LANCASTER — Looking for a unique gift for the history buff in your life or yourself? A church in town has just the thing — limited edition origami peace crane ornaments made from hymnals that serve as a sanctuary restoration project fundraiser.
First Church of Lancaster Minister Wil Darcangelo crafted the cranes using pages from retired hymnals from the historic Bulfinch Meetinghouse, which houses the Unitarian Universalist church founded in 1653 and is listed on the National Historic Register. The current building, the town’s fifth meetinghouse, was designed by noted architect Charles Bulfinch in 1816 and dedicated on January 1, 1817, and is considered an American architectural masterpiece. At $25 each, Darcangelo said this year’s ornaments are the first in a series of four that will be released one each Christmas from now until the church’s 375th anniversary in 2028
Bell Choir concert with Lavender Darcangelo
Wil and Jamie Darcangelo’s adopted daughter Lavender Darcangelo, who was a finalist on “America’s Got Talent” thanks to her beautiful singing voice, will be performing with a hand bell choir on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. in a concert, “With Bell’s On!,” featuring the Pilgrim Bell Choir of Southborough led by Carla Mason.
“[It] is really going to be a beautiful experience,” Wil Darcangelo said, noting that the church has never held a concert with a bell choir before. “Hand bells first originated in England around the time that the Lancaster settlement was founded in the 17th century, so it feels particularly fitting to host such a group in our sanctuary.”
“I’ve performed with so many different kinds of instruments before, but never ones with such a sound like this,” she said. “It’s like what singing in heaven must be like!”
Her father Wil Darcangelo said that while Lavender has sung in the church sanctuary before, this will be her first time as part of a concert performance as well as with hand bells.
“People can expect a moving experience of holiday music in an environment perfectly suited to the bells, both acoustically as well as historically,” he said of the weekend event. “I myself will make a small appearance with the bell choir as a ringer in one of their pieces. I have played hand bells a few times before in my career and once even as a child at Rollstone Congregational Church in Fitchburg when a group came to teach the members of the children’s choir how to play them.”
Tickets are $20 each, children 12 and under are free, and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time by visiting firstchurchlancasterma.org/events/with-bells-on.
Origami fundraiser
The inspiration behind origami ornaments comes from Darcangelo’s “love of origami peace cranes,” of which he has made a staggering amount — 1,000 each for his wedding in 2015, in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of the LGBTQIA+ movement, which is still on display in the sanctuary of the First Parish in Fitchburg where he was the pastor for many years, and for this fundraising effort.
“Our volunteer coordinator Win Clark knew that I had a fascination with folding origami cranes according to the Japanese legend, which states that if someone folds a thousand of them, they get their wish. So, he suggested I make them from the pages of retired hymnals,” Darcangelo said.
He went on to say that “this thousand is from my desire to see our historic sanctuary in Lancaster in pristine condition for generations to come.”
“I have ancestors from a number of the original founding families of the Lancaster on the Nashua settlement, including the famed Mary Rowlandson whose captivity narrative was the first best-selling novel in the new country,” Darcangelo said, sharing that Rowlandson’s husband was the first minister of the First Church of Lancaster and he is the 18th.
Darcangelo was born in Fitchburg and graduated from Fitchburg High School in 1987. He spent a number of years living in New York and Toronto “and traveling a lot as a singer” before moving back to his hometown in 2000 to continue his career from there. Retired from performing about 15 years ago, he has been the First Church of Lancaster minister since September of 2019 and lives in Fitchburg with his husband Jamie.
He has folded all 1,000 ornaments and been working on assembling them. Every holiday season for the next four years 250 ornaments will be available for purchase on the church’s website, FirstChurchLancasterMa.org, with 100% of the proceeds going to the sanctuary restoration fund. Each year the ornaments will have a tag with the church’s steeple and year engraved on them and the tassel color on them will change. This year is burgundy, next year will be green, then silver, and finally gold for the 375th anniversary year.
Last spring, Darcangelo challenged the church congregation to consider launching a full restoration campaign in time for the congregation’s, as well as the town’s, 375th anniversary in 2028. While this is the church’s fifth meetinghouse, the congregation itself has existed since the beginning of the founding of Lancaster in 1653.
Darcangelo reported that over 10 years ago, the exterior of the Bulfinch Meetinghouse was restored, including the steeple and the housing for the Revere Bell.
“Now it’s time to turn to the sanctuary,” he said.
When asked what the project will involve, he shared details and that at present, the estimated total cost of restoration is $1.25 million.
“Beautiful plaster work that needs some restoration as well as a lot of very expensive painting, plus a full restoration of all the sanctuary windows and a number of other projects that will help protect it for many decades into the future,” Darcangelo said.
They have sold approximately 50 origami peace crane ornaments so far and as they get closer to the holidays, orders have been picking up.
In other church news, an upcoming hand bell choir concert on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. titled ‘With Bell’s On!’ will feature the Pilgrim Bell Choir of Southborough led by Carla Mason and Wil and Jamie Darcangelo’s adopted daughter Lavender Darcangelo, who was a finalist on “America’s Got Talent” thanks to her beautiful singing voice.
“[It] is really going to be a beautiful experience,” Wil Darcangelo said, noting that the church has never held a concert with a bell choir before. “Hand bells first originated in England around the time that the Lancaster settlement was founded in the 17th century, so it feels particularly fitting to host such a group in our sanctuary.”
As for Lavender, she is “so excited to see what it’s like to sing live with real hand bells.”
“I’ve performed with so many different kinds of instruments before, but never ones with such a sound like this,” she said. “It’s like what singing in heaven must be like!”
Her father Wil Darcangelo said that while Lavender has sung in the church sanctuary before, this will be her first time as part of a concert performance as well as with hand bells.
“People can expect a moving experience of holiday music in an environment perfectly suited to the bells, both acoustically as well as historically,” he said of the weekend event. “I myself will make a small appearance with the bell choir as a ringer in one of their pieces. I have played hand bells a few times before in my career and once even as a child at Rollstone Congregational Church in Fitchburg when a group came to teach the members of the children’s choir how to play them.”
Tickets are $20 each, children 12 and under are free, and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time by visiting firstchurchlancasterma.org/events/with-bells-on.
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