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Whitefield Chapel At Bethesda
The Whitefield Chapel at Bethesda was built in 1740 by Rev George Whitefield, Bethesda’s founder. To this day it has the original wooden pews and brick flooring. In 1738 Rev. Whitefield visited Savannah with his life-long friend, James Habersham, at the request of James Oglethorpe and Ministers John and Charles Wesley. It was then that his dream of establishing an orphanage was first spawned. Whitefield and Habersham received a grant from England of 500 acres of land on the banks of what is now known as Moon River. It was here that the first bricks were laid for Bethesda, a Greek word meaning “House of Mercy”. It was Whitefield’s hope that many acts of mercy would be shown to the children of Bethesda.
The orphanage was an immediate success. The children led an almost entirely self sufficient life, raising their own vegetables and tending to their own livestock.
In his thirty-two years of ministry, Whitefield crossed the Atlantic Ocean 13 times and preached an estimated 16,000 sermons: over 500 per year or 10 per week. He died in 1770.
Photographs by Sarah Milton for 98 Productions, LLC