Upcoming Events
Be sure to check back often as we add more events and details.
Saturday, 06/06/2026
1:00 pm
Divided over the Declaration – Lecture by Tony Williams
On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence comes a gripping chronicle of America’s fiercest ideological debates over the document’s true meaning. Involving the founders, enslaved people, suffragists, civil-rights leaders, and more, this enduring battle has both tested and reaffirmed the unifying principles that continue to shape and define our democracy. Long time friend of St Luke’s, Tony Williams, will present on his latest work and be available for book signings afterward.
This event is free, and advanced registration is required.
Saturday, 06/20/2026
10:00 am
Cemetery Preservation Workshop
Join St. Luke’s Staff as we get our hands dirty. The Cemetery Preservation Workshop is a free program designed to educate volunteers on the necessary training needed to safely preserve and protect historic tombstones and markers. This program promotes engagement and preservation of the church cemetery through education and practical experience. Equipment and refreshments are provided.
This event is free, and advanced registration is required.
Saturday, 06/27/2026
1:00 pm
Rainbow Productions Presents: Footsteps in History
Join us for a puppet show featuring Rainbow Puppet Productions celebrating America’s 250th birthday!
In 1607, Pocahontas and Powhatan see strangers entering the land of their ancestors. Those strangers include Captain Christopher Newport and John Smith who set sail from England searching for riches and adventure. What emerges is a new nation that struggled to find freedom and opportunity for all people.
George Washington wins the Revolutionary War in Yorktown and a new nation is born. Patrick Henry asks for “Liberty or Death” but it will take another battle to free all Americans.
As the Civil War ends, Mary Peake teaches enslaved people to read under an oak tree where Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is read and Hampton University is later built.
America expands with railroads crossing from one end of the country to another. Collis P. Huntington encourages us to build ships which will connect America to the rest of the world. We finally explore space and plant a flag on the moon.
The entire show is filled with dance, music, and lots of audience participation.
The U.S. Army TRADOC Band performs several traditional musical selections in this show.
This event is free, and advanced registration is required.
Wednesday, 07/01/2026
12:00 pm
Summer Series Part II: A World in Motion: Indigenous Nations and the American Revolution
Speaker John Ericson, Executive Director and Site Historian
For Indigenous nations, the Revolution was not primarily a fight over abstract political rights, but a battle for land, sovereignty, and survival — often seeing the Crown as a more reliable counterweight to colonial expansion.
Saturday, 07/11/2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Volunteer Open House
Volunteers have always been the heart and soul of St Luke’s Historic Church & Museum and we have many areas of service that are possible.
These include Docents, Genealogists, Gift Shop Assistants, Collections & Archive management, and more. Join us for an open house on Saturday, July 11, where we’ll explore these opportunities and connect over the areas you’re most passionate about. A light lunch will be provided at the conclusion of the meeting. Register today!
Wednesday, 08/05/2026
12:00 pm
Summer Series Part III: Revolution from Below: Debtors, the Landless, and the Common People
Speaker John Ericson, Executive Director and Site Historian
Much of the Revolution’s radical energy came not from elites but from ordinary people who were crushed by debt, taxation, and land scarcity. Understanding this reveals the Revolution as a social, as well as a political, upheaval.
Saturday, 08/22/2026
10:00 am
Cemetery Preservation Workshop
Join St. Luke’s Staff as we get our hands dirty. The Cemetery Preservation Workshop is a free program designed to educate volunteers on the necessary training needed to safely preserve and protect historic tombstones and markers. This program promotes engagement and preservation of the church cemetery through education and practical experience. Equipment and refreshments are provided.
This event is free, and advanced registration is required.
Saturday, 09/12/2026 9 am to 5 pm
Sunday 09/13/2026 10 am to 3 pm
BORN FROM CONFLICT: a 17th-Century Living History Event at St. Luke’s Historic Church & Museum
Each year in early September, traditionally the first weekend after Labor Day, St. Luke’s Historic Church & Museum hosts an immersive 17th-century living history event that transports visitors back into the world of early colonial Virginia. This family-friendly program brings history to life through interactive experiences and demonstrations that highlight the culture, daily life, and complex history of the 1600s in the Isle of Wight region. St Luke’s Church and Museum will host 17th century Music Performances as well as Lectures by renowned archeologists and historians.
During the event, historical interpreters and reenactors portray craftspeople, settlers, and other figures from the century, demonstrating traditional skills like dancing, cooking over open hearths, ironworking, brickmaking, and other trades that shaped early Virginia life. Visitors stroll the historic grounds, interact with interpreters, and gain hands-on insight into how people lived, worked, and worshiped more than 300 years ago.
Links for Guest Registration will be shared soon.
This Event is Free to all but guest registration and check in is required.
Seating is limited for lectures and performances inside the Old Brick Church and individual registration is required for those free events as well.
If you would like more information on how to participate as an interpreter, performer or lecturer please email [email protected].
Amy Stallings: a 17th-Century Living History Presentation
This Event is Free to all but guest registration and check in is required.
Saturday, 09/26/2026
10:00 am
Cemetery Preservation Workshop
Join St. Luke’s Staff as we get our hands dirty. The Cemetery Preservation Workshop is a free program designed to educate volunteers on the necessary training needed to safely preserve and protect historic tombstones and markers. This program promotes engagement and preservation of the church cemetery through education and practical experience. Equipment and refreshments are provided.
This event is free, and advanced registration is required.
Saturday, 11/14/2026
1:00 pm
Reading the Land: Nat Turner’s Prophetic Geography and the Landscape of Rebellion
Lecture presented by Dr. Shana L. Haines
On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led the deadliest slave rebellion in American history. The standard accounts tell us when and what happened. This talk asks a different question: how did Turner know it was time? Drawing on Turner’s own account of visions, atmospheric signs, and sacred places, Dr. Shana Haines examines the landscape of the rebellion as a prophetic text — one rooted in both evangelical Christianity and African spiritual traditions that never fully disappeared. By reading Southampton County’s geography alongside Turner’s theology, this talk offers a new interpretive framework for understanding one of the most studied and least understood events in American history.
Help us continue offering free programming with a $5 donation! Your support helps fund future educational programs and preservation efforts at our National Historical Site.
This event is free, and advanced registration is required.