Page 79 - Pilgrims in Georgia

R George Whitefield’s

Orphanage, Bethesda

Begun in 1740, Whitefield called his orphanage “Bethesda”, which means "House of Mercy“.
It was located on his 500-acre land grant about 10 miles south of Savannah. Although today
Whitefield is best known for his evangelistic contribution to Americas “Great Awakening”,
the story of his rise to prominence in that movement and his pursuit of his vision for his
orphanage are intertwined. He and his evangelical contemporaries of the time believed that
Christians should minister to both spiritual and worldly needs. Boys were taught trades,
mechanics, and agriculture to prepare them for adulthood. Younger children were taught

the basics of yarn and cloth making. The staff at the orphanage would attend to the
children’s needs, teach them God’s Word, guide them in character, and pray for them and for
their salvation. In 1741, as Whitefield left America, about a hundred people were living at
the orphanage, with the children learning “Latin, arithmetic, writing, and reading.”
Wherever he went he regularly sought to raise funds to sustain and grow Bethesda and
hoped that it could become the beginnings of a university. One famous contributor was his George Whitefield
friend Benjamin Franklin who made a substantial donation in 1746

News continued to reach Whitfield telling of salvation stories amongst the
children, but expenses exceeded expectations and it was a continued struggle
for him to support. Dying while on his last preaching tour in 1770, he willed
Bethesda to the Countess of Huntington, Selina Hastings in England one of his
ardent supporters, asking her to continue it’s by the principles under which it
had be started and grow it into a college. However, this proved difficult from a
distance and the orphanage suffered under some difficult times. The college
was never realized but the orphanage never closed and is today considered the

oldest childcaring institution in North America. It has since ceased to be an
orphanage transitioning to a school for boys with the new name Bethesda
Academy, with a “mission to develop within each student a love of God, a love
of learning, and a strong work ethic.” Today George Whitfield is remembered
from the ‘Great Awakening”, Bethesda Academy with its museum, chapel and

Bethesda Orphanage beautiful grounds, as well as a county in Georgia bearing his name.