Blessing for Pets

They accompanied their nearest and dearest to a special service to mark the anniversary of the birth of St Francis, a light-hearted yet sincere celebration of pets and their companionship which included an individual blessing for each of them.

And so it was that Arnie, the German Shepherd, waited solemnly alongside Werthers, the tortoise, April the black-and-white rabbit, and Tigger the Yorkshire Terrier, for their moment at the front of the church where they were welcomed by the Reverend David King.

Karina Davies was proud of her wonderfully calm 16 year old dog Rosie."She was beautifully behaved," she said.

"I thought I heard a little 'amen' at the end."

A little more vocal was Russet, a 10 year old border terrier belonging to Felicity King, who barked especially during the singing and led his own little choir of small dogs.

Felicity said: "He is more noisy...he just gets excited. He was being friendly."

Dave and Barbara Hayward brought along their tortoise Parky, thought to be in the region of 60 years old.

Dave said: "We have had him for 35 years, and he was quite big when we found him. We can't really put an age on him but we know he is pretty old."

Young Werthers nearby was just two and a half years old, cared for by Naomi and Phoebe King, and named because he is "an original" according to their mother Hilary.

Amelia Harrison attended the service with her hamster Toffee, and said:

"I just got him recently...I always wanted a hamster and she is really lovely and sweet because she is only a baby. She sleeps when she is meant to be awake and awake when she is meant to be asleep."

The service concluded with a shameless joke by Rev King who introduced the Lord's Prayer as the Tortoise Prayer, "because it is the prayer Our Lord taught us", and a hymn set to the music of The Flintstones.

This was the first service of its kind at St Michael's, and the idea of Jill Le Sueur who helps lead the junior church.

She said: "It was excellent - so lovely. It has gone very well."

Youngsters from the congregation had been involved from the beginning in preparing for the service, including artwork and making a banner.

Jill added: "It was relaxed and worshipful at the same time. I can imagine God smiling and saying - this is great."

The Rev King commented: "It was lovely. I didn't know what to expect and how it was going to turn out, but I was delighted. There was a great variety and people that would not normally come to church were here - it obviously captured their imagination."