Turkey Seeks Sanctuary at Florida Church

Churches have provided sanctuary for people for hundreds of years, but it’s not every day a turkey tries to seek out refuge.

That’s exactly what happened late last week when a turkey wandered straight up to the sanctuary doors at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando. Perhaps knowing its days might be numbered, the bird tried to make it inside.

Church staff members couldn’t help but notice the feathered supplicant. “Ironically, there’s a wild turkey trying to get into the Sanctuary right now,” the church posted on its Facebook page.

Understanding a picture is worth a thousand words, staff snapped a shot and posted it to Facebook, noting that “all are welcome” at the church.

The bird’s appearance occurred last Friday. It seems the critter spent a good chunk of the day on the property while occasionally taking a peek inside the building’s glass doors. The fowl has since been named the “St. Luke’s Turkey.”

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Church staff did attempt to reach out to a rescue to ensure the bird didn’t end up as dinner for someone in the area. The feathered critter, however, wandered off before it could be picked up.

The St. Luke’s Turkey seems to be a bit wiser to the ways of the world than three turkeys that wandered up to a Land O’ Lakes home earlier this week. In that case, the birds inspected a barbecue grill and even checked out a rather large grilling fork. Clearly, they hadn’t gotten the memo about Thanksgiving’s impending arrival.

Photo courtesy of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church