Being a Baptist

Mosby Our Ministry Dog

June 6, 2006 - August 15, 2017

Sadly, we report that Mosby passed away Aug 15th after a short battle with lymphoma in his liver and lymph nodes.

As is typical of his whole life with us, he didn’t let us know that he was in pain until the very end. For all the nine years he was with us, Mosby was a faithful working dog for his church – not just attending worship services on Sunday morning, but by visiting people in their homes, nursing homes, and hospitals. We well remember how happy some folks were to see him – Phyllis Wallace, Gladys Upson, Stanley Kimball, Phyllis Caldwell, to name but a few of the many people to whom he brought a little pleasure with his wagging tail and gentle paw. Mosby was also well-known in town, making many visits to the Council on Ageing activities: the seniors in different interest groups, the breakfasts and luncheons for veterans, to name a few. Who can forget the town’s anniversary parade a few years ago, when he represented First Baptist on our church float? We were impressed that all along the parade route, we’d hear cries of “Hey, Mosby!” from everyone. He was definitely a town dog, as well as a church dog. We miss him desperately, as most people do whose dogs have died, but we do know that his life, especially as it relates to his calling of Therapy Dog for the Ministry, has left a mark on our church and our town.

In June 2010, Mosby and the First Baptist Church of Littleton were featured on
a CBS special the “Ministry of Animals” that aired on CBS affiliates around the country.

Picture of Mosby is one of the

Top Boston Globe Photos of the Year

2009 Boston Globe story & video below

Boston Globe video on Mosby

Boston Globe Article on Mosby by Erica Noonan

A Dog With A Calling

A dog with a calling

To church, hospitals, and assisted living centers, Mosby brings a healing ministry based on unconditional caring and comfort

By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff | July 16, 2009

LITTLETON - Mosby is a Baptist, but his ministry is inclusive. Anyone - atheist or believer - will get a hand licked by the 3-year-old golden retriever, deemed too friendly for work as an assistance dog for the disabled but perfectly suited for a career in spiritual outreach. Mosby is a ministry dog, one of a growing breed of assistance dogs assigned to clergy and church workers to offer a special kind of comfort.

A few times each week, Mosby dons his vest and nose-lead, chows down a Pup-Peroni dog snack, and hops in the backseat for a short ride to Emerson Hospital in Concord, assisted living centers in Ayer and Westford, or the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley in Littleton.

Mosby’s busiest day is Sunday, however, when he can be found lying in a pew alongside his owners, Lynda and Larry Fisher, at the First Baptist Church of Littleton, where they are longtime members.

His presence is especially welcome during what has been a hard year for the First Baptist community. Several members are coping with serious illness, deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, and job layoffs, said First Baptist’s pastor, the Rev. Deborah Blanchard.

“A dog ministry breaks down barriers right away,’’ said Blanchard. “It helps put aside the barriers and connect on a real level to offer comfort and love.’’

The idea of a formal training program for ministry dogs sprang up just over a decade ago, when a divinity student and dog lover made a case to NEADS, Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans, a nonprofit organization based in Princeton that is one of the nation’s largest assistance-dog training programs.

“She explained how she’d be going to hospices and working with the elderly and sick children, all populations who can’t have a dog but could really benefit,’’ said Sheila O’Brien, the agency’s chief executive officer. “She said, ‘You know, Sheila, dog spelled backwards is God.’ ’’

In 1998, NEADS graduated its first ministry dog, a schnauzer named Lynks. Since then, it has trained more than 15 dogs serving a variety of churches.

Last year, 74-year-old Lynda Fisher approached NEADS with hopes of being matched with a ministry dog.

She and her husband, Larry, 78, had lost their longtime canine companion, a 15-year-old Brittany spaniel named Jessie.

You could say she had a dog-sized hole in her soul.

“I told them, ‘I’m a deaconess at my church. Part of my duties is to visit the sick and infirm, and it would go so much better with a dog,’ ’’ Fisher recalled.

Although the dogs are generally designated for ministers, Fisher’s 40-year affiliation with First Baptist and enthusiastic devotion to her faith, and to dogs, won her an exception to the rule.

NEADS trainers introduced her to a few puppies, but sparks really flew with Mosby, named as a puppy for John Mosby, a Confederate officer who worked to help heal the nation’s wounds after the Civil War.

“I like to think it was God saying, ‘Lynda, this is the dog for you,’ ’’ she said.

She and Mosby trained together at NEADS headquarters and on April 13, 2008, Mosby received his orders and a blessing at a dedication ceremony at the 187-year-old American Baptist church on Littleton Common.

During weekly outreach visits to Life Care, Mosby visits often with 92-year-old Phyllis Wallace, whose diabetes keeps her bedbound and away from Sunday services at First Baptist.

Mosby is not the only church worker making the rounds at Life Care: local chaplains, priests, and rabbis regularly visit and hold services, including Wednesday Vespers and Sunday Mass, said executive director Ellen Levinson.

But Mosby may generate the most enthusiasm. During a visit to the facility’s unit for Alzheimer’s disease patients, residents halted a bingo game to reach out to touch the dog. Several elders who had been sitting in silence started talking animatedly.

