Gettysburg United Methodist Church will be offering “A Divine Civil War Service” at the Gettysburg National Military Park Amphitheater on East Confederate Avenue on Sunday, September 5 at 8 a.m., and the same church service at 30 W. High St. at 10 am. : 30 am The 8 a.m. service is one of a series of summer Sunday services sponsored by the Gettysburg Area Ministerium at the amphitheater.
The one-hour non-denominational worship service will be chaired by Rev. Dr. Nancy Hale, pastor of the Bald Eagle Valley community and the United Methodist churches of Milesburg, located near State College, Pennsylvania.
Hale is a Civil War reenactor chaplain and the author of “Faith and Duty,” a novel about a chaplain serving during the American Civil War. According to Hale, “The chaplain in my story is a Union captain from New York State who struggles to reconcile his faith with his sense of duty to his nation and the men of his regiment, a struggle to which many chaplains and soldiers face in the war between the states.
Hale has a lifelong interest in the Battle of Gettysburg and Gettysburg National Military Park, and has several ancestors who were Union veterans. At morning services, she plans to deliver an energetic sermon encouraging strength, bravery, sacrifice, and faith.
Tom Fontana, a resident of Gettysburg, will lead the singing of traditional Civil War-era hymns, which will include “God Bless Our Native Land,” “Nearer My God To Thee,” “Faith of Our Fathers” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic. “
Reverend Rick Smith, pastor of Gettysburg United Methodist Church, will host both services and invite the public and all congregants to attend.
Donations of free will in the service of the 8 o’clock Amphitheater will benefit the Gettysburg Ministry. For more information, call The Gettysburg United Methodist Church at 717-334-3032.