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Patriotism and Pride: Drag Bingo at Fishtown’s Quirkiest Church


  Last Saturday’s bingo night at the Church of the Atonement (1542 E. Montgomery Ave.) was not typical church social/bingo night.

Church of the Atonement Entrace

Church of the Atonement Entrance for Drag Bingo./Megan Matuzak

  Pearl E. Gates, the emcee, dressed in Nancy Reagan drag sang “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from the Disney classic, “The Little Mermaid.” Later, in Hillary Clinton drag, she stood on top of a table belting “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” by Jennifer Holliday. With the DNC right around the corner, the theme “Patriotism and Pride” was never better executed.

Pearl E. Gates Getting Ready

Pearl E. Gates getting ready in the mirror./Megan Matuzak

  “[Church leaders] saw what was happening in the community around Fishtown. Gentrification has bad and good qualities, but it brought in a more metropolitan crowd coming in, which includes gays,” Pearl E. Gates said. “Doing this Drag Bingo was a way to say, ‘You don’t have to join this church but we want to be a part of this community and we want to do fun things with this community. So come, see what we are like.’”

  It was the 4th Drag Bingo night the church has ever hosted. In the past, approximately 80 people have packed the basement. The proceeds from the night were split 50/50 between two charities, a common practice for the church’s bingo nights. For this Drag Bingo, the proceeds were split between the Pulse Nightclub general fund, which goes to the families of the Orlando Shootings, and By My Side, the children’s program at the church.

Nancy checking the Bingo Card

Pearl, dressed as Nancy Reagan, checks the Bingo Card./Megan Matuzak

  “We are a small congregation but how can we take as many people as we can and speak as loudly as possible? Drag bingo can be pretty loud,” Pastor Noah Hepler said, with a chuckle. Hepler is the congregation leader and is openly gay.

   In 2009, the governing body of the Lutheran church, known as The Assembly began peeling away restrictions on their relationship with the LGBTQ community at a surprisingly rapid speed, according to Hepler.

  “They chose what we call ‘Reconciled In Christ’ which is the designation that they chose to say that this is an open and affirming entity,” he said. “Different congregations can make up their mind about how open they wanted to be.“

  “They had to rewrite all the rules,” Hepler explained. “What surprised me how quickly we moved from people being ‘homosexual and self understanding’ to gay and lesbian to LGBTQ really fast.”

Shots with Nancy Reagan

First time bingo goers down a shot with Nancy Reagan./Megan Matuzak

   The parishioners of the church not only approached the LGBTQ community with open arms, they are standing strong beside them.

“You can be a parishioner, you can pastor, you can get married here,” Kate Larsen, an organizer of Drag Bingo and a member of the church said. “The LGBTQ have a place to go here.”

   Once the irony of gambling in a church and that the LGBTQ community is often called to “atone for their sins” subsides, it’s clear that this drag bingo night is a popular night for the Church of Atonement. Mothers from the community come with coolers filled with booze, Pearl E. Gates delivers punchy zingers and each time someone gets bingo they are met with a loud “YOU BITCH!” from everyone else.

Pearl E. Gates as Hillary Clinton

Pearl E. Gates as Hillary Clinton./Megan Matuzak

  “O 69!” Pearl E Gates yells. The crowd, clearly in on the joke, calls back with a resounding “oOoOoh! Ahhh!,” their best orgasm moan in other words.

  The night ended on a sober note. This particular Drag Bingo would be Pearl E. Gates last go around. Gates is becoming ordained and next the step is to intern at a Lutheran church. Judging from the boos that followed this announcement, the parishioners of the Church of the Atonement were sad to see their emcee go.

  “Thank you for coming out tonight and sharing this with me. Share this on Facebook, Instagram, whatever. People need to know what this church is all about,” Gates, or rather Hillary Clinton, said. “Now feel free to come up here and get pictures with me!”

Dance off tie breaker

The tie break was determined by a dance off judged by Hillary Clinton./Megan Matuzak

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