“Isn’t he beautiful?’’ murmured one woman in a wheelchair.

“I love it when the dogs come down. It makes everyone smile. It brings back happy feelings,’’ said Charlotte McCullough, a nurse who oversees the unit. “It makes people think of their childhoods.’’

On Sunday mornings, Mosby helps Larry Fisher, a church greeter, pass out programs, comes up to the altar for the children’s portion of the service, and licks hands at coffee hour.

“It’s more fun when he’s here,’’ said 12-year-old Alyssa Mackensie after a service last Sunday.

Mosby ministers at home too. The Fishers, Medford natives who have been married for 51 years, are longtime community volunteers. But Mosby keeps them active in their senior years, mingling with the crowds at Littleton’s Halloween and July Fourth celebrations. Mosby makes friends wherever he goes while pulling them along by the leash, the Fishers said.

“Life without him would be so much duller,’’ said Lynda Fisher. “I know we’d be a lot less active.’’

Not everyone in the congregation or community-at-large likes dogs, so Fisher says she is vigilant about keeping Mosby away, unless people clearly want him nearby.

Dogs are not welcome in all houses of worship, and federal law does not guarantee access to churches, mosques, and temples, even for service dogs, though O’Brien said she has not encountered criticism of the ministry dog work by NEADS.

Some animal advocates are concerned that Mosby and his working colleagues get too few opportunities to socialize with other dogs. NEADS asks owners to plan play dates and make regular visits to offleash dog parks, “so the dog has a chance to be a dog,’’ she said.

There is also a growing demand for therapy dogs of all types. NEADS began providing dogs for military veterans with physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder in 2006, and more dogs are requested by injured vets every year. She also predicts there will soon be a boom in demand for dogs trained to assist autistic children, and to detect blood-sugar imbalances in diabetics.The pool of trained therapy dogs is limited, with NEADS graduating just 50 or so annually from all its programs.

But one advantage for the ministry dog program is its acceptance of a wider variety of breeds, even tiny shih tzus, while traditional assistance dogs tend to be retrievers or German shepherds, large enough to guide a client through traffic and crowds, said O’Brien.

Most of Mosby’s clients have been to First Baptist members, but the Fishers say he is available for visits to any area resident, of any religious affiliation.

Mosby does not proselytize, and neither do the Fishers, who carry no religious materials on their visits.

Dogs, unlike stressed family members and shy children, are also never in a rush to end a visit to a hospital or nursing home.

“He lifts their spirits for five minutes, but at least that’s five minutes,’’ said Lynda Fisher. “That’s a good thing.’’

Matters of Faith is a series of occasional articles examining religious life in area communities. Erica Noonan can be reached at enoonan@globe.com.

Rev. Ken Downes

Rev. Joyce Reed

Being a Baptist

Let us explore what it means to be a Baptist by looking at:

Believers Baptism
Membership
Religious Freedoms
Covenant

See also the American Baptist Churches website: 10 facts you should know about American Baptists

Believers Baptism

In Christian churches, Baptism (a ceremonial immersion in water, or application of blessed water as a rite of initiation) is practiced in one of two ways; the immersion of an older child or adult (‘believer’) or the sprinkling of infants, or adults, in some churches. A Baptist church practices Believers Baptism, where the person being Baptized is old enough to profess his or her own belief in Jesus Christ. So Baptism has no fixed age limit, but is performed at an age of understanding and ability to believe and articulate that belief in Jesus Christ, and is certainly not restricted to ‘adults only’. The rite of Baptism includes a public profession of faith in Jesus, after which the candidate is lowered fully under the water and immediately raised up again, signifying a new start in a new life. Baptist church buildings are characterized by having a ‘baptistry’, being the small pool in which the Baptism ceremony is carried out. Sometimes the baptistry is obvious and central to the worship area; otherwise it is covered over and only revealed when a Baptism service is scheduled. Often Baptist churches, in warmer weather, will go to a river to do Baptisms, imitating Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist.

Membership

Baptist Churches are led by a Pastor, run by voted officers (Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer, Deacons and/or Board or Council members) and governed by the ‘Members’, who make decisions on all aspects of the Church life through voting rights at church meetings. To join the membership of a Baptist Church, the candidate must declare their desire, be interviewed by members of the Deaconate and/or Pastor, and be voted in at a church meeting. After a successful vote, the new member receives the ‘Right Hand of Fellowship’ in a ceremony during a subsequent Sunday service and their name is added to the official membership register.

Religious Freedoms

Baptists accept that people are individually responsible to God for their beliefs and consequently do not have a creed stating explicitly what to believe in. Instead they follow ‘principles’ and embrace ‘religious freedoms’:

Soul Freedom: Soul freedom is hard work. Baptists have to do the work of examining their own heart and life and of prayer and conversation with God, of studying the Bible, of questioning and doubting what they hear and see in the world against what Jesus has taught; so that they can know God. A Baptist Pastor will help the congregation explore and question, not prescribing the answers, but helping each of them find their own answers.

