Pet owners gathered on Wiscasset’s town common on behalf of their furry friends during the annual Blessing of the Animals Sunday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon’s ceremony was conducted by pastors Tom Junkert and Amy Lignitz-Harken representing St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and First Congregational Church UCC respectively. Deborah Morgan helped as well with Jeffery Grosser providing music on the accordion.

Junkert began by welcoming those who had gathered around the bandstand. He explained why we celebrate the gift of animals in the tradition set down centuries ago by St. Francis of Assisi. Lignitz-Harken then read a passage from Psalms 104. Everyone was then asked to join in the singing of “All Things Bright and Beautiful.”

Nearly everyone attending Wiscasset’s ceremony, about 25 or so, brought their dog or in some cases dogs.

Junkert told Wiscasset Newspaper he was 15 when he got his first dog. “I believe that God takes good care of them after they’re gone,” he said. 

Cash donations were being accepted for Rescue Charlie’s Friends, a nonprofit operated by Janine and Lee Hague that offers dog adoption and rescue services. Junkert said he’d recently visited the kennel in Woolwich behind Kennebec Equipment Rental on Route 1.  “It’s a wonderful facility doing wonderful work. They take in all breeds of dogs including abused dogs from high-volume shelters to give them a new good life in a great loving home,” he said.