Everyone in the Williams community is invited to St. John’s for the annual Blessing of the Animals on October 13, 2024 from Noon until 2 PM at St. John’s.  Bring your pets – large and small (for example cats, dogs, hamsters, goldfish, goats, ducks, and even horses!).  Please have your pets secured in either a carrier or on leash.  Each pet will receive a blessing from Father Philip Shaw and also a St. Francis medallion for their collar or carrier.

The Blessing of the Animals is an annual event for the community.  There is no cost involved.  You do not need to be a member of church, but merely desire to have your special pet blessed. If the weather is good, we will be outside.  If the weather is very windy or rainy, we will be just inside the double red doors.

Annually on or around October 4, Christians worldwide celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis with a blessing of animals and prayers for creation.  Saint Francis of Assisi is associated with the patronage of animals and it has become customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to carryout animal blessing ceremonies on his feast day. Catholicism has specific liturgies for the blessing of animals, highlighting creation and interdependence. United Methodists also have a specific liturgy highlighting creation and mutual interdependence. Separate variants of Christianity will sometimes combine to hold joint, ecumenical, animal blessing ceremonies.