Bible Freedom: Freedom to read and study the Bible is the right and necessity of each believer in developing their relationship with God. Baptists believe that the Bible is the central source of teaching for the life of faith. The Scriptures provide frameworks to have and repair relationships, to lead a good and moral life, and to do God's creating, forgiving and sustaining work in the world. Baptists acknowledge that the Bible also contains music, poetry, praise, lamentation and consolation, reflecting the breadth and depth of the human experience and that God continues to be revealed through the Scriptures as they are read afresh.

Church Freedom: Baptists have a congregational polity, which means that the congregation as a whole decides on the way the church is run, owns or manages the church's property and finances, and decides how a pastor is called and who that pastor will be. The local church has the freedom and responsibility to decide all of those things. While a Baptist church will have some usual elements of worship that stay the same from week to week, we don't have a set of weekly common prayers and responses or a mass like you would find among Roman Catholic, Episcopal, or Lutheran churches. Baptists can choose what scriptures to study and teach on any Sunday, where many other churches have prescribed scriptures for a given day. Baptists could change the order of worship or the prayers. Baptist churches can decide independently what local, national or international social justice activities to do or support. Activities that are bigger than an individual church could do alone Baptists do in ‘association’, for example in our association with the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts, through the Merrimack Valley Association.

Religious Freedom: Because of a long history of being persecuted for their belief in believer’s baptism, Baptists were among the instigators of the First Amendment of the US Bill of Rights that says that church won't tell the state what to do and the state won't tell a church how to operate, and neither will tell an individual what to believe. This is paraphrased as: freedom of religion - to choose what religion, or none at all to practice; freedom for religion - to practice the religion as you choose without state interference or dictates, and freedom from religion - that civil government is not under the control of any given religion. An interpretation is that if someone does not share your religious convictions and they are not causing harm to you or your property or your civil rights, then a state should not pass a law that makes their activities illegal.

Covenant

When our new Pastor was called by the membership, a covenant was drafted as an agreement between the Pastor and Congregation to outline how this new relationship will be guided, going forward. Our covenant appears below and was spoken and a large printed copy signed by everyone at the pastoral installation service:

The Covenant of the People of First Baptist Church Littleton

and Rev. Nancy Willbanks

on the day of her Installation as Pastor, October 1, 2017

Moderator: As we join together at this significant moment in the life of this congregation, we, the gathered community of faith, enter into covenant with one another.

Pastor: Celebrating the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit I do now, in the presence of this assembly, sincerely and joyfully enter into covenant with you in response to your call to become your pastor and in affirmation of the Spirit’s leading me to this place.

Congregation: We, the congregation of First Baptist Church Littleton, do heartily enter into this covenanted relationship with you as our pastor and, with direction from the Holy Spirit; endeavor to walk together in Christian love, striving to be a Christ-like presence in the world.

All Visiting Friends and Clergy: Together we stand as witnesses on this celebratory occasion committing to hold all of you in prayer as you enter into covenant with one another.

Congregation: Recognizing the rich history of this Body of Christ, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will walk together in Christian love and continue to strive for the advancement of this congregation by creatively sustaining its worship, ordinances, fellowship, and service in the world through mutual trust and shared goals.

Pastor: As your pastor, I covenant to engage with you in being present with and caring for each other in times of need, celebrating in one another's joys, and bearing each other’s burdens and sorrows; to be slow to take offense, and quick to ask for and give forgiveness and always to strive toward reconciliation and love.

Congregation: As an inquisitive people, we commit - ourselves, our children, and our youth – to grow in the knowledge of God and to work to bring God’s love and presence in this world. We covenant to study diligently the word of God and Jesus’ teachings and the words of others who illuminate these teachings. We will ask the hard questions while acting to confront and address our world’s pressing concerns and will support you in your continued growth as a pastor and theologian, as we grow together in faith and understanding.

Pastor: As your pastor, I will seek to provide a safe, grace filled space for all who worship and come among us. I covenant that, through my preaching and teaching, I will encourage each of you to find and speak your voice in our interactions together; endeavoring to listen respectfully and consider all views. I further commit to provide education and insight to enable individual growth and consensus in making decisions.

Congregation: Given our new model created by calling a part time pastor, we covenant to continually seek ways to care for you and grow and support our ministry together. We will creatively seek to live, organize and engage in ministry with Christ as our model and strive to effectively and equitably honor each other’s time, resources and energy.

Pastor: Heeding Jesus’ Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations, I do covenant with this family of faith to be a Christ-like presence in the world – so that we can be a Beacon on the Common. I will encourage the congregation’s strong mission focus, locally, regionally and throughout the world, bringing love, kindness, and justice to those in need and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Congregation: We gladly receive Rev. Nancy Willbanks as our Pastor. As we go forth together as a community of faith we do so with great respect and a sense of anticipation for the ministry that the Lord will place before us to glorify God’s name.

Moderator: It is my pleasure as Moderator of this congregation to declare that Rev. Nancy Willbanks is hereby officially installed as Pastor of First Baptist Church Littleton. May our shared ministry be fruitful and strong and wrapped in God’s Grace.

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