Minister dedicated to services for pets
A church minister has become the first in the UK to be dedicated to pets.
All creatures great and small are catered for at Serendipity Spiritual Church, run by Shirley Wakefield in Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire.
Instead of weddings and funerals, Shirley wanted to dedicate her ministry to working with animals. Her pet funeral and memorial services are free and can adapt to any faith. Even after the ceremony, Shirley offers bereavement counselling.
She first offered the blessings while training to be ordained, offering prayers of health and happiness to pets from “horses to hamsters”.
According to the Mirror Online, Shirley explained: “An animal to a family or its owner can be like a child; lots of elderly people lose their partners and their pet becomes their only companion; and a child burying their bunny rabbit has lost their whole world. It can cause quite serious mental issues and stress for adults and children alike.
“For many when they lose a loved one, in that time of grieving it is most comforting for them to be able to turn to their minister, but that hasn’t existed for lost pets before. Now it does. I hope I can inspire other people to be a pet minister – it’s quite big in America.”
Tags: cats, dogs, funeral, pet, service