Depending on your perspective, Central Christian Church is either a church with a dog park, or a dog park with the church. Opening in the fall of 2006, Central Dog Park was created to give dogs and their owners a fun, relaxing, safe and friendly place to exercise and socialize. Shade trees allow a pleasant place to sit under and talk to friends while you watch your dog have a great time. Central Dog Park normally opened seven days a week from sunrise to sunset.

Bring Your Dogs & Worship With Us On Sunday!
Weather permitting, we have outdoor worship in the dog park every Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. Come as you are and, of course, your dogs are welcome too! Click here for a map.

Work Day Success!

A major thanks goes to all those who helped out during the work day on May 5th! We laid sod, which looks absolutely amazing, and decomposed granite, which also looks great! We probably had anywhere from 20 to 30 people through the several hours we were working. A big “thank you” also goes to all those who are ensuring the new sod is staying watered each day. The fencing is down and the dogs are enjoying their new wonderful grass! We could not have done all this work without everyone’s help!

The decomposed granite is a test for new potential ground cover. This is what the state dog parks in California use as their ground cover and could be more sustainable for us to use instead of the sod. Heather is looking forward to any feedback people have on the decomposed granite.

A few people also worked on the Saint Frances of Assisi garden to get it looking better; they planted some pretty climbing flowers, trimmed up a rose bush, and pulled weeds. This garden is such a wonderful tribute to the Christian Saint who loved all of God’s wonderful creation!

We will also soon be putting up new fencing for the small dog park and a special thanks goes to those who will help with that!

Even though the work day is over, you can still donate to the efforts and to the future events and work days in Central Dog Park. Donations can be mailed or dropped off to the church office at 4711 Westside Drive (be sure there is CDP in the memo). Church office hours are 9am-3pm Monday- Friday. You can also give online at www.cccdt.org/dogpark. There is a link on the right hand side to “give to this ministry.” You can also give by giving the money to Heather Santi if you see her in the park.

Keep an eye out for more special events happening in the dog park this summer!

Devotionals In Central Dog Park, Every Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Central Dog Park Sunday Morning Devotionals have resumed with the Spring weather.

Through the month of April, we will begin a series on Spirituality and Spiritual Practices. The devotionals will begin at 9:30 a.m. You and your dog are welcome!

Click here for the home page of the mini-site for Central Dog Park.

Meet Heather Santi, New Coordinator for Outreach and Evangelism

Heather Anne Santi began serving with Central Christian Church as Coordinator for Outreach and Evangelism on February 20. She is a first year student at Brite Divinity School, and this will be her student ministry assignment. She will help us build on the momentum of our outreach ministries including the Central Dog Park and the Acers Community Garden. While continuing her studies, Heather will work for us 20 hours a week, as much as possible building relationships with our neighbors and inviting them to Jesus and Central Christian Church.

Click here for details.

New Issue of the CDP Newsletter Available!
Vol. 5, Issue 2 of "Unconditional Love," the Central Dog Park Newsletter, is available to download. The newsletter is published four times per year. Back issues are also available so you can catch up on anything you missed.

Click here for the newsletter archive.

GoD and DoG Video by Wendy Francisco
"I look up and I see God ... I look down and see my dog." It's not often that one finds a systematic theology in a two-minute YouTube video but here is one! A lovely song and animation by Wendy Francisco in which the first two lines of the song convey that people are in the middle, between two kinds of sincere devotion.

Click here for details.

The Blessing of the Animals In the Sanctuary of Central Christian Church - St. Francis Pet Blessing
All The original outdoor-indoor worship service moved completely under the roof of the main sanctuary in light of the Noah’s ark deluge on tap the entire weekend of Sunday Oct. 4th.  Many overcame the rain however with rubber boots, high steps and a little courage. A towel patrol waited at the front door if needed.  And no, the ark never pulled up, but it could have. This year’s Pet Blessing service reserved the first four pews for owners and their animals. The service was shortened up a bit for those dealing with ADADD (adult doggie attention deficit disorder). Representatives from the Central Dog Park and Central Christian Church served as the official blessors.

Click here for details.

Small Doggies Rejoice!
The Central Dog Park is now equipped to handle doggies which might be intimidated by the size or novelty of the dog park. As you enter into the main arrival gate, there is a new gate on the right which enters a fenced area set aside from the main section of the dog park. We hope this will give a respite from times when the big dogs run a little too hard. We want to thank Frank Whittington, Dustin Taylor, and Colton Boddy for their hard work in constructing this beautiful new fenced area.

The Puppy Connection to Border Blessings
There had been this idea: take a group of willing workers to Brownsville/Matamoras for a week or so and build a small house on the Mexican side of the border for a deserving family.  Central Christian was sending thirteen of it’s own on the trip. A quite diverse group! One seventy-something, two teenagers, four women, nine men.  Some skinny, some fat. . . gay, straight. . . you name it.

Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries designed this program of cross-border exchanges.  During the past two years approximately sixty small houses have been built.  Perhaps just a drop in the ocean, but an important drop.

Click here to learn more.

A Love Story from the Dog Park

No, no, this is not a human story; it’s the story of a man and a dog.  Several years ago my friend, Craig Tomanek, was seeking to purchase a male Yorkshire terrier.  He had a female, Ellie Mae, but she was getting up there in years and Craig felt she needed a young companion to keep her youthful.  He found a male online and phoned the woman in far north Texas and went immediately on a Sunday night to meet his new dog.  The woman said she was a breeder and the price would be $1,275.  Craig went immediately that Sunday night.  When he arrived he saw a puppy mill, not a breeder but he wanted the dog so badly.  She wanted cash so he went to the only ATM in this small town and it was out of cash.  This was the second red flag so he decided against purchasing the little dog.

Click here to read more.

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