Got an empty church lawn? Why not turn it into a dog park?

(RNS) — This past summer, the dog park at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church was in trouble.

For 25 years, Phideaux Field had been a labor of love for Forest Hill, ever since an older church member decided the church’s spacious lawn, which was unused most of the week, was the perfect place for a dog park. There was little green space in the neighborhood for dogs to run free and the church lawn could fill that need.

“Everybody thought he was crazy,” said Gaynel “Gay” Olsen, a longtime church member who oversees Phideaux Field and often visits the park with Otis, her 13-year-old “sproodle” — a mix between a springer spaniel and a poodle. Read Story