Pets welcomed into church

23 July 2001

A church in Lincolnshire held a service earlier this month to celebrate the important role that pets play in our lives.

Around 35 adults and 30 pets attended the service at St John the Baptist’sChurch in Lincoln.

Father Stephen Hoy who gave the service, explained: “We have a dog ourselves and appreciate the love and care she bring into our lives. We wanted to give the people in the community a chance to thank God for the gift of their pets.

“Apart from one dog who joined in all the hymns, all the others were very well behaved and quiet. I don’t know if it’s the calm atmosphere of the church that gets to them. And there was only one puddle!”

Apart from hymns and a blessing for eachanimal, there were readings from Genesis about the animals going into the ark and one from the classic children’s book “101 Dalmatians”, where the puppies find sanctuary in a church.

Father Hoy says he now plans to hold them on a regular basis each year.

Most of the animals at the first service were dogs, with one cat, a guinea pig and two rabbits.

There were no horses or donkeys on this occasion, although Father Hoy said he “wouldn’t rule it out in future”.

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