Plotting Piety: Religious Spaces and the Mapping of George Whitefield's World

Abstract George Whitefield's career spanned two continents, six full transatlantic voyages, and approximately 18,000 sermons. Although he self-identified as an Anglican clergyman, he frequently ignored denominational lines as counterproductive to his vision of a large, unwalled church community. Responses to Whitefield also varied a great deal both temporally and geographically, depending on the local theo-politics at the time. For example, Whitefield initially passed muster with the Bishop of London, and South Carolina Commissary Alexander Garden, but those relationships soured a few years into his career. This article proposes ways to analyse the religious spaces Whitefield's career created. Examining these spatialities can help scholars to better describe the impact of Whitefield's career.