Home Moravian Church Candle Tea - 2024

Ticket purchases are non-refundable. See information about weather cancellation below. If you make a mistake or have other questions about your reservation, please email us at info@candletea.org.

Arrive 15 minutes prior to your ticketed time to allow time to check in with the guide at the front door of the Single Brothers’ House for the Regular Tea and the back door for School and Scout Groups.

Have your ticket confirmation email or driver’s license to verify ID of purchaser of (group) ticket.

A time-ticketed group of 26 individuals is admitted every 15 minutes. Latecomers cannot be accommodated so please plan accordingly to park and get to the entrance on time. Admissions are strictly limited by Fire Code. There will be very limited availability for walk-up admissions, and walk-ups should be prepared to wait. Due to Fire Code limits, walk-ups are not guaranteed admission; however, we will do our best to accommodate you and your group may be split up. No admissions will be added after the last admission time for that day.

Regular Candle Tea Reservations

These are full-length tours that include an introduction, carol singing in the saal accompanied by the 1787 pipe organ, candle-making demonstration with opportunity to purchase, the historic kitchen with coffee and sugar cake, the Putz (miniature historic Salem scene) and the Nativity. Total time approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. Admission for Regular Tea:

• General admission, $9
• Children 3-12, $5
• Children 3 and under, free (no ticket required)

Dates and Start Times

• Wednesday: Dec. 4, 1-8:30 p.m.
• Thursday and Friday, Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 12-13, 1-8:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Dec. 7* and Dec. 14, 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

*Special Note: Saturday, Dec 7th, the Winston-Salem Christmas Parade is being held, which can cause major traffic back-ups with early street closings, even on alternative routes. Please allow extra time driving to Old Salem that day to accommodate your ticketed entry time.

Note About Handicap Accessibility: The Single Brother’s House is NOT handicapped accessible. It is a designated Historic Building and does not have an elevator. There are steps leading up to the front door and at the rear entrance. There are three steep flights of stairs to go up and down during your tour. Baby strollers must be left in the entrance room and retrieved at the end of your tour.

Candle Tea is not responsible for accidents or incidents beyond our control. Candle Tea follows the inclement weather policy of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School system. Should school be cancelled or dismissed early due to bad weather, Candle Tea will also close for the rest of the day and evening. If bad weather is predicted or occurs on one of the two Saturday’s, information about the closing will be posted on this website and social media. If Candle Tea is closed due to weather, ticket holders will be notified about their options at that point.

Old Salem: Tours of Old Salem, including their tour of the Single Brother’s House are handled by Old Salem, Inc. and are completely separate from the Candle Tea. To schedule an Old Salem tour on the same day you visit Candle Tea, contact Old Salem at Visit the Old Salem website, or call 336-721-7350. Please note there are different unloading places for Candle Tea and for tours of Old Salem.

Click here to make your Candle Tea reservations.

Candle Tea is held in the Single Brothers’ House (SBH), 600 S. Main St., at the corner of South Main and Academy Streets. Passenger unloading / loading is not permitted on Academy Street next to the SBH. The general public enters the tour from the South Main Street entrance. School and Scout groups enter from the back. Please look for signs to bus and car parking areas.

Public parking is available on streets in Old Salem and in the lot bounded by Salt Street, West Street and Old Salem Road.

Additional parking may be available in the grass lot on Academy Street just across Old Salem Road from Old Salem.

Parking for Old Salem visitors is available in the Visitor Center lot off Old Salem Road. Main Street between Academy and West streets is closed to traffic during Candle Tea.

Public restrooms are available in the Visitor Center, behind the Boys School at Academy and Main streets, and behind the Muddy Creek Cafe off West Street just below Main. There are NO public restrooms in the Single Brothers House.

For more information email us or call 336-749-9463.

Every year proceeds from Candle Tea are donated to various ministries and organizations. The following is a list of the recipients of 2023’s disbursements.

