Fostering community

What began as a light-hearted joke turned into a successful, tail-wagging event.
 
The father of one of the priests at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit made a half-joking comment to Fr. Josh Ehli, Cathedral rector, about people liking their dogs so much that they probably would like to take them to church. 
 
Father Ehli took the comment seriously. Rufus, his fox red Labrador retriever, has come to be considered an ambassador around the church, visiting students at the school, greeting visitors at the rectory and serving as the mascot for the “Rufus Report”—a video blog that keeps parishioners abreast of parish news. 
 
The joking comment ignited Father Ehli’s imagination which turned into the first-ever “Barkfest” on Sept. 14. An announcement in the church bulletin called it a “community evangelization event centered around a common love for animals, especially dogs!”
 
The event was held outside the front of the church from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and included Fr. Steven Vetter blessing the dogs, gifts of St. Francis medals, scarves, treat bags from a local pet store, prayer cards and pup cups for the dogs. There were also waffles and ice cream for people, plus music, dogs from local rescues, demonstrations from a Bismarck Police officer with the K9 division with his Dutch shepherd, Amber, and a dog training demonstration. 
 
Lines for food and blessings were long during the entire event which was filled with smiles from the people and wagging tails from the canine crowd. There were many young families without dogs whose children delighted at the opportunity to see and pet so many of them.  
 
Pat and Vicky Boechler brought their granddaughter, Sarah. “We wanted to see all these amazing puppies and all these wonderful people,” Vicky said, taking a break from reading one of the free children’s books about dogs. 
 
Parishioners Kari and Tom Stromme no longer own a dog, but Kari explained, “We love  dogs. It’s a really, really fun event. I hope they have this every year.”
 
Heather Wernke brought Leo, her very large Saint Bernard/poodle cross—a Saint Berdoodle. “What a great way to bring people together all with a love of dogs,” she said. “Leo is having a blast.”
 
Father Ehli, accompanied by Rufus, greeted people and met their dogs. He said his plan for Barkfest came about to become a more welcoming community. 
 
“So many people speak the universal language of dog whether we are Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran or ‘unchurched’—whatever,” he explained. “We said, ‘let’s go for it’ and pieced it all together over the last few months.”
 
Parishioner Sandy DeForest brought her daughter’s dog that she often takes for walks. “This is cool,” she said looking around. “I know how much Fr. Ehli loves Rufus, so this makes sense. When I saw people getting out of their car, usually they are getting out their kids, but now they are all getting out their dogs.”
 
There were many people from the community who don’t attend Cathedral parish, drawn in by a fun event surrounding dogs.  
 
One couple, Jorris and Hailey, brought their spaniel, Faith. While standing in line for food, Faith snuggled into Jorris’s neck for comfort, but they explained that she had been the one to bring comfort to them at a time when Hailey was very sick. “We heard about this from watching the video and thought it sounded like fun.”
 
Mary Jane Hewitt and her daughter, Helen, brought their chocolate Labradors, Augie and Bear, after hearing about Barkfest from a neighbor. “We wanted to get our two dogs blessed especially Bear who was diagnosed with oral cancer about a year-and-a-half ago and was only given about three months to live,” Mary Jane said.
 
“We are so glad we were able to move from Texas [in June] to bring him up to beautiful North Dakota,” Helen explained. “He just turned 13 last month.”
 
“And he got his blessing, his special blessing, and so now his life is complete,” Mary Jane said. “Father really has a gift for bringing out the special things in each dog.”  
 
She added, “It was the absolute best! What a community! We’re dog lovers. Seeing Rufus in person after seeing him on YouTube made us immediately love Fr. Ehli. He’s just like us. I thought it was the most ecumenical way to bring people together.”