The Rev. Jana Branson has been working as St. David Episcopal Church’s rector since June, but Oct. 4 marked her first in-person service, and it went to the dogs. And cats, a parrot, and two mini horses.

While Sunday services for the Gales Ferry church have been streamed online due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Blessing of the Animals was held in person in the congregation’s wooded grove. Branson said she stood in the middle of the group to speak, with families separated from one another to comply with social distancing, before donning hand sanitizer and a mask to bless each animal.

“It was a really lovely experience,” she said. “I really enjoyed it.”

Branson, a lifelong resident of California now living in Ledyard, moved to Connecticut in April to serve as the rector at St. David. She said she had always felt a call to the priesthood, knowing as early as age 9, but when she was a child, women weren’t yet ordained in the Episcopal Church, so she went into social work. She later attended seminary and was ordained three years ago, serving as the assistant rector in her hometown for two years.

“The thing that probably is the most appealing to me about ministry is the pastoral part of working with people and helping them through things and helping them understand their spirituality and grow in that way. That’s something I really enjoy doing,” she said. “I think that’s why I ended up in mental health, too. I like working with people in that capacity.”

Despite never having been to Connecticut, Branson said she had always been drawn to the state, and with their kids grown, she and her husband could make a cross-country move. She said she enjoys the variety of weather here, including this summer’s storms (though not the associated power outages).

They moved with their dog during the part of the pandemic where many areas were under stay-at-home orders, and she noted how bizarre it was to travel through major cities where the only people they saw were the occasional hotel employee and the tractor-trailer trucks on the highways.

Branson said her work as a rector has been busy since she started in June, especially in terms of pastoral services, as parishioners continue dealing with isolation and other pandemic-related stresses. Even though the services aren’t in person, all the preparations still have to happen before they go online.

She said her online ministry started as prayer services, and she’s gradually added to them. Even though she’s the one conducting the service, she doesn’t take communion out of solidarity for her parishioners who also can’t do so due to social distancing regulations.

“We’re calling it spiritual communion so they can experience hearing the prayers and everything like they normally would,” she said. “People find it comforting, I think.”

In addition to St. David’s longstanding outreach partnerships with other churches and organizations to help with food and rent assistance for those in need — she said it’s important for churches to be of service in the community — Branson also highlighted how Zoom has allowed churches to collaborate in ways they haven’t before.

She cited the Episcopal Church’s ongoing work in racial reconciliation as an example of the collaboration, where parishioners from several churches can gather on Zoom for book clubs or other discussions on topics such as white privilege and antiracism.

While it’s hard to understand what’s “normal” for the church given the circumstances, Branson said she’s interested in starting more study groups, including contemplative prayer, as well as healing services. She hosted similar Christian mysticism-based programs in California and said parishioners here have expressed interest in them as well.

“I can’t wait to be able to have services, that’s for sure,” she said. “It’s going to be really wonderful, but in the meantime, it’s great to be here.”

a.hutchinson@theday.com