WORLD MISSION

• Board of World Mission: “Blessings Flow” water project, Star Mount, Spanish language theological training, medical scholarship, Tanzania Province Leadership seminar
• Unity Women’s Desk: Scholarship Funds
• Jan Blashoslav High School: New high school established by Czech Province of Moravian Church
• Home Moravian Church Mission Team: Sarah Madeba in Kenya-2nd year tuition sponsorship for Masters in Education

PROVINCIAL SERVICE

• Archives/Moravian Church/American Southern Province: Inventory intern for audiovisual materials
• Commission on Congregational Development/Moravian Church Southern Province
• 2024 Moravian Children’s Festival: Funds to help with the cost of the festival where children and their families learn about Moravian history
• Laurel Ridge: Campership fund
• Salemtowne: Financial assistance to Endowment Fund
• Sunnyside Ministries: Budget

MORAVIAN PROGRAMS

• Albania: Home Moravian Church Albania Act – Bathone project
• Estamos Unidos Moravian Ministry: For general purposes
• Friends of Moravian Prison Ministry: Financial assistance, Chaplain’s salary, benefits
• Home Moravian Church Youth: Home Moravian Church Campership account for Mission Camp at Laurel Ridge
• Moravian Music Foundation: Artist in Residency program- 2024 season
• Moravian Theological Seminary: Financial aid fund
• Salem Academy: Student assistance fund
• Salem College: Student assistance fund, Women’s Fellowship Scholarship fund, Religious Study
• Wachovia Gardens: Use where needed

COMMUNITY

• A Bed and A Book: New beds & age-appropriate books for children ages 0-10 who are sleeping on the floor
• Book Babies and Imprints Cares: Guidance, support, and resource for parents/children on the parenting journey of their young children
• Center for Exceptional Dwellings: Help with the physical needs of the homeless
• Crisis Control Ministry: Food distribution center
• Diggs-Lathan Elementary School: Home Moravian Church-5th Grade graduation reception
• East Stokes Outreach: Use where most needed
• Enrichment Center: Empowering individuals with disabilities
• Family Support Network: Chat and Snack program, meals to families of children in NICU of both hospitals
• Flourish – The Shalom Project: Weekly classes for women trying to get out of the poverty cycle
• Forsyth County Detention Center: Much-needed undergarments for incarcerated women
• Forsyth Humane Society: Use for vet bills or help with adoption costs for low-income individuals
• GreeNest: Help people in the community to achieve goals of sustainable housing
• iCan House: Support for individuals with social challenges
• Mission: Feet First: New/like new running shoes for the homeless or where most needed
• Old Salem Museum and Gardens: A thank you for assisting with the 2023 Candle Tea and ongoing support of the mission and benevolent outreach of the Tea
• On Wings Like A Dove: Christ-centered ministry for loved ones of prodigals and prisoners
• Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center: Assistance for the equine programs
• SECU Family House: Family Assistance fund
• Second Harvest Food Bank: Emergency food distribution
• Senior Services: Meals on Wheels – meals for homebound seniors
• Shepherd’s Center: Home repair supplies for aging adults
• The Dwelling: Provide help with the spiritual needs of the homeless
• Winston-Salem Freedom School: Help students with reading, learning attitudes and increase self-esteem
• Winston-Salem Street School: Help students struggling in traditional schools, help them earn accredited high school diplomas, and gain skills and tools for education
• Winston-Salem Rescue Mission: Christ-centered service ministry – recovery programs for men with food, shelter, work training, etc

Guests of all ages delight in seeing the Candle Tea Putz (pronounced “puts”). A –  Putz from the German word putzen, meaning “to decorate” – is any scene created around a Nativity scene and is a traditional Christmas decoration for both early and modern Moravians.

The Candle Tea Putz is displayed in two parts. The first is a 30-foot-long replica in miniature of the town of Salem as it looked more than a century ago on a snowy Christmas Eve. The small buildings and houses are made of balsa wood and cardboard, constructed to scale, and painted to look like the real structures in Salem. The snow-covered scene is complete with small lights glowing through tiny windows and street lamps. The snow is created from marble dust sprinkled over the trees, houses, and vehicles. Throughout the town, small figures are busy taking laundry off the line, chopping firewood and running the water wheel at the mill. Small figures of deer and cows are seen in unusual places.

The second part of the Candle Tea Putz is the Nativity scene. Guests view the Nativity, graced with large hand-carved figures made in Germany and donated to the Candle Tea in 1961, as the Christmas Story is read from scripture. Each scene in the story is lighted separately.

For more information, email us or call 336-749-9463.

We look forward to seeing you at Candle Tea!