a new old-age pensioner, I had less of my own money to give, but hoped I could encourage others to know about ERD by offering a prize to ERD in the name of the author of the most popular item in the first 365," Crew added. "I've been particularly pleased that some parishes have posted all or parts of the list, and I understand that some parish groups have tried to write some of their own ‘reasons.'"

Morehouse editor Debra Farrington spotted announcements of the contest on the bishops-deputies email discussion list, and suggested Morehouse might want to do a book. "I felt it would be a great way to help Episcopalians be evangelists in ways comfortable to many of us, telling why we like our church," Crew explained.

Episcopal News Service