George Whitefield made five successful itinerant preaching tours throughout colonial New England, during which he was both appreciated and unwelcomed. Whitefield shook colonial New England, as a blessing to some and as a curse to others. George Whitefield’s Ministry, written by Kenneth Lawson, is a travelogue of Whitefield’s incessant activities to the Puritan and post-Puritan communities. Much of the eyewitness material in this book has never been collected in one place.
By digging deeply into the daily life and travels of Whitefield—through his journals, his correspondence, and hundreds of previously uncollected eyewitness accounts—we discover Whitefield as a man steadfast in his faith and life, regardless of the waves of opposition he faced in New England. His fidelity to the Gospel and his support of revival are an inspiration to contemporary Christianity.

 

Advance Praise for George Whitefield’s Ministry in New England, 1740-1770

Dr. Lawson has been a specialist in New England history for many years. This latest book, George Whitefield’s Ministry in New England, 1740–1770, is not only informative but inspiring and encouraging. Whitefield was England’s and New England’s greatest itinerant evangelist. He was the voice of America’s First Great Awakening. Dr. Lawson takes the reader on a treasure trove travelogue of day-by-day excursions on evangelist George Whitefield’s travels, providing illustrations for a wide array of topics that can make one wise. I highly commend it.
Dr. David Beale
Professor of Church History, Bob Jones Seminary (retired)

I, like many others, have been inspired and encouraged by the life and ministry of the Rev. George Whitefield. While most works give a panoramic picture of Whitefield’s ministry, Lawson’s contribution is its focus on Whitefield’s ministry in New England. It zooms in and gives wonderful detail to this important part of Whitefield’s portrait. His work excels in giving the reader the background of the churches, towns, ministers, and citizens touched by the evangelist’s life. The generous addition of illustrations and maps gives the reader the experience of traveling along with Whitefield from town to town, watching the powerful work of God unfold before your very eyes.
Timothy Witmer
Adjunct professor, Westminster Theological Seminary

If there was one book I would recommend on the life and work of George Whitefield, this is it. Ken Lawson not only grew up in the area where Whitefield ministered, but he visited most places to research his book. Through meticulous records of Whitefield’s various preaching venues, the reader can only be awed by the number of places and the number of people throughout the Eastern Seaboard of the American Colonies who heard and heeded the call to repent and trust Christ from the pulpit of a true servant of the Living God. While we know of the places where Whitefield preached, this work goes one step further and shows how the Spirit of God used Whitefield to change lives which in turn changed the course of an entire country. In short, it is a magnificent work testifying of how God used this man.
Dr. Bob Freiberg
Adjunct professor, Southern California Seminary (retired)

This comprehensive and engaging work by Dr. Ken Lawson is the culmination of his lifelong interest for the most famous evangelist of America’s First Great Awakening, George Whitefield. No one has studied Whitefield more carefully nor described his New England itineracy more graphically than Lawson. The stirring accounts of revival in the pages of this exceptional work challenge those of us who appreciate them to believe that, even in the darkest of times the gospel of Christ still has the illimitable power to transform lives. I highly recommend this book.
Dr. Gerald L. Priest
Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary (retired)

This picturesque account of Whitefield’s ministry is well laid out by Dr. Ken Lawson. It coincides with the diary and correspondence of the evangelist, yet it reads like a novel. The well documented research is evident throughout the book and creates a travelogue that meanders through the colonial New England countryside as a practical geography lesson as well as an insightful theology and denominational tutorial of the times.
Tim Rowe
Vice President for Academics, Appalachian Bible College

Ken Lawson’s George Whitefield’s Ministry in New England, 1740-1770 is a scholarly and readable chronicle of an important segment of the towering evangelist’s ministry during America’s First Great Awakening and beyond. Beginning students of Whitefield’s life will find an inspiring introduction. Scholars will encounter material long overlooked or previously hidden regarding Whitefield’s ministry in New England. Lovers of gospel evangelism and students of early American history will appreciate having this valuable study in their libraries.
Dr. Peter A. Lillback
President, Westminster Theological Seminary

Two hundred eighty-five years ago George Whitefield preached his first public sermon at age twenty-two, the beginning of a phenomenal gospel ministry stewardship. Ken Lawson has struck the right cultural and historical contextual balance in his book, George Whitefield’s Ministry in New England, 1740-1770. From New Haven, CT, Newport, RI, Boston, MA, to Portsmouth NH, and way beyond, Lawson poignantly and historically documents in detail the timely ministry successes of this incredible man and his impact on New England. In a day when sermons were often boringly read, Whitefield extemporaneously and passionately preached to tens of thousands at one time, numerous times, exalting Christ, and calling for repentance, faith, and obedience. A great read—this book is filled with wonderful examples of God’s salvific work in New England through George Whitefield!
Dr. (Chaplain) Steven D. Brown
President, Associated Gospel Churches

This new volume by Kenneth Lawson breaks new ground by focusing on one key geographical region that was profoundly impacted by Whitefield’s ministry, namely, New England. Drawing upon a veritable host of primary sources, Lawson minutely details, often day by day, the course of Whitefield’s labours as well as the results of his preaching in the lives of his hearers. This is local history on a grand scale! I warmly recommend it for anyone interested in Whitefield, or the Great Awakening in New England, or the power of the Gospel to reshape a people and their world.
Michael A.G. Haykin
Chair & professor of church history, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Dr. Ken Lawson has written a definitive account of the travels of the Rev. George Whitefield with special emphasis on Whitefield’s evangelical preaching in New England during the Great Awakening. Dr. Lawson’s prodigious research, resulting in thirty-nine chapters with 1,552 footnotes, and enhanced by numerous previously unpublished primary sources and pictorial illustrations, make his work rise above the level of earlier Whitefield biographers. Lawson does not limit his range just to Whitefield’s evangelical missions. He also includes much of the historical context for Whitefield’s journeys, depicting the history of New England as a whole, comprising the settlements, economy, churches, colleges, and intellectual currents of the time. Nor does Lawson shy away from the occasional opposition Whitefield encountered during his ministry from Unitarians, Anglicans, Congregationalists, and Puritan theologians alike. Yet the quality that shines through Whitefield’s life is his total dedication to the proclamation of salvation through the new birth in Christ. I would recommend Dr. Lawson’s book unreservedly for all serious students of the Great Awakening in American history.
Dr. John Wesley Brinsfield
Adjunct professor, Wesley Theological Seminary