Ok. It’s story time. In the 80s I attended Wesley United Methodist Church near Loring Park. It a huge old stone building and in its day it had a lot of money and power. The 80s were not those times. In the fellowship hall were pictures of famous Minneapolis citizens past who had been members.
📌
And a horse. There with business tycoons and former mayors, a B&W picture of a horse. I asked the pastor about it and turns out it was Dan Patch, the famous race horse. His picture was up there because Dan Patch, the famous racehorse, had been a member of the church.
Seems the lead pastor in the day didn’t approve of gambling. No surprise Methodists are historically No Fun. Anti drinking, dancing, playing cards … all that stuff. So the lead pastor says to Dan Patch’s owner “As your spiritual leader I have to condemn your involvement gambling and urge you
To give it up.” Dan Patch’s owner responded with the equivalent of “Are you nuts? I’m making so much money and donating a lot to this beautiful church. What if I gave more money?” The pastor responded, “What do you think we are? Catholics? We don’t sell indulgences! But —
This is fantastic! What a terrific story!
“— you have a point about the donations. Let me pray on it.” A few days later the pastor has a plan. They will baptize Dan Patch and make him a member of the church. Then Dan Patch can tithe 10% of his winnings.” Problem solved. So not only was Dan Patch a horse, he was a Methodist horse.
I have no idea if this story is real or not but I’m delighted either way, thank you
Honestly neither am I. But it’s a great story, right? 🤣 And just now I realized that Dining Hall on Dan Patch Ave is run by the Methodist church I currently attend. It’s like Dan Patch’s destiny and mine are intertwined.
A horse would be an observant Methodist — no drinking, no cards, no dancing. And the horse isn’t gambling, he’s just doing his job.
Was he carousing with the fillies, though?
Exactly