On Easter Day 2026 the life and ministry of mid-18th century English evangelist George Whitefield is coming to the big screen across the United States. A feature film titled the A Great Awakening is opening at Easter in theaters across the country. A tag line for the film calls it the “Revolution before the Revolution,” that is the Revolutionary War. The heart of A Great Awakening is the close friendship and working relationship between renowned American inventor, printer, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin and the English mid-18th century evangelist George Whitefield. The circulation of Franklin’s Philadelphia newspaper barely made him a living until he discovered Whitefield and successfully bid to publish his sermons. The paper flourished, as did the popularity of Whitefield. It is said that Whitefield’s evangelical tours up and down the 13 British American colonies for the first time gave the colonies, in a big way, a vision of joining forces and becoming a nation free from the colonial rule of Great Britain.
In late October 2019 I guided a tour bus full of friends mostly from Hawai‘i on a visit to the Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, Mass. Inside this historic church in this scenic port town on the Merrimack River, in a crypt one floor below the pulpit, lies the remains of evangelist George Whitefield.
Adding a Whitefield stop was a wild card in the tour route of the Hana Hou New England tour, led by Dave and Cheryl Buehring. The tour joined a group from Kawaihao Church in Honolulu, Hawai‘i missionary descendants from the Hawaiian Mission Houses, and many others with Hawai‘i ties at the Bicentennial of the departure of the Sandwich Islands Mission to Hawai‘i. This was held at Park Street Church in Boston in late October 2019.
Following the services at Park Street and the Long Wharf in Boston, where the pioneer Sandwich Islands Mission Company departed to board the brig Thaddeus, we took off amidst the glorious fall leaves of New England. We soon arrived in Cornwall, Ct. to visit the grave of Henry Obookiah-‘Ōpūkaha‘ia; to Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass. to pray at the missionary rock along the shore of Rabbit Pond; and more stops with ties to the Hawai‘i Mission in New England.
I felt led to give our Hawai‘i-focused tour group a look at a couple key sites of American history, though ones with background ties to the Hawai‘i missionary events. I added Plymouth Rock and the National Monument to the Forefathers as a stop. Focusing on a George Whitefield stop seemed a bit out of our realm, but I sensed we should add Old South to our itinerary. I am thankful Dave Buehring went along with my instinct. Now with A Great Awakening being released George Whitefield is becoming an even more iconic figure in the history of American Christianity. Whitefield, well before the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, had a vision that God had big plans in his Providence for the American colonies. Whitefield died in 1770 in a home directly behind the Old South Church
Below are photos of highlights of our visit to Old South Church.
The crypt of George Whitefield in the basement of the Old South Church in Newburyport, Mass. This Whitefield grave is a pilgrimage place for Christians visiting New England. The church tour guide offers a comprehensive and informed narrative about Whitefield, one of the best of its kind I’ve found in all New England.
At 2019 visit to Old South Church: Chris Cook (left) with filmmakers Michael and Shari Leinau of Global Net Productions in Seattle, and Jeff Rogers from the University of the Nations in Kailua-Kona Hawai‘i. Paul Revere cast the church’s bell. This photo is taken from the peak of the church’s steeple.