Responses to "Cats and Dogs & Church"

Here are two messages I received from a couple of Farmers:

From Emilie Rexeisen:


I go to St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Roseville, MN. Yesterday, my husband and I were surprised everyone who brought their pets to church. (We missed the memo about bring your pets to church day.) The pets were allowed to attend the service. I think we had 10-15 dogs, 2 cats, a guinea pig, and many stuffed animals. It was quite amusing because the dogs were quite loud. A pair of basset hounds whined and howled through practically the entire service (especially when we were singing).

In order to account for the noise of the animals, the congregation read most of the mass in unison and we skipped the second lesson. The animals were blessed during communion. I didn't mind the animals... at least not once a year. It is a nice break from the ordinary.

I have no objection to service animals in church, but I do think it would be distracting if everyone brought their barking puppies every week.Hope you get some good feedback!Emilie Rexeisen

..... and from Catherine Thomas.....


Mother Liza came to St. Paul's in St. Joseph, Michigan 11 years ago. Whitby adopted her a couple of years later and would be in her office most days. We have a service for St. Francis with all sorts of animals. They all do very well sitting in the pews and waiting their turns to be blessed. A reception with both people and animal treats follows in the memorial garden where additional fertilizer is added to Dad, Bo, Carole, etc.

Harry Dog is 3 and comes with me to do flowers for flower guild or if I just have an errand to do at the church. He is very welcome there and knows his way around, running in first to say "hello" to Jean the administrator and then running downstairs to see if any crumbs were missed from the clean up of coffee hour.

Mother Liza has moved on to the Cathedral in Buffalo and Father Tom is the interim with his little friend at this side in the office. Dogs are becoming a common sight at St. Paul's.

Thank you both for writing (and the anon's put on as comments).

Cats and Dogs...... and Church

My dear friend C came up with these two portraits. One is of Ms. Isabella Maria Luisa Theresa Fifi Bella Vita La Rue..... OK, Bella. Because C has visited twice recently, Ms. Bella has been staying with Gail who, despite declaring to hate cats, has become fond of this independent spirit in a furry coat.

And this is of my ever-faithful companion, Miss Emily Louise. Here is a hint of spot on her nose, the last visible vestage of having had another run-in with one of the neighborhood skunks..... and that is another story for perhaps tomorrow.

As St. Francis of Assisi day has just past, the idea of animals in church is still fresh in my mind.... and I'm wondering if any of the parishes you belong to out there are welcoming of non behavior challenged pets. Drop me a line here at deaconj@geraniumfarm.org or feel free to attach a note to the blog entry. Remember (if you don't mind) to put your name, parish and town (state/province/country). It would be wonderful to hear of your tails (oooopppps!) tales. Do any of your members bring service animals with them to liturgies? How does that work out? For or against, how do you feel about the presence of animals - on a frequent basis - to worship services at church? Let's have a bit of and exchange on the issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you-all. Fondly, DJ