{"id":8620,"date":"2011-10-14T14:45:37","date_gmt":"2011-10-14T18:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=8620"},"modified":"2011-10-18T10:34:53","modified_gmt":"2011-10-18T14:34:53","slug":"ny-times-churches-adding-pet-ministries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/10\/ny-times-churches-adding-pet-ministries","title":{"rendered":"NY Times: Churches adding pet ministries"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a society obsessed with pet dogs, cats, rodents, fish and reptiles, it only follows that churches should open their doors to Fido.<\/p>\n

“As a boy in San Antonio, Paul Flotron helped his family raise miniature schnauzers,” writes Mark Oppenheimer in the New York Times.<\/em><\/a>\u00a0By age 10, he had accumulated a menagerie\u00a0of \u201cdwarf crocodiles, African pancake tortoises, birds, boa constrictors, hermit crabs, fish, and always dogs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Should churches minister to pets?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Today, Flotron runs Creature Comforts Great and Small, a St. Louis pet-care business, and leads Noah\u2019s Ark, a pet ministry of Grace Church, a large nondenominational Protestant church. Noah\u2019s Ark runs a pet-food drive, supports a no-kill rescue, brings pets to visit the sick and infirm, and hosts a grief group for those who have lost a pet,” reports Oppenheimer:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually have Bible study and discuss passages that are animal related,\u201d Mr. Flotron said. \u201cWe make that our foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a culture obsessed with dogs, dog whisperers and domestic pets of all kinds, religious groups are paying attention, too. Many megachurches, where members often meet in smaller affinity groups, are sponsoring groups for pet lovers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2007, the Humane Society hired a liaison to religious communities, notes Oppenheimer:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal ministries are in every state,\u201d said Christine Gutleben, the Humane Society\u2019s first director of faith outreach, \u201cand they do everything, including pet food in traditional food drives, to donating to local shelters, designating church grounds as animal sanctuaries, hosting adoption events, printing animals for adoption in church bulletins.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a society obsessed with pet dogs, cats, rodents, fish and reptiles, it only follows that churches should open their doors to Fido. “As a boy in San Antonio, Paul Flotron helped his family raise miniature schnauzers,” writes Mark Oppenheimer in the New York Times.\u00a0By age 10, he had accumulated a menagerie\u00a0of \u201cdwarf crocodiles, African…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2204,1739],"class_list":["post-8620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","tag-christian","tag-pet-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\nNY Times: Churches adding pet ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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