Check out this Priest
By SEANNA ADCOX
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 22, 2009; 5:49 PM COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina priest missed the $1 million top prize in a poker tournament to be televised this weekend but he won $100,000 for his church and he hopes his participation gives viewers a “fun twist” on their perceptions of the priesthood. The Rev. Andrew Trapp said he entered the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge in hopes of putting St. Michael Catholic Church “super close” to its $5.5 million fundraising goal to build a new facility. He also wanted to strike a public relations blow for priests. “At the very least, even if I didn’t win any prize money, I was hoping it would help people to see that priests can have fun and be normal people and hopefully get a little bit of a fun twist on the image of the priesthood,” the assistant pastor said Tuesday. The top prize went to retired New York Police detective Mike Kosowski. But Trapp won $100,000, untaxed, in a semifinal round in October for the coastal church’s building fund, which has amassed $4 million after four years of fundraising.
Advertisement
December 23, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Do you consider this story to be a fail?
December 23, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Yes
December 25, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Why do you consider this story to be a fail?
December 26, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Gambling, trying to build a church through something other than stewardship, trying to help people see the priesthood differently through poker, really it is all a fail, but also amusing
December 26, 2009 at 4:02 pm
My biggest question is what makes this priest (any many others) think that spending 5.5 MILLION to build a building is a good thing–or something that is in line with following the example of Jesus?
December 26, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Thanks for stopping by. I won’t make a blanket statement about how much any church should spend on a building, but our infatuation with church structures, especially in the US certainly reinforces how strong a grip materialism and consumerism have on the American church.
December 27, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Seems the real fail is that he didn’t win more $.
Trapp’s tradition doesn’t maintain the same posture as yours on gambling.
I’ve known of several well respected Wesley-type leaders who play poker. Their appreciation for a game doesn’t make them failures.
December 28, 2009 at 9:29 am
Oh I am not demonizing poker, just not celebrating it as some sort of priesthood breakthrough. It is what it is, but it is not a particularly Godly method of stewardship.
December 28, 2009 at 10:47 am
I’m supporting attempts for Catholic priests to look like normal, relevant humans beings.
You probably wouldn’t appreciate Florida’s church of the nativity and their Novemberfest fundraiser complete with raffles and beer tent.
I’m off to get more scratch offs for the plant.