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Greetings! 

Lions and Tigers and Bears! 

Oh my! Oh No!

This Sunday is our Blessing and Procession of the Wild Animals into our wonderful Sanctuary!

I can reassure you there will not be any predators (so there will be no lions, tigers, or bears!) There will be several smaller and medium mammals (hedgehogs, porcupines,) and reptiles (lizards, turtles, and snakes) and raptors (eagles, falcons, birds). Each of these amazing animals will be carried or pushed on a cart by their professional handler from Denver Zoo.

As we reflect on the wonder and majesty of creation around us, and the ways in which God's creation informs us in our lives and our worship of God, we have created this wonderful partnership. It is an amazing opportunity to bless and celebrate God's creation in all its wonder and wildness.

Some may ask, can animals really come into the Sanctuary? Isn't that against some rules somewhere? If we return to the Genesis narrative, animals have been an intimate part of the creation and covenants with our God. At the nativity scene, animals were there to celebrate the birth of our Lord. Animals are used throughout scripture to teach us of God's love, prophetic visions, and God's justice. Back in the "olden days", dogs and cats were regularly brought into the worship services, to keep the feet of their humans warm. Many farm animals were brought into the services for blessings as the parishioners depended on them for their livelihood.

For St. Francis, every creature-that is, everything that God created-was sacred. The sun, the moon, birds, humans, butterflies, and even rabid wolves were a part of God's plan and a sign of God's love. German philosopher Max Scheler once commented on St. Francis' love of creation by saying, "Where the modern cynic sees something 'buglike' in everything that exists, St. Francis saw even in a bug the sacredness of life."

Please make plans to join us on this very special Sunday.

Blessings
Dee 

If your curiosity is peaked...Logistics for Sunday
What this morning will look like?
We will begin worship at 9:30 am. The Narthex will be closed off for the animals to get ready, so you will need to come in the side doors of the Sanctuary or through the Commons. There will be ushers outside to direct you.

We want to be clear, this is not a blessing of the animals (pets) service. Please do not bring Fido or Felix as we want to create safe boundaries with the zoo animals. 

For some of you (like myself) being around snakes is a challenge. (It is hard to unwire all those warning signals learned as a child that all snakes were dangerous.) We invite you to sit closer to the outside aisles and look away when they are walked down the center aisle.

We are inviting the children to stay in worship following the Word to the Children so they too can enjoy the procession and blessing. If any of the children want to bring their own "stuffed" wild animals, we would love having them be a part of our worship service.

There will be a special offering received that will create a scholarship fund supporting the development of North Park Hill (schools and Boys and Girls club) and the Denver Zoo.

Following worship, the Denver Zoo will leave a few of the animals behind for individuals to interact with up close and personal on the patio.
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