Dogs in Palm Beach, Fla., go almost everywhere with their owners. Chihuahuas sporting sweaters and bejeweled collars peek out of purses perched in grocery store shopping carts. Terriers toting tennis balls stop at sidewalk coffee shops on their way to the park. The city's pampered pooches even have their own day of blessing, a special spiritual experience some owners would like their canine companions to enjoy every week.

Welcoming dogs into worship is the latest fad among congregations anxious to make services more inviting to people who normally don't go to church. At least one congregation in Texas and several in Maine and New Hampshire are making room for dogs in the pews in hopes that interspecies inclusion will infuse some warmth into their services.

The coordinator for the Palm Beach pet blessing says the city's dogs might eventually be welcome in church, but opponents say pets in worship would only be a distraction from the purpose of the service.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, in Mission, Tex., recently made national news when it was featured in a USA Today article about its priest's support for dogs in mass. Father Roy Snipes told the paper that the presence of dogs eliminates the "rigid and frigid" feelings that are sometimes associated with a first-time visit to church. Snipes, who first brought his dogs to mass in 1985 scoffed at suggestions that including animals in worship was a "new age" phenomenon. When Jesus was born in a stable, animals gathered all around the manger, Snipes said.

But Roger Chapman, associate professor of History of Religion at Palm Beach Atlantic University, says Snipes may have taken his claim out of context. Scriptures like Psalm 148 seem to indicate that animals do praise the Lord, but that doesn't mean they should be a part of a church service, he said.

"They praise the Lord by being part of the created order. They do not engage in formal worship," he said. "It seems to me that those who wish to bring pets to church are theologically misguided. Jesus was born around animals, but I am not aware of any evidence that suggests the early church thought that was something to incorporate into the worship service."

Although Palm Beach pews haven't gone to the dogs yet, Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach lets congregants bring their pets to church once a year for an annual animal blessing. The church adopted the idea from the ancient Spanish tradition of honoring St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. Many liturgical churches, like Bethesda, have a animal blessing on the Saturday closest to the feast of St. Francis, during the first weekend in October.

"We currently don't allow animals into our typical Sunday service, but every year more members and animals turn out to our St. Francis day celebration. So, who knows? Perhaps in the future, every Sunday will be a St. Francis Day celebration," said Renee Boger, the Bethesda member responsible for coordinating the annual blessing.

Some Bethesda members might enjoy the thought of singing hymns with their dogs, but Lisa Loomis is less than enthusiastic: "I cannot imagine a church full of barking dogs and screaming babies."

Church leaders also would have to contend with congregants who don't like animals or suffer from allergies or fear. And ministers might end up in the middle of a divisive debate over dog discrimination .

"How do you say the Bichon can come but not the Pit Bull?" Loomis asked.

And dogs just couldn't be trusted to behave during the most reverent parts of a service, especially when faced with the tempting smell of fresh bread during the Lord's Supper, Chapman said.

Bernie Cueto, pastor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, understands why church leaders want to make people feel comfortable in worship. As a seminary student, Cueto embraced the trend toward church casual, an approach he thought better reflected the attitude of a new generation of believers. He defended churches that swapped pulpits for bistro tables and transformed sermons into "talks," until one of his teachers challenged his claim that times had changed. People are not stupid, his professor told him.

"If they want a casual conversation, they go to Starbucks," Cueto recalled his professor saying. "If they want to worship the only true living God, they go to church. Your chief goal when people leave your church should not be, 'Wow, I felt so comfortable. What a nice setting!' You want them to say, 'What an awesome Savior!'"