GUMC holds Blessing of the Animals

By PAMELA GRANT

Cove Leader-Press

According to the Bible, after He created animals, God blessed them to be fruitful and multiply. Therefore, arguably, blessing animals is as old as creation, and many churches honor this by holding an annual Blessing of the Animals (or a similar event with a different name).

Grace United Methodist Church held their Blessing of the Animals Sunday after their 11 a.m. sermon.

Pastor Brad Slaten’s Sunday sermon discussed animals mentioned in the Bible such as “the great fish that ate Jonah”, the “snake in the Garden”, “horses of the Apocalypse”, “Balaam’s donkey”, and more.

“Sometimes animals carry the message of God,” said Pastor Slaten, after relating the story of Balaam and his donkey.

He also mentioned that, according to the Bible, God created the animals before God created man emphasizing that our pets are a blessing from God.

“Animals were created for God’s pleasure, not ours,” reminded Pastor Slaten. He talked about how God has entrusted us with their care. “What a blessing God has given me to take care of His dog,” said Pastor Slaten.

Pastor Slaten said that he had done animal blessings and participated in them before he became the pastor for Grace United Methodist Church, but this was his third year with GUMC doing the blessings.

“I think that it allows us to give thanks to God for a very important part of our lives,” said Pastor Slaten about the blessings.

He said that in the past, alongside the dogs and cats, he has also given blessings for horses, steers, sheep, goats, llamas, pigs, chickens, gerbils, hermit crabs, and even a tarantula and a boa constrictor. He said that some people come to the church just for the animal blessings. 

Ann Wiley brought her German Shephard, Zeus, for a blessing. She said that Zeus went through five different homes by the time he was only 8 months old. Wiley says her home will be his final home.

“He was so cute and so sweet and so funny,” said Wiley about Zeus. She said that she just wants the best for him.

“I just wanted him to be blessed,” said Wiley about why she brought him to the blessing. “He’s one of God’s creations…and he’s a really good boy.”

Madison and Robert Bigford brought their miniature dachshunds Jellybean and Buttercup to receive a blessing.

“Last year I was only able to take Jellybean because she’s a bit quieter and calmer, but this year we were able to bring both of them…There’s something nice about knowing that the church is reaching out on behalf of the things I love most in life,” said Madison Bigford. She said that she hopes the blessings will help give her dachshunds good lives. “All the things that you would hope for your family members you would like for your fluffy friends as well…I don’t know what the church’s stance is on dog’s going to Heaven, but I like to believe they do.”

“If heaven is full of all the things we like, dogs will certainly be there,” added Robert Bigford.