Bring Your Pet to Duke Chapel on Oct. 5 for a Blessing

Celebrate the bond you share with your pet at the annual Blessing of the Animals on the Chapel lawn

A minister blesses a dog
The Rev. Bruce Puckett shares a moment with a dog during a recent Blessing of the Animals event at Duke Chapel. Photo courtesy of Duke Marketing & Communications.

Since 2009, the Rev. Bruce Puckett has been part of the Duke University Chapel community and a familiar presence at the annual Blessing of the Animals service each October.

Through the years, he’s seen people bring dogs, cats, snakes, horses, lizards, hamsters and gerbils in front of the campus landmark to receive a blessing from Duke Chapel ministers.

“Every kind of animal, I’ve seen it on the lawn of Duke Chapel,” said Puckett, the Assistant Dean of Duke University Chapel.

This year’s Blessing of the Animals is at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, when Duke University Chapel ministers will lead a roughly 30-minute service with scripture readings, a homily, and music by the Durham Children’s Choir. Afterward, ministers will walk around the lawn delivering blessings consisting of a short prayer for each animal.

Guests bring their dog to the Blessing of the Animals event at Duke Chapel. Photo by Duke Marketing & Communications.

“Animals are gifts to people and are emotionally supportive in all kinds of ways,” Puckett said. “When you have animals, you create emotional bonds with them and so a lot of my blessings are prayers of thanksgiving for the ways that creation is a gift to humanity and how we can, in turn, bless creation by being good back to it.”

In addition to pets, Puckett said it’s also common to bless photos or mementos of pets people have lost.

“This can be an opportunity to share your grief and your joys about that animal’s life with someone else,” Puckett said. “These animals become part of your life, your family and your everyday rhythms.”

The tradition is inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, a thirteenth-century Italian friar who loved animals and believed that the glory of God could be found in the natural world. At Duke, the annual service dates back to 1989.

The Rev. Nancy Ferree-Clark, a former Pastor of the Congregation at Duke University Chapel, was among the members of the Duke Chapel and Duke Divinity School community who helped hatch the idea decades ago.

Ferree-Clark and then-Duke Divinity student Rondy Elliott, were instrumental in designing the service, which drew cats, dogs and even iguanas.

“I felt confident it would continue, but I didn’t realize it would grow to draw the numbers that it eventually did,” said Ferree-Clark, who left Duke in 2010 and now lives in Tacoma, Washington.

All animals, including iguanas, are welcome at the Blessing of the Animals event. Photo courtesy of Duke Marketing & Communications.

She said the goal of the service was not only to give thanks for the love between pets and their owners, but also to highlight the role humans play in caring for nature and the planet we share with all living things.

“The animals can help us remember the blessing God gave to all of Creation and that we are called to live in relationship with it as sustainers of life,” Ferree-Clark said during her sermon at the 2008 edition of Duke’s Blessing of the Animals. “Yes, the animals will teach us, and the birds will tell us … but will we listen?”

Allison Dimsdale, a 27-year member of the Duke workforce, has been bringing her dogs to the event since the 1990s. She fondly recalls seeing Duke Chapel ministers at past events dip their fingers in the water of fishbowls to bless the goldfish swimming inside.

Dimsdale said she likely won’t attend this year’s event because the three rescued hounds she lives with are “a little on the wild side” and not quite ready for a trip to Duke. Still, she appreciates how the service honors the important role pets play in our lives.

“I think animals are so much more than we give them credit for,” said Dimsdale, a Duke Health Nurse Practitioner in Cardiology. “My dogs give me so much. They are sensitive to my moods and how I’m doing. I don’t have to solicit their care or compassion. If I’m having a rotten time, they know it and treat me differently. They’re very comforting.”

Pet owners are responsible for controlling animals at the event and are asked to bring only pets that are safe around children and other animals. While some seating will be provided, guest are welcome to bring their own lawn chairs.

“After the service and the singing, you get to enjoy having animals all over,” Puckett said. “You’ll see kids running up to different dogs and petting them. It’s really a joyful experience. It can be barely controlled chaos at times, but that’s just perfect.”

Are you a staff or faculty member who is planning to attend Blessing of the Animals with your pet? Share photographs through our story idea form or write working@duke.edu.

Follow Working@Duke on X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram and subscribe on YouTube.