St. Mary's, Cypress, Offers New Ideas for Pet Blessing

Jennifer Leclercq of St. Mary's, Cypress, recently wrote in to share her ideas for their Pet Blessing coming up. From  Jennifer:

 

We have doggie paw-printed cello bags with handles (like mini shopping bags). The Junior Daughters of the King chapter baked dog treats and made cat toys (yarn pompoms with bells and feathers) to put in them. We are also including literature about the church's ministries and weekly offerings, as well as an invitation to the Blessing of the Animals. 

 

The bags ("Paws of Grace" bags) then are going to be blessed on 9/30, and the plan is that the parishioners will then go out into the world and give the bags to people in their neighborhood ... actually, to the dogs and cats of their neighborhood.

 

Did I mention that Coco the poodle will be making a live appearance at all three services to announce the roll out of the 'Paws of Grace' bags and invite everybody to the October 7 Blessing of the Animals service?

 

Sometimes I think it's easier for people to talk to 'Sadie the Schnauzer' or 'Bobo the Boxer' who is being walked by his or her owner than to the neighbor!  I thought it would be an idea of how to get people to invite their neighbors to church, because pets are so cute and easier to talk to sometimes than people. And who knows, it could open up all kinds of conversations...

 

Of course, at the Blessing, we will have special music, special blessings, special treats and drinks for our four-legged friends (water bowls strategically placed, dog treats, cat treats, carrot sticks), as well as certificates to 'certify' that Fido was blessed on that day. We also have 'Save Our Pet' stickers to hand out. People can put it on their front door or window as a message to firefighters in case of fire to save the pets inside.

 

Here's a snapshot of the flyer Jennifer is sending. Nothing too fancy, but that's all you need for your church too!