Peace Cranes Ministry
In 2014 the First Congregational Church UCC of Santa Barbara received a “flock” of 1,000 origami Cranes of Peace following a shooting in Isla Vista that killed several UCSB students and community members. The Peace Cranes were sent from Newtown UCC
in Newtown Connecticut.
This flock of Peace Cranes had been created by the members of the Saron UCC in Sheboygan Wisconsin to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Hearing of a shooting at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio the flock of cranes was sent to Pilgrim Christian Church UCC of Chardon. Following the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown the cranes were received by the Newtown UCC.
The flock of Peace Cranes from Newtown was hung prominently in the FCC sanctuary inspiring continuous prayers for peace and freedom from violence in communities throughout our country.
Sadly, it was not long before a shooting took place at Pilchick High School in Marysville, WA. The flock of cranes we had received was sent on to the nearest UCC church at Everett, WA.
Members of FCC, having reflected on the tradition and the meaning of the origami Peace Crane as an international symbol of peace, learned to fold the cranes to create another flock or Senbazuru. Our first FCC-made flock was sent to Emanuel AME Church in Charleston SC after a Bible Study was interrupted by fatal gun shots in 2015.
And we continued to fold and fold paper cranes for peace, inspired by the life story of a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki who reportedly wrote these words as she folded 1,000 cranes, “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.”
The 1,000 Peace Crane flocks (Senbazuru) folded by our congregation have “flown” to nine UCC churches in communities where mass shootings have taken place, as well as
a flock presented to the First Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Santa Barbara following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia forces in 2022.