Lancaster church launching ‘Love your neighbor’ campaign

LANCASTER — The Justice League of First Church in Lancaster will officially launch its “375+ Love Your Neighbor Signs” campaign at the 50th anniversary of the Horse Shed Fair on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. The first 50 signs will be available at the fair on a first-come, first-served basis.

By the time 2028 arrives, the Justice League, a social justice ministry of First Church, hopes residents driving through Lancaster and surrounding communities will encounter a particular message again and again on bright yellow signs: “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.”

The campaign aims to manufacture and distribute at least 375 lawn signs free of charge throughout the region in anticipation of the 375th anniversary of both the Lancaster settlement and the founding of its first congregation in 1653. Organizers hope to distribute many more.

The campaign is beginning well ahead of the anniversary so that by the start of 2028, the signs will already be a familiar sight—in front yards, gardens, businesses and other properties throughout the area.

Each sign will be individually numbered as part of the 375+ campaign, but the signs are not advertisements for First Church. They are not intended to promote the congregation or attract members. The message is simply: “Love Your Neighbor.”

The project represents the congregation’s desire to offer something constructive and healing to the wider community—a small public balm in troubled and divisive times.

Made from bright yellow, all-weather corrugated plastic, the signs are designed to remain outdoors for several years. They intentionally use the same materials and familiar format as political lawn signs.

That choice is part of the message.

The project began with several dozen “Love Your Neighbor” signs individually hand-painted on discarded political campaign signs donated to the church. As interest grew, the Justice League decided to have the signs professionally manufactured while retaining their political-sign format.

The transformation reflects the Justice League’s larger mission: taking an object frequently associated with what divides neighbors politically and using that same public space to declare a value capable of uniting them.

“At a time when so much of our public landscape tells us which side someone is on, we wondered what it might look like to fill that same landscape with a value we can share,” said Rev. Wil Darcangelo, minister of First Church in Lancaster. “You don’t have to vote like your neighbor, worship like your neighbor, love like your neighbor, or see the world exactly as your neighbor does in order to recognize that they are still your neighbor.”

The number 375 connects the project to an important milestone in local history. Lancaster and its first congregation both trace their beginnings to 1653 and will commemorate 375 years in 2028.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established to fund the manufacture and distribution of the signs. Because the project is supported through donations, the signs will be offered free of charge. Individuals, families, businesses and community organizations may contribute whether or not they request a sign themselves.

“We would be delighted to lose count,” Darcangelo said. “The point isn’t to put First Church’s name everywhere. In fact, it isn’t on the signs at all. The point is to put ‘Love Your Neighbor’ everywhere. We want to do our small part to be a balm in troubled times and to remind ourselves and one another that whatever else may distinguish us, we still belong to one another.”

The Justice League is a social justice ministry of First Church in Lancaster, Unitarian Universalist. Its work seeks to foster human dignity, justice, compassion and right relationship within the congregation and wider community.

First Church in Lancaster was established in 1653 and gathers in the historic Bulfinch Meetinghouse at 725 Main Street in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

To contribute to the 375+ Love Your Neighbor Signs campaign visit their GoFundMe page: gofund.me/6ddb93012 or to request a free sign: [email protected]

-Wil Darcangelo