Animal Blessing service at Halifax Minster with the RSPCA

OCAL RSPCA & HALIFAX MINSTER CELEBRATE WORLD ANIMAL DAY WITH ANIMAL BLESSING SERVICE

THE RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford & District branch in partnership with Halifax Minster are set to hold their annual animal blessing service in celebration of World Animal Day on Sunday 3^rd October.

(A St Bernard is blessed by Trish Boyd at a previous service)

This annual service celebrates World Animal Day by giving attendees the chance to bring their beloved pets along to an animal friendly service, meet some other furry friends and get blessed. This special service takes place at 2.00pm on Sunday 3^rd October at Halifax Minster, Causeway, Halifax, HX1 1QL.

Fay Gibbons, Digital & Events Fundraiser from the RSPCA branch said “We think World Animal Day is a day worth celebrating and we’re inviting everyone to join us for what is always a beautiful service in a truly stunning church. It’s a unique experience to have our furry friends join us in the pews, but if that may be stressful for your pet or perhaps your pet has crossed the rainbow bridge, a photo can be blessed instead.”

(Sid the dog enjoys a blessing along with Trish blessing photographs of beloved pets too)

All animals are invited to attend, but dogs must be kept on a lead and small animals (such as cats, hamsters, rabbits etc) kept in carriers. All animals will be blessed in their seat and the service usually lasts around 45 minutes.

To find out more about the Animal Blessing Service please visit the RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield and Bradford branch website here: www.rspcahalifaxaxhuddersfieldbradford.org.uk, alternatively you can also find out more on the Facebook event page: RSPCA Animal Blessing Service Halifax.

The RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and District Branch are a self-funding branch of the National RSPCA, responsible for raising money locally to support our animal welfare work. Last year the branch rehomed over 500 animals. Our main aim is to rehabilitate unwanted, abandoned and abused animals and find them loving, permanent homes. We rely on public donations and the generosity of our local community to keep the doors of our animal centre open.

Halifax Minster was built some 900 years ago by Benedictine monks from Cluny, and it is that Benedictine tradition which shapes its ministry today: with daily worship; a place for education, culture and civic engagement; and a place of hospitality. The Minster belongs to the whole community: to the Christian community; to those of the other faith communities; and to those who have no faith. Everyone is welcome to come and experience the rich depth of heritage and spirituality. Visitors and new members looking for somewhere to worship regularly are both invited to come and join us for quiet services during the week, and to hear the Minster choirs and organs perform at weekends, as we join the Saints and Angels in the eternal hymn of praise to God the creator. The Minster serves Halifax and the borough of Calderdale, but we are also part of the worldwide Christian community. We are part of the Anglican Diocese of Leeds and particularly the Huddersfield Episcopal Area, and we have international links with Halifax’s twin town of Aachen, in Germany, and our mission partner, the Cathedral Church of St Peter, Kowak, in the Diocese of Rorya in Tanzania. The Minster is also the spiritual home to the Duke of Wellington Regiment and Association, now subsumed into the Yorkshire Regiment.