Animal Blessing at Mallabula

A great story of how a dog obedience group at Mallabula is reaching the wider community!

The Feast of St Francis was well and truly celebrated at Holy Name church Mallabula this year. Our new rector, Rev’d Ken Youman, conducted a Blessing of the Animals service on the Saturday for members and friends of “MACDOG”, (Mallabula Anglican Church Dog Obedience Group).

Despite rainy weather, our spirits were in no way dampened while Rev’d Ken blessed and prayed for each individual dog and owner.

We are pleased to report that not one growl was heard and everyone was on their very best behaviour, including the human animals. On Sunday afternoon members of “MACDOG” led our monthly Café Church service with the emphasis on companion animals.

A spirit of love, joy and sharing was evident and as on the previous day, all the dogs behaved in an exemplary manner and did a fine job as goodwill ambassadors.

Members of the dog group, most of whom do not attend church, are very appreciative of the support of Rev’d Ken, his wife Margaret and individual members of the congregation.

Although a dog group may seem an unusual Christian outreach, it is just another way of planting the seeds of faith. Several people have already begun attending Cafe church while others have acknowledged that our outreach groups are a true example of Christianity in action.

Some are now beginning to think about spiritual matters, and hopefully this may be the first step on their journey to faith.