Perfect Paws Pet Ministry Celebrates 13 Years this Sunday, May 21

The Rev. Marya DeCarlen officiates; special musical offering by Steve O'Connell and Ryan O'Connell

DANVERS, MA -- We're back! After a three-year Covid hiatus, during which we were forced to suspend in-person services and pivot to Zoom and Facebook Live for our monthly worship gatherings, we are returning with our cherished household pets to Parish Hall (46 Cherry Street, second red door from the corner of Holten and Cherry Streets) to sing together, pray together, be in community together, and celebrate our pets along with the beauty of God's creation.

And, thanks to the wonders of technology, we will also be offering Zoom and Facebook Live streaming simultaneously, to ensure that Perfect Pawers who attend from as far away as California and Australia -- along with others more local, who are unable to attend physically -- can continue to participate in real-time!

At All Saints Episcopal Church (formerly Calvary Church) Perfect Paws began as a dream to support humans who were going through difficult transitions with their beloved animal companions. It was a rather radical idea to set aside church space and time for worship services for humans and their animals. In fact, after lots of research, we found only one church in California at the time that provided regular services for humans and their canines.

Our vision was to offer a safe, comforting space for all well-behaved household animals and their people, and so, with advice from Canines at Covenant, in California, we powered ahead.

And the idea of Perfect Paws caught on!

Reporter Ethan Forman knew a good story when he saw one and ran a wonderful front-page story about the new ministry in the Salem News and that story was picked up by the Associated Press, which carried it internationally, drawing interest from people all over the world.

Many of those who reached out to us -- from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and beyond -- have remained supporters and participants of our sweet ministry that shares the love for all creatures, great and small. There was even TV news coverage, including this: "A Prayer for Fido,"

On Sunday, May 16, 2010, at 5 PM, we held our first service. Our priest at the time, The Rev. Thea Keith Lucas, did a rash of local and regional media interviews in advance of the event and some 100 people and their animals attended including several news photographers. The Rev. Marya DeCarlen -- a lifelong animal lover -- who was called to All Saints in 2014 as its rector, happily picked up the reins from Thea and has continued to lead Perfect Paws and minister to humans and their animals with the support of Pet Chaplain Fran Weil.

As we grew in numbers over the intervening years, we also expanded our services. Today we are proud to offer comfort, joy and community for all who love animals through:

• MONTHLY WORSHIP SERVICE, 3rd Sunday, 5 p.m. Live music, pet prayers and blessings too.
• VETERINARY COMPANIONING for people whose animals are ill, facing surgery or euthanasia.
• PET LOSS BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT, free of charge, by our certified Pet Bereavement Counselor.
• THERAPY DOG certification workshops and north shore deployment in partnership with Dog BONES Therapy Dogs of Massachusetts.
• THE ST. FRANCIS MEDITATION AND PET MEMORIAL GARDEN, a quiet, sacred space to memorialize a beloved animal companion with a sealed above-ground Granite stone urn for cremains, or the placement of an engraved remembrance river rock.
• MEMORIAL SERVICES for deceased pets
• ONLINE PET LOSS SUPPORT on our Circle of Prayer Facebook presence
• PET FOOD AND SUPPLIES collections to benefit the People to People Food Pantry, Danvers, MA

This Sunday, May 21, at 5 PM EDT, we gather in person and on Zoom (Meeting ID: 990 855 545, password Saintfranc) and Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/PerfectPawsMinistry/).
We are so excited to welcome everyone back.

The Rev. Marya DeCarlen will be officiating and celebrating the Eucharist and, as a very special offering, Steve O'Connell, our mellow-voiced musician, will be joined by his equally mellow-voiced musician son, Ryan O'Connell.

And, there will be cake! Well, cupcakes, actually, and giveaway treats and wonderful fellowship.

We hope you'll join us! Download the service bulletin.

Because we are having a hybrid service, those individuals who join us from their homes will celebrate the feast of agape while those in person partake of the Eucharist. As Marya explains: "Together, we seek comfort, healing and peace through the restorative rituals of old: Agape and Eucharist. It is in the Agape Feast on Zoom, and the Eucharist in Parish Hall, that strangers become friends. We invite you to approach this love feast and Eucharist as an experience of warmth and sharing, where God’s grace can be experienced in shared fellowship with one another in the light and redeeming love of God."

Folks at home are invited to bring a piece of bread and a glass of wine to their computer screens so they too may be part of the celebration of love.

For more information, please check our Perfect Paws Website. Thank you!