Candlelight History

Songs and Stories of A Civil War Hospital seeks to tell the authentic history of a Civil War Hospital in its original setting: Christ Lutheran Church.

Candlelight was initiated in 1999, and is beginning its eighth season on June 23. It has been presented seven consecutive Saturday evenings each summer since 1999, except for 2004 when the church was undergoing restoration and renovation. Since inception, more than 6,000 people have attended Candlelight at Christ Church.

A typical Candlelight evening begins at 7:30 PM with music on the church steps (weather permitting) followed by the main program in the church nave at 8:00 PM.

The main program includes: a violin prelude, welcoming comments, a brief church history, accounts of Chaplain Howell's death and Old Liz's escape into the church bell tower, first-hand accounts of the Christ Church hospital as told by a wounded soldier and a care-giving nurse, Civil War poetry by Walt Whitman, passages from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, and music by local musicians.