July 1 (UPI) — An alligator paid a visit to a church in Florida where it was greeted by parishioners and the pastor offered it a business card.
Photos and video captured at Victory Church in LeHigh Acres show the small gator wandering the grounds of the house of worship, approaching the door at one point.
Daniel Gregory, the church’s lead pastor, took video while he approached the reptile and offered it a business card.
“We have services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday mornings,” Gregory says in the video. “Want to check us out?”
Gregory said he saw the unusual visit as an opportunity to have some fun.
“He came to our church. I don’t know what his spiritual condition is,” Gregory told WBBH-TV. “I need to invite this gator to church.”
Gregory said the gator wandered away to a storm drain when he attempted to baptize it.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said others should not attempt to get as close to alligators as Gregory does in the video.
“We certainly encourage the viewing aspect of it, but we never want you to approach a wild animal like that. It can be very dangerous,” FWC Officer Adam Brown said. “There’s no reason to take a chance.”