On September 19th, eleven members of Fauntleroy Church participated in a bingo event, hosted by a drag queen over Zoom! It was fabulously fun! The event raised $2,000 for the benefit of the Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ. The Coalition is a resource to individual congregations as they seek to become sacred places of safety and hospitality for all, but especially for the members of the LGBTQIA+ community. As of the night of the event, 33% of United Church of Christ congregations have adopted an Open and Affirming (ONA) covenant, just like Fauntleroy Church did in 1997.

Gathered for the bingo event were people from fifteen churches of the United Church of Christ; representatives from Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Disciples of Christ congregations as well as nineteen individuals identifying no faith community. We joined participants from Ohio, Missouri, and Connecticut.

If you would be inclined to make a donation to this very important work, we invite you to use this link: https://openandaffirming.org/about/donate/donationpage/.

If you would like to send a check, please add “Coalition” to the memo line and send to: Gateway ONA, C/O Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 North Ballas Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63131.