I’m amazed at the righteous indignation about this.
Donald had been harrassed by police for sitting on the steps of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Toronto during the G20. He called the church to complain and the church invited him to come worship with them. So Donald Keith did and he brought his dog Trapper. When time came for communion Donald went forward, taking Trapper with him. What happened next was lovingly impulsive and was one of the gestures from this church which healed the heart of a man who needed sanctuary and community.
But congregants of the church say the act wasn’t meant to be controversial. It was the first time the man and his dog had been in church. He had been invited to the service after an incident where police heckled him as he sat peacefully on the steps of the church early one morning during the G20 weekend. Angry over the experience, he called the church to vent. They invited him to come to church, and he did, bringing his dog with him.
When it was time for communion, the man went up to receive the bread and the wine, with the dog. “I am sure for Marguerite that was a surprise, like it was for all of us,” said Needham. “But nobody felt like it was a big deal, because it wasn’t a big deal.”
Rev. Rea instinctively leaned over and placed a wafer on the dog’s wagging tongue.
So of course someone who has since left the church complained, saying Christ would not have liked Trapper receiving a wafer welcome. The bishop responded.
“I wrote back to the parishioner that it is not the policy of the Anglican Church to give communion to animals,” said Bishop Patrick Yu, the area bishop of York-Scarborough responsible for St. Peter’s, who received the complaint in early July. “I can see why people would be offended. It is a strange and shocking thing, and I have never heard of it happening before. I think the reverend was overcome by what I consider a misguided gesture of welcoming.”
…Bishop Yu said when he spoke to Rev. Rea, she apologized for what she had done and said she would not do it again.
I can understand rules, protocol, policy, obedience, regulations and strict adherence to tradition.
Especially in church and worship, eh? Jesus couldn’t have didn’t really mean it when he called us to honour and respect and to extend healing for the hassled, binding of the wounded, rest for the weary, lifting of burdens.
What came to mind reading reactions was: the dogs get scraps from their masters tables. Love doesn’t fly off the handle.
How is Donald?
The minister welcomed me and said come up and take communion, and Trapper came up with me and the minister gave him communion as well. Then he bent his head and said a little prayer,” Keith said.
“I thought it was a nice way to welcome me into the church,” he said. “I thought it was acceptable.
“There was an old lady in the front just beaming when she saw this,” Keith said. “Ninetynine-point-nine per cent of the people in the church love Trapper and the kids play with him.
“It was just one person who got his nose out of joint and went to the head of the Anglican Church,” he said. “Holy smokes. We are living in the downtown core. This is small stuff. I thought it was innocent and it made me think of the Blessing of the Animals.”
The church has since told Keith he and his dog are most welcome at the church, but Trapper can no longer receive communion.
“This has blown me away. The church is even getting e-mails from Catholics,” he said.
Trapper is fine also, and so is the congregation.
Dog didn’t eat God, I’m not Catholic, I don’t believe in transubstantiation.
Even the upset parishoner had his needs met with his response from the Bishop.
Rev. Rea’s spontaneous welcoming act to Donald and Trapper made my day.
Be blessed.:^)
No disrespect intended, but best blogspot headline ever.
;^)
This read made me smile from my heart. Kudos to Rev. Rea. I agree the headline certainly caught my attention
Nice post, and good example of inclusion.
I once took my dog and a friends two dogs to a blessing of the animals service in our area and, I shared my communion wafer with one of the dogs.
Theological reflections of the dog collar from a canine perspective … the stuff of Doctoral thesis… wonderful!
Trapper is a Shepard or a Shepard mix, that could make for some fun word play.
He’s a fine looking dog – the picture of the two of them in The Sun made me grin from ear to ear. They belong together.
I’ve not been to a blessing of the animals -sounds wonderful.
The Bishop’s statement had me laughing out loud – “it is not the policy of the Anglican Church to give communion to animals…”
Lovingly diplomatic.
ar arrr arf arrrr!
After posting on systemic abuses coming out of the G20, Donald, Trapper and St. Peter’s people was food for my soul.
Methinks “ar arrr arf arrrr!” would belong more to a Chihuahua than a Shepherd… I venture a guttural “woof” would be more akin to a Shepherd and derivatives thereof. I somehow think Trapper would agree.
The story of Donald Keith, his dog Trapper and their warm reception at St Peter’s Anglican was a light hearted and welcome interlude. Thanks BD.
ar arr woof arrr! it is. Don’t want to get hung up on dogma. Or is it dogpaw?:^)
Brilliant! That works.
Heartwarming story, with an odd if predictable twist.
Thank you for this, Bene.
As soon as I read it was a woman “pastor” [probably with cropped hair and a mannish "partner" ] all credibility left. And with the current idolization of scavenger “pets” nothing surprises me.
Signed,
Living in Sodom
See what happens as soon as the word ‘Anglican’ is mentioned?
This has been going on far too often
Every move anything Anglican makes gets in the media much more than in the past
This started in 2002 when Bishop Michael Ingham Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminister in British Columbia Canada said, ‘Yes’ to a request of 2/3ds of our Priests wanting to bless same-sex unions
All of this media hype only increases the stress for the members
Hey there, Laws632,
I would like to start by saying that I was baptized in the Anglican Church. I remember it being a Church that revolved around love and acceptance and doing good works.
The lessons we learned in our little church were those of love, forgiveness and hope that we, as humble creations of God, could be used as instruments of His great love and compassion here on Earth.
We learned that all creatures, even the lowliest, are God’s creations. We learned that life, in all it’s mystery and glory, is the greatest gift God has bestowed upon all of us. We learned that this gift was given out of love for his creation and it is this love which we must share with all.
Trapper is, by all accounts, a good and faithful companion. He brings joy to the people in his life, and only did what a good dog should: He followed his Master and his Master’s teachings. (Hmmm, sound familiar?) Trapper is a creation of God, and despite what some may think, has sentience, feelings, thoughts and fears just like us two-legged creatures.
I feel sorry for you, Laws, and I will pray that God’s love can open your heart. Your soul is closed to the wonder and beauty of all of God’s creation, which must be a very dark place, indeed. You speak derisively of scavengers, yet forget that without them the earth would have been buried under a pile of rotting meat, hair and vegetable matter millennia ago. You forget that God made all you see (He made very last bit of it, from the stars and the ocean all the way to the cockroaches and the dung beetle. He even made the devil, in case you had forgotten.) and that it is not your place to judge the “rightness” or worth of that creation.