St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in Flat Rock will be holding its annual Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, October 3rd at 4 p.m. Father Josh Stephens will preside over the service and he readily admits it will be a departure from the typical at St. John. “The service is always beautiful, but typically filled with a holy chaos,” he says with a grin.

The Feast of St. Francis is celebrated each year on October 4th and many churches will hold a Blessing for the Animals on or near that date. St. John has been blessing and celebrating our animal companions since at least the 1970s, according to Father Josh.

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and the environment. Francis lived in Italy and was canonized as a saint in 1228. Born to a family of wealth, his early years were reportedly characterized by indulgence and rebellion. Captured during a battle between Assisi and Perugia in 1202, he was held for ransom for over a year. During this time he began to experience life-transforming visions and thereafter renounced material things and devoted his life Christianity. He is remembered for his generosity to the poor and his willingness to minister to the lepers. However, what many people recall about him is his love for animals and nature.

Father Josh sees The Blessing of the Animals as especially appropriate for a church like St. John in the Wilderness. “St. John is a place that has both wilderness and creation it its DNA. The Blessing of the Animals fits nicely with who we are as a church, on a beautiful little campus in Flat Rock.”

Father Josh also sees the Blessing of the Animals as having meaning to his parishioners on multiple levels. “All of creation testifies to God's goodness and invites us to encounter God. Whether it's the creatures that are in our homes, like our dogs and cats, or it’s in a beautiful forest with a white squirrel or a black bear or the turkeys that come through my yard each day. It's all really special.”

The act of blessing also benefits the owners of the animals. “The story of St. Francis invites us to examine the vanities of our own lives and to find time for people and creatures that are easily forgotten and neglected.” The intentional act of recognizing the natural world is the key, as Father Josh sees it. “Taking a moment to acknowledge these animals is a valuable way of simplifying our lives and allowing us to slow down.”

Father Josh also believes that the blessing provides perspective for our lives. It also helps remind us of our place in creation. “All of creation uniquely belongs to God and comes from God. We tend to forget that real easily. People often think we're at the center of everything and we think we're separate from nature and we can conquer it when actually we're very much just another creature that is gifted with life.”

During his tenure as a priest in the Episcopal Church, Father Josh has conducted a handful of Blessings of the Animals and has seem some unusual creatures during his tenure. “There have been snakes, chickens and at my last parish in Williamsburg, Virginia, there were a lot of animals that were associated with Colonial Williamsburg. So there was a tradition at that parish of oxen and horses.”

How about snakes, spiders, and mosquitoes? Are they worthy of a blessing? Yes, says Father Josh. “They are a part of God's good creation. They are a blessing in their own way. They're doing their part in an ecosystem that is divinely inspired in some way.”

Everyone in the community is invited to participate. The service will be conducted outdoors and attendees are recommended to bring lawn chairs. “We would love to have visitors from the community come and bring their pets. Or for children to come and bring a stuffed animal to be blessed.”

Pets and farm animals add a dimension to our lives that is frequently overlooked or under-valued in our lives. Father Josh sees the Blessing of the Animals as a way to refocus on the importance of animals and the wider creation in our lives. “Our pets and our farm animals are a part of our family. We don’t often talk about that in church or acknowledge that in society. What's really special about the Blessing of the Animals is that people can bring this member of their family to church and share that animal with the community. The service provides a space to thank God for this gift of having animals that care for us as much as we care for them

Blessing of the Animals

St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church

Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, NC

October 3rd, 2021 at 4 pm

Photos by Abby Stephens