Angels Have Taken Sanctuary in a Former Church

BELOIT, Wis. —  A small museum that sits on the banks of the Rock River in southern Wisconsin is a heavenly spot for angel lovers.

The Beloit Angel Museum features more than 7,500 angel statues displayed wing to wing in a former Roman Catholic church that was spared destruction so it could house the figures.

There are angels made of resin, porcelain, drinking straws, pasta, coal, tin, ceramic, wood, papier-mache, stained glass, pine cones, cornhusks, wax, clothes pins and seal skin. One was made from a dried apple.

There’s a firefighter angel, a hunter, nurse, pilot, doctor, bride and groom. One angel is tipsy; another is a bobble-head doll. Some pose with devils.

Others double as bells, candles, candle holders, vases, smoke alarms, coasters, lipstick holders, pencil sharpeners, and salt and pepper shakers.

The display has made the Guinness Book of Records and includes angels from around the globe: Oprah Winfrey donated a collection of black angels.

In a sense, the angels saved the 98-year-old building where they are housed from being demolished.

“What I believe in my heart is the collection happened, the museum happened, and it was something that was supposed to happen,” said Joyce Berg, 71, who started the collection with her husband, Lowell, in 1976.

Their first two angels came from a Florida antiques store.

“As we got involved, it snowballed. They just were so sweet, and we got caught up in the many, many different kinds there were,” Joyce Berg said. “It became a passion, and it became our hobby.”

The couple used to take about three vacations a year and would buy angels as souvenirs from angel conventions, antiques malls or flea markets. They once came home with 165 angels.

The entire collection originally was displayed in their four-bedroom ranch house in Beloit, about 65 miles southwest of Milwaukee, but eventually the Bergs had to remove doors and install shelves to display all the figures.

In July 1994, while out driving, they noticed St. Paul Catholic Church along the Rock River.

“When we drove past, the doors were open.... The sun was shining right on them. It was like they jumped right out because they were so noticeable,” Joyce Berg said.

The parish had been closed in 1988 after the death of its longtime pastor, and the Bergs learned that the church was scheduled to be demolished in eight months if it wasn’t put to good use. The Bergs contacted former parishioners, and submitted a museum plan to city officials, who approved it.

The church, now a historical landmark, was renovated with community development block grants, fund-raisers and volunteer help. The city owns the church and charges the museum $1 a year for rent.

The museum opened May 1, 1998, and more than 54,000 visitors have passed through its doors since.

Joyce Berg said she didn’t start collecting angels because of religious beliefs.

“What I hope [people] get out of it is the pleasure and the peaceful feeling and the enjoyment,” Berg said. “But I do know ... for a lot of people it is a religious experience.”