(RNS) A poker-playing Catholic priest folded his cards without winning the $1 million prize, but left the table with $100,000 for his South Carolina parish in a tournament to be broadcast nationwide this Sunday (Dec. 27).

The Rev. Andrew Trapp said he will donate all of his winnings from the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge to St. Michael Catholic Church in Garden City, S.C., which is close to raising the $5 million it needs to build a new church.

“Even if I didn’t win any prize money, it was an opportunity to evangelize in a really unique way,” Trapp said in an interview. “For people to see a Catholic priest — I’m a normal guy with a smile on my face — that is a form of sharing the gospel.”

In recent years, some Catholics and other Christians have fought efforts to legalize or expand gambling, arguing it fosters a host of social ills. The Catholic Catechism warns that “games of chance” are “not contrary to justice,” but can lead to problems when they deprive others of necessary funds or become addictive.

Trapp, 28, said he did not consider the poker challenge gambling, since he did not wager any money. “It’s like me getting on `Jeopardy’ or `The Price is Right,”‘ he said. “I’m on a game-show that uses card playing as a medium for advancement.”

Trapp said his bishop, the Most Rev. Robert Guglielmone of Charleston, agreed that the priest’s poker playing was a winning hand for evangelism.

Trapp said he is a pretty good card player, but luck — or divine intervention — had also a hand in his success. “A lot of my friends thought God was shuffling the deck for me,” he said.

Parishioners at St. Michael will gather to watch the tournament on Fox this Sunday, Trapp said. The priest said he is ready to walk away from poker tournaments and concentrate on his full-time job, including celebrating Christmas Mass on Friday. “I wish I had gotten the big prize, but I am happy with the way things worked out,” Trapp said.