Annual Pet Blessing a Howling Success!

On Sunday, October 2, GSL held its annual Pet Blessing service in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.  The nave was full! 152 pets joined us along with 240 of their owners, 26 cub scouts from Pack 34 who were a great help during the service, and $455.33 was collected along with an overflowing basket of blessed towels 

The offering, along with the towels, benefit the Friends of Memphis Animal Services

We've uploaded some awesome photos. A small sampling is available on the GSL Facebook page-be sure to check our page out and LIKE us! The majority of photos were uploaded to the GSL Flickr page.

We also had two guests from Australia visiting this week. Father Max Bowers is an Anglican Priest (Episcopal) from the Diocese of Melbourne Australia. His current role takes many forms. He prepares the Australian Lent Book each year, develops websites for parishes, conducts tours to the Holy Land, and works with parishes looking for a new priest who are serious about outreach and growing their church  (Don't worry - GSL is NOT looking for a new priest!). He has been running seminars on growing the church. He and his wife Ros have completed their commitments  in the USA and are now on holidays and heading for Canada, but on hearing of Grace-St. Luke's Pet Sunday he decided to stopover and attend the occasion.  He also took some lovely photos. Thank you Fr. Max!

photo shown: Volunteers with their adopted Shelter pets and Deputy Director of Public Services and neighborhoods, LaSonya Hall, and the Rev. Gayle gather for a post-service photo!