12/06/2025
You might remember our previous summer campaigns, #ChurchDoorChallenge and #StainedGlassSummer. This year, we’d love to see your pictures of animals in churches, or within your church grounds.
Whether it’s a snapshot of some local wildlife, pets who have paid your church a visit, or depictions of animals in stained glass windows, paintings and carvings, we want to hear from you.
Every summer, churches, dioceses and members of the public get involved in sharing their photos on social media – why not give it a go?
To get involved
We’re asking people to share their photos and videos on social media and tag them with #GreatAndSmall.
We are looking for anything to do with animals at church. Inside or outside, invited or uninvited, real life or painted, stained glass, statues, and so on. Here are some ideas.
Share photos or videos of animals at church
As simple as it gets, take a photo or a video of an animal at a church. Upload it to social media and add #GreatAndSmall.
We welcome all of God’s creatures. Cats, dogs, horses, spiders, mice, birds, foxes, squirrels, bees, worms, whatever you have spotted.
Other sorts of animals
If you don’t have wild horses roaming around your village, there are lots of other ways to get involved.
Stained glass depictions of animals. For example, we’ve heard about a stained-glass pink giraffe in Worcester, and an otter in Newcastle!
Carvings and statues. Have you seen the birds behind the altar at St James Piccadilly? Or the carved pews in St Mary’s Dennington?
Paintings and tapestries. This could involve beautiful historic paintings of Noah’s ark and the Good Shepherd, or something church toddler groups have been making.
Historic accidents. There are some ancient paw prints in the medieval floor tiles of a church in Warwickshire. Has anything similar happened in a church near you?
Stories and projects
You could also use this as an opportunity to share a story or project from your church.
Do you have a beekeeping project, some livestreamed peregrine falcons, or perhaps some bats? Have you made your building service-dog friendly? Have you built a bug hotel?
Reflective content
We’d also welcome reflections on humans and other animals, humans as custodians, on the natural world and our role within it.
Children, young people and families
For children and families, you might be running some animal-themed craft sessions or holiday activities. Children might want to do a bug hunt in the churchyard, or see what they can spot inside buildings too.
Top tips
We will be sharing #GreatAndSmall posts from 21 July – 31 August 2025.
As per the Church of England social media policy, any post that contains a web link to a church service, event, or website won’t be shared, but whe we share posts, we will link to AChurchNearYou.com for the public to find their nearest church. Make sure your ACNY pages are up to date!
Any post that contains derogatory or inflammatory language will not be shared.
Credit the person who took your photo as part of your post.
Our team will see all your creations, however we cannot commit to sharing every post that is submitted.
If you have any further questions on #GreatAndSmall, reach out to us: [email protected].
