The Future of St. Lukes

On November 25, 2024 I was named Interim Executive Director of St Luke’s Historic Church & Museum. It has been quite a journey from a periodic Docent to Executive Director in the span of just shy of 12 years. During this time it has been my privilege to research the history, share stories with the public, present lectures on the early American religious experience, direct our special events, and witness weddings, funerals, and other dramatic moments in the lives of those connected to our site. What I’m most excited about, however, is the future. 

We are about to launch a self-guided tour on April 17, 2025. This will be in concert with the Bloomberg Connects App. The Bloomberg Foundation created the Connects App to give visitors a kind of behind the scenes experience at cultural institutions around the world. They offer this service free to both the public and the institutions that utilize it. Over 750 partner organizations, including Monticello and the Chrysler Museum, have joined. 

In April, there will be two ways to access St. Luke’s content. The Bloomberg App can be downloaded to your phone or tablet and be accessed anywhere. Additionally, while on site, you will be able to use QR codes to go directly to our content. We recommend downloading the App for the best experience on and off site. 

This new venture will allow us to increase the accessibility of our tour as it can be experienced in 42 different languages. The app will also have video content from experts from around the Hampton Roads Community and beyond to share the broad history of the Colonial period. The cost of the self-guided tour will be $5. Group tours at the same rate for 10 or more people will still be available through advanced registration, you can contact me at [email protected] and schedule a guided tour. 

We will also be expanding our Volunteer program. We have opportunities that include research, artifact curation, self-guided tours and shop assistance, and more. We will hold a Volunteer Open House on February 8 or 22. You can register here for that event: https://stlukesmuseum.org/events/volunteer-open-house/ 

Finally, I want to talk about the nature of who we are at St Luke’s. St Luke’s is many things to many people. We are Virginia’s oldest, continuous cemetery and many have honored us by purchasing plots in our ancient and memorial park cemeteries.  In addition to being a premier wedding venue, our site holds historical significance for local congregations. Christ Episcopal Church in Smithfield continues to worship in the ‘Old Brick Church’ on fifth Sundays. So, for many it is a sacred site. 

Like all historic sites, the history is messy. While we have many inspiring stories to tell, there are also challenging aspects of our history that we openly share. Indeed, St Luke’s is many things and we wish to incorporate all of those different aspects into our interpretation and our guest experience. This year we will host an Episcopal Open House on May 31, 2025 to talk about the notion of sacred spaces and to share stories of what this place has meant to generations of Isle of Wight residents and beyond. We will invite you to bring photographs and other memorabilia of St Luke’s or other sacred sites that are meaningful to you. It will be a time to celebrate and give thanks for places that enrich our lives. We will have registration for this event on our website shortly. 

2025 will be an exciting year for us as our nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. We will share stories about Newport Parish’s role during that pivotal time in history, along with the 17th-century origins of the conflict. Those commemorations will continue into next year and beyond. 

We hope you will continue to generously support our mission to preserve and protect this site and its history. To all of you who continue to support us, we offer our sincere thanks. You are the lifeblood of St. Luke’s!