animal ministries

Earlier this year, the Humane Society of the United States' Faith Outreach program released a booklet called  "Animal Protection Ministries: A Guide for Churches."  Richard Mouw, respected president of the evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary who has spoken out on behalf of animal welfare himself, introduces the guide: "As the Christian tradition reawakens to the human responsibility for stewardship of God's creation, it is crucial for churches to have practical ways to put these ideas into practice.  The Animal Protection Ministries guide offers churches the tools and the inspiration they need to explore this growing area of ministry."

The guide is beautifully put together, with engaging photos and motivating reflections from various church leaders, including Randy Craighead of Church of the King in Louisiana which offers monthly veterinary checkups amon other services to those with low income in their community, a ministry we've featured previously.  Another voice is Dorothy Taylor Blackwelder, associate pastor at Dorchester Presbyterian Church in Summerville, South Carlina, which maintains a 42-acre wildlife sanctuary and serves at a local animal shelter.  Blackwelder shares poignantly,

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churches helping shelter animals

The following post was written by our friend Kendra Langdon Juskus at Flourish for their blog series Cultivating Community.  "How Your Church Can Help Shelter Animals Find Their Way Home" is full of excellent motivation and advice, including from another friend Christine Gutleben of the Humane Society's Faith Outreach, and draws such a model connection between churches and the needs of God's creatures, and their caretakers, in their community ...

“If 10 percent of folks who purchase pets from pet stores would adopt instead, there would be no animals in shelters,” says Christine Gutleben, director of Faith Outreach for the Human Society of the United States (HSUS).  “It’s a really solvable problem.”

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from abandonment to adoption

A touching account, which is guaranteed to warm your heart on a cold winter's night, of one family's decision to open their home to two sibling kittens, from good friend Scott Williams of Creation Hope ...

Last night I found myself doing some work late.  Not unusual.  But I also found myself with a kitten asleep on my lap, another purring in my ear.  Very unusual.

How did this happen?  How did I suddenly find myself the owner of two tiny kittens?

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just one dog

This one's a bona fide tearjerker, but in the best possible sense.  "Just One Dog" is a short video from Camp Cocker Rescue, artfully produced and set to moving music, including a beautiful rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  I'm grateful to Denise LaChance for sharing.

It tells tells the story of Stanley, a shelter pit bull with mange and an eye infection, who had just about given up, and was just about out of time.  He was rescued at the eleventh hour by a sudden collaboration of good samaritans one year ago, on Christmas Eve ...

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oil spill prayer journey: a shelter for pets

The night before Scott and I set out on the first full day of our prayer trip along the Gulf of Mexico, I happened to catch a couple of blog posts from Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society and Stephanie Feldstein of Change.org about the Plaquemines and St. Bernard parish shelters of the Louisiana Gulf.  Having not yet fully recovered from hurricane Katrina, they were already feeling the economic effects of the oil spill, and just beginning to experience a greater number of pet relinquishments as a result. 

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oil spill prayer journey: choppers, marinas & shelters

The first full day of my Oil Spill Prayer journey along the Gulf of Mexico with Scott Williams of Creation Hope (and a not one sparrow advisory board member) is just about under our belts.  I'm grateful to Scott for writing the following recap at the end of a long but meaningful day ... 

Yesterday – day 1 of our oil spill prayer journey through the gulf coast – was just the beginning.  With the arrival of day 2 things really kicked into gear.

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Billy Graham on caring for animals

Just as we're answering the question whether Christians are supposed to have other priorities than caring for animals, I was very happy to learn (via Denise LaChance and Our Hen House) that Billy Graham recently answered a similar question at The Christian Post.  The legendary evangelist and much-respected Reverend Graham's guest column from May 17th is titled "Is God Interested in Animal Care?"  

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the Easter bunny's seedy underbelly

Far from being exclusive to Easter, this post is very much worth your read if you've ever considered bringing home a rabbit or are interested in their unique quirks and needs as pets.  I'm grateful to Agnieszka Tennant, a fellow Moody alum and currently pursuing her Ph.D. in political science and intl. relations at Northwestern University, for sharing this article which was originally published by The Huffington Post:

It's that season again, the worst time of year to be born a rabbit.

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animal hoarding

Thank you to Rosie Andre for taking the initiative to write an excellent post about a form of keeping animals which often starts with good intentions, but inevitably demonstrates a conflicted personhood, with dire consequences for the animals themselves:

Animal hoarding is a very serious problem which has been getting more attention in the media and on the news lately: a bust on a home, rescue compound or supposed sanctuary where authorities were given a tip about unsafe and unhealthy conditions, with sometimes hundreds of animals overcrowded in one place.  This kind of situation is much more intense than what we tend to think of when it comes to the socially misunderstood and eccentric animal lover, or ‘cat lady,’ who keeps more than an average amount of pets.

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the sad story of Oreo

Last winter we ran an extended series on companion animal shelter and rescue efforts, and some of the many dynamics which confront them, including the very vital discussion taking place around the "no kill" ideal.  I wanted to share an important reflection from Nancy Janisch on the same subject, applied to severely psychologically damaged pets in particular. 

You may not agree with Nancy at every point, and from the outside looking in I wonder myself about the availability of other options.  But, as always, she wrestles honestly and graciously with very difficult scenarios, and my hope is that any comments on her post will reflect the same. 

"The Sad Story of Oreo the Dog" begins with a pit bull mix who survived being thrown off a New York City roof last summer, but still ended up being put down by the ASPCA in November for severe behavioral reasons (be sure to read the article to familiarize yourself with all that went into the decision):

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