It is a serene moment in the Ironton holiday season.

The annual Candlelight Christmas Tour of Churches will be 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4.

The tour is sponsored each year by the Lawrence County Historical Society. The tour begins at First Baptist Church, Fifth and Vernon streets.

Historical society members, dressed in period costumes, then lead the way along candle-lit streets to six other local churches:

Christ Episcopal, First Methodist, First Presbyterian, St. Lawrence O'Toole, St. Paul Lutheran and Gateway Baptist.

"There's a wonderful Christmas spirit," tour committee co-chair Debbie Rogers said. "It kind of kicks off the holiday season, being outside, walking by candlelight to the different churches."

It is also a lesson in history. "Most of the churches were built in the 1800s

and many of Ironton's founding families worshipped at these churches," Rogers explained.

Rogers said a brass band from Ohio University Southern may play at different locations along the tour route if weather permits.

The entire tour takes approximately two hours. It ends with a reception at the Lawrence County Historical Museum.