The Pet Service continues to grow as it returned to its former glory with a bumper turn-out last Sunday outside the Sun Inn.

There were 63 people in attendance including 14 youngsters, many from our Funday@4 group. It was certainly a great Pet Service debut for Fr Shane Griffiths who preached at the service which was led by a member of our laity, Catherine Diamond.

There had been some debate over hymn selection when a relatively modern piece called the Butterfly Song was suggested. It's a favourite with school children of many ages and while we knew we could rely on the enthusiasm of the Funday@4 gang, there were worries whether the more reserved (older) members of the congregation would join in.

Those concerns were quickly alleviated when Catherine gave the congregation a run through of the song including actions and dance moves and the hymn took off brilliantly. Even the many pets, and toy pets, in attendance seemed to enjoy that one. And there was special mention for the admirably named tortoise making a second appearance at our service. He's called Tortellini.

Father Shane spoke powerfully about the role of animals in creation and our relationship with them. A particularly pertinent point given this is the season of Creation-tide in the Church of England.

Thankfully after a few days of rainstorms the morning was dry although the hot drinks supplied in the Sun after our service was very welcome so a special vote of thanks to Elle and her team.