Worldwide Candle Lighting Memorial Service
The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting on the 2nd Sunday in December unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon. As candles are lit on December 10th, 2023 at 7:00 pm local time, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon.
Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting (WCL), a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. TCF’s WCL started in the United States in 1997 as a small internet observance and has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held, and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes, as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died and will never be forgotten.
Add a Candle Lighting Program
IMPORTANT: If you attempt to submit your candle lighting service and we do not contact you or your service is not listed within 48 hours, please contact kathiek@compassionatefriends.org.
We also will be holding a virtual candle lighting for those who would prefer to attend virtually. We will have four programs in the
Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones.
Register below for your time zone.
Virtual Worldwide Candle Lighting
Every year you are invited to post a message in the Remembrance Book which will be available, during the event, at TCF’s national website. The Remembrance Book will be open to post a message Thursday, December 1st, through Friday, December 16th. Photos can be posted on our Worldwide Candle Lighting Facebook page.
The Compassionate Friends and allied organizations are joined by local bereavement groups, churches, funeral homes, hospitals, hospices, children’s gardens, schools, cemeteries, and community centers. Services have ranged in size from just a few people to nearly a thousand.
Click on your state below to view Worldwide Candle Lighting events in your area.
View International Countries
If you do not see a candle lighting program in your area, contact your local chapter to see if they are planning a program. Find a chapter.
Wisconsin
Madison
Madison Area Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 10, 2023 - 6:00 PM
- Location:
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
5701 Raymond Road, Madison, WI
- Highlights:
We will have about an hour program including songs, poems, a slide presentation, followed by candle lighting. Each person/family may come to the front, give their children, grandchildren, and sibling names and receive a candle. We will then ring the church holding our lit candles while a song is played.
- Bring:
Just themselves
- Special Events (before):
Receive a memento and a program before sitting down
- Special Events (after):
Just a sharing time with snacks
- Contact:
- Jim Nosal
- Telephone:
- 608-837-6556
- Email:
- jnosalmd@gmail.com
Madison
Madison Area Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 10, 2023 - 6 - 8 PM
- Location:
Good Sheperd Lutheran Church
5701 Raymond Road
Madison, Wisconsin 53711
- Highlights:
Program consists of poems, music, 2 candlelight ceremonies, along with slide show of our children, grandchildren, and siblings that have been submitted prior to the ceremony.
Photos should be submitted asap to assure they are included in the presentation. A special gift will be given to commemorating the occasion is given to each family.
- Bring:
Please bring a dish to share consisting of dessert treats, fruit or vegetable plate, or cheese and crackers with or without sausage, Bring enough for your family. Coffee, water, and apple cider are provided.
- Special Events (before):
None
- Special Events (after):
Soccial hour with food and drinks previously mentioned.
- Contact:
- Jim Nosal
- Telephone:
- 608-512-2223
- Email:
- jnosalmd@gmail.com
Dodgeville
TCF Dodgeville Area Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 10, 2023 - 6:00 PM
- Location:
327 N Iowa St, Dodgeville, WI 53533
- Highlights:
Poems, songs, photos of our children, grandchildren, and siblings with names. Our Dodgeville Chapter quilt with our children, grandchildren, and siblings’ photos will be on display.
- Bring:
Refreshments will be accepted, but not required.
- Special Events (before):
Sharing time prior to the event.
- Special Events (after):
Fellowship after the program, along with turkey and dressing sandwiches, chips, cookies, coffee, and punch.
- Contact:
- Julie Henneman
- Telephone:
- 608-604-1723 cell - 608-375-5185 home number
- Email:
- julie.henneman9@gmail.com
Milwaukee County
TCF Milwaukee County Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 10, 2023 - 6:45 PM
- Location:
Oak Creek Community Center; 8580 S. Howell Ave.; Oak Creek WI 53154-2921
- Highlights:
Readings; reading of children, grandchildren and sibling names by each participant. A remembrance candle to take home for each participant.
- Bring:
Pictures to display; 3-inch pictures to make photo buttons
- Special Events (before):
Doors open at 6:00 PM
- Contact:
- Tim and Mary Schum
- Telephone:
- 1-262-794-3063
- Email:
- timandmaryschum@sbcglobal.net
Clear Lake
TCF of Tri-County Area Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 10, 2023 - 6:30 PM
- Location:
Program held at First Lutheran Church 811 South Ave W. Clear Lake, WI
- Highlights:
Readings, special music, reading of children, grandchildren, and sibling names as candles are lit. Video of children, grandchildren, and siblings. Contact chapter to submit a photo for the video by Dec. 3.
Candles are provided for the candle lighting and are yours to take home after the program to use during the season.
- Bring:
Please bring a photo or remembrance of your children, grandchildren, and sibling for the memory table. You are welcome to bring a favorite holiday treat to share after the program, not required.
- Special Events (before):
The holiday tree of love and remembrance will be lit this night in the Clear Lake Main Street Park. To purchase bulbs in memory or honor of loved ones, contact chapter or see chapter webpage. This tree will shine during the holiday season to celebrate and remember all loved ones.
- Special Events (after):
We will have a time of sharing and fellowship after the program. Anyone wishing to bring a favorite holiday treat to share, is welcome to do so.
- Contact:
- Kathryn Wick
- Telephone:
- 715-491-3944 or 715-263-2739
- Email:
- bkwick@cltcomm.net
- Additional:
Please check webpage, e-mail, or call for weather concerns or cancellations.
Waukesha
Waukesha County Chapter
- Date & Time:
- December 10, 2023 - 7:00 PM
- Location:
Prairie Home Cemetery – Chapel and Children’s Memorial Garden 605 S Prairie Ave, Waukesha, WI 53186
This is an indoor/outdoor event so please dress for the weather.
- Highlights:
We will have a reading of children’, grandchildren, and sibling names and refreshments.
- Bring:
A picture of their beloved children, grandchildren, and siblings.
- Special Events (before):
We will gather in the chapel before the candlelighting.
- Special Events (after):
We will have refreshments in the chapel after the outdoor candlelighting.
- Contact:
- Melissa Varela
- Telephone:
- 602-571-3431
- Email:
- tcfwaukeshacountyo@gmail.com