THE MINISTRY OF ANIMALS, a CBS religion special about spirituality and animals, will be broadcast Sunday, June 13, on the CBS Television Network.  Please check your local station for exact time.

Among the topics explored in the program are dogs that the clergy uses as a means of pastoral care.  Also known as "ministry dogs," these assistance dogs are formally trained at the National Education for Assistance Dog Services' (NEADS) Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans in Princeton, Massachusetts.  Founded in 1976, this non-profit organization trains service dogs for the deaf and disabled as well as animal-assisted therapy, such as those used in ministry.  The program talks with Rev. Debbie Blanchard, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Littleton, Massachusetts, who agreed to have "Mosby," a NEADS-trained dog, as part of her church community.  She encourages churches to explore ways to use animals in ministry because she's found that dogs are helpful to people during times of tragedy, counseling or sorrow.

The program visits Lynda and Larry Fisher, who are Mosby's caretakers.  Lynda is a Deaconess and Larry volunteers for the church's food pantry.  Ministry dogs are usually designated for members of the clergy, but NEADS made an exception after seeing the Fisher's love for dogs and their tireless service to church and community.

Also featured in THE MINISTRY OF ANIMALS are the monks of New Skete, formerly part of an Byzantine-Rite Franciscans who are now a separate Eastern Orthodox monastic community in Cambridge, New York.  Viewers will meet Brother Stavros and Brother John, two monks who breed and train German Shepherds in order to support their order.  "Because we're living a life here at the monastery that is essentially dedicated to seeking God and exploring the deepest mysteries in life, one of the things that's been most surprising and wonderful has been that the dogs have played an important impact on our spiritual lives in ways that we never could have imagined," says Brother Christopher, the order's chief dog trainer. 

The program also visits Harvard Divinity School professor, Kimberley Patton, who explains the roles animals have played within the various world religions. Animals, birds and reptiles have long been seen as part of the human-divine mystery by many religions, who regard the animal kingdom as reflecting a oneness within the divine.

 Finally viewers will witness part of "The Annual Blessing of the Animals" at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.  People bring pets of all sizes and types to the church, including birds and even circus animals, to reflect a union of the human and the other-than-human lives within our natural universe.

John P. Blessington is the executive producer of the special and Liz Kineke is the producer.  The special is produced in cooperation with the National Council of Churches, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Islamic Society of North America, the Union of Reform Judaism and the New York Board of Rabbis.

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Press Contact:             

Jeremy Murphy      212-975-4577       jeremy.murphy@cbs.com