Gunner the Church Dog

For many years Calvary had a devoted church dog named Megan. Sadly, Megan passed away in March, 2026. You can read about her and see photos below. In the spring of the same year Calvary welcomed a new friend, a German Shorthaired Pointer named Gunner. Rest assured, if you’re not a dog lover, Gunner is well behaved and though he might come to say hello, after that he shouldn’t bother you!

Gunner’s Story

By Pam Parshall

After I suddenly lost Ayla, my heart dog, her daughter Joni and I were having a hard time mourning our loss. I decided the only answer was to get another German Shorthair Pointer, this time a male puppy. A top notch GSP breeder I know in Texas just happened to have a litter of nine born a few days before, and of the nine puppies seven were boys! When they were eight weeks old I flew out to pick my puppy. I quickly narrowed my choice down to three, but couldn’t make up my mind. Two of the boys only wanted to play with each other, but the third kept following me around. Naturally I took him home, officially naming him Ehrenvogel Gunning for My Heart, AKA Gunner. He turned out to have a very sweet personality, and also smart as can be. Joni mothered him and taught him his house manners. I had the pleasure of showing him to his Grand Championship and his Senior Hunter title. Along the way he also earned a bunch of smaller titles. Then he went off for two years to earn his Field Trial Championship and another year with his breeder in Texas who showed him to his Gold Level Grand Championship, ending that year ranked as the number 3 GSP (1 and 2 were females) in the country, and the only Dual Champion in our breed to win the GSP National Specialty Show. Gunner is retired now, except for running an occasional field trial and showing at the annual National Specialty. He is currently “in training” to be our new church dog, after we lost Megan. Even at the age of 10 he is still a bundle of energy, and loves coming to church to visit with everyone.

A church service with a woman preacher in the pulpit and an elderly man seated in the background. There are two attendees sitting in the foreground—an elderly woman with white hair with a dark dog sitting beside her.

ABOVE: Pam and Gunner listening to a sermon by Reverend Heather

Woman and dog sitting on floor in front of alter. Woman is wearing a white vestment and dog is brown with white spots.

Dearly Departed - Megan the Church Dog

ABOVE: Pam and Megan

Megan’s Story

By Pam Parshall


Back in May of 2020, at the beginning of Covid, I took my younger German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) to a kennel in Las Cruces New Mexico for field trial training and competition. I knew he would be gone for probably two years, but was counting on my twelve-year-old female GSP to keep me company while he was gone. Unfortunately her heart gave out on April Fool’s Day, the month before our planned trip to New Mexico 

As it turned out, Megan was ownerless and living at the same New Mexico kennel because she had been field trained there. Her owner had died and his wife had no interest in keeping her, so she was just hanging out with all the other dogs in for training and trialing. She was eight at the time that I brought her home.

She needed a lot of socialization and adjustment to her new environment. At first we were Zooming church services so I would take her to my sister and brother-in-law’s home on Sundays. When we were finally able to meet for services outside during the summer I brought her with me. She was so sweet with the children, and seemed to enjoy herself, so when we were finally able to move back inside the church Father Bob said to bring her in too. 

She seemed to know when it was Sunday (probably from my slightly different morning routine) and was ready to head off to church with me, leaving my younger GSP home doing “guard duty.” She greeted our parishioners when they arrived, checked in with everyone during the service, got a mini biscuit when we had Communion, and snacks at our extensive coffee hour after the service. 

Sadly, Megan developed cancer and passed away on March 2, 2026. She was 13 years old. A lot of us mourned her passing and she is greatly missed. Her presence and pious attitude was a lesson to us all and touched everyone who knew her. In her own humble way, she reminded us of God’s love for all His creatures, and her memory continues to inspire us to carry that love forward.

Woman priest wearing white robe with rainbow colored Guatemalan stole, Megan the dog is sitting beside her looking reverent.
Boy wearing a black jacket kneeling beside brown dog. They are looking at each other thoughtfully
Elderly priest sitting in wooden chair decorated with a carved cross petting a brown dog.
Man in blue shirt and blue jeans reading a prayer book with brown dog resting at his feet.
Brown dog with white spots sitting in front of the alter
Elderly priest in white vestment standing behind alter, arms raised to bless communion. Brown dog looking on thoughtfully.
A group of people of various ages gathered in a church for a photo, with a wooden cross on the wall behind them. The church has white walls, wooden doorways, and is lit by wall-mounted lamps. Some individuals are smiling, and there is a mix of men, women, seniors, and children, including a baby on someone's shoulders and a dog in front of the group.

ABOVE: Megan (center) on her last Sunday at Calvary, surrounded by some of the members of her church family. Her owner Pam is seated left of Megan.