Phineas E. Rutledge is a native Texan and the pastor of Rivertree Church. It is the largest Stuffed Evangelical Church in Texas, and one of the largest in the world!*
Each week, Reverend Phin (as his congregation lovingly calls him) delivers his uplifting message of love and hope to more than seven live** attendees. Rivertree Church has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2005.
“Back then, it was just me and June in the corner of a thrift store in our tiny home town. Every Sunday, even if we’d been set down at opposite ends of the shelf, we’d join together in joyous celebration. Even if it meant shouting at the tops of our [metaphorical] lungs. June-Bug and I made a lot of friends,” Phineas says with a playful chuckle.
After the publication of his first book, The Stuffed Word (Unfortunately Out of Print Press, 2007), the movement caught on. Soon enough, two more SAs joined the congregation. By 2010, there were five members, and they moved their meetings to their own separate shelf, formerly occupied by the used sporting equipment section of the store.
These days, Phineaus and his ever-loyal June-Bug conduct their services out of The SARF headquarters while they search for a new, permanent home.
“It’s been an amazing journey. We feel blessed to have been taken under the wing of this wonderful organization. We’re looking forward to finding a forever-family, but we’ll be eternally grateful for what The SARF has done for us,” says Phin.
In an effort to reach an even wider audience, Reverend Rutledge is currently engaged in contract negotiations to develop a weekly program for thesarf.org.***
*Rivertree Church is the only known Stuffed Evangelical church in existence; however, one of the key tenets of the Stuffed Evangelical denomination is humility.
**meaning in physical attendance. Attendees are as-yet all stuffed (though all living animals are welcome!). Phin is currently investigating translation services to expand his reach into the vocal/aural community. Perhaps his adoptive family can help with this.
***The opinions set forth in said future programs/transcripts will be the sole opinion of Reverend Phineas Rutledge and not those of The Stuffed Animal Rescue Foundation.
