Presbyterian church offers prayers for Earth’s flora, fauna

Published 1:30 am Saturday, September 10, 2016

EVERETT — It wasn’t your typical Sunday at First Presbyterian Church.

The Rev. Alan Dorway was surrounded by 15 tail-wagging, barking and bleating congregants, all participating in a Blessing of the Animals.

The dogs and two goats, and their owners, approached Dorway. He led church members in a special liturgy while the animals were blessed with water.

“It was sort of fun and very interesting,” he said. “I’m putting water on their head and blessing them and the dogs were licking my hand and face.

“Some dogs wanted to lick the water and others were: ‘What are you doing to my forehead?’” Dorway said.

The animal blessing is thought to be the first such event at the church. It took place at the amphitheatre on the Snohomish County government campus.

The blessing was inspired by the congregation’s commitment to ecological issues as well as the 2015 encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato-Si,” or “Praise be to you, my Lord.” It included a quote from Saint Francis: “Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker.”

The church typically studies ways to bring attention to the environment, Dorway said. This year it included a study of the papal encyclical during Sunday school as well as a series of summer sermons on “how we care for our creation,” he said.

The church decided to wrap up its emphasis on the environment with a blessing of the animals, said Dana Wright, director of Christian formation and discipleship.

The idea arose during a conversation he had with Dorway and fellow church member George Lockeman.

Dorway recalled chuckling as they discussed it, wondering: Will the dogs get along? Are people going to bring cats?

It turned out there were no cats among the 15 animals who waited their turn to be blessed.

“One of the dogs didn’t like the goats,” Dorway said. “It seemed like once we got going all the dogs got used to each other.”

Lockeman explained why he brought pictures of his two cats, Leaf and Chico.

“They’re inside cats,” he said. When the cats first came to his home, “we released them in a garage. We couldn’t get the car out. They would hide all the time.”

When he put collars on the cats, “they took them off.” So Leaf and Chico were blessed “in absentia in our case.”

The goats were brought to the event by Eliza Penick, based in Seattle for Heifer International and “were a little stubborn,” Dorway said.

Dorway has been pastor at the church for six-and-a-half years. “This is the first time I’ve ever blessed animals,” he said.

The blessing is a reminder that “the way we treat each other and our animals is all connected in how we’re supposed to be good stewards of our Earth,” Dorway said.

The church doesn’t have any immediate plans for another animal blessing, but will likely do it again.

“One member wanted to bring a horse,” he said. “But we needed to take baby steps.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.