On this episode of five minutes in church history, let's visit the oldest city in Georgia,

Savannah.

When Georgia was His Majesty's colony, Savannah was the capital. It supports city city and it would go on to play a strategic role in both the

revolutionary and civil wars. It's charming, full of history, horse-drawn carriages, architectural features, good food, and it's also full

of churches.

So let's talk about the church history of Savannah.

We start with John Wesley.

He set sail for Georgia on October 14, 1735.

He reached Savannah on February 8, 1736, and he would leave on December 22, 1737. There is the Wesley Monument in Reynolds Square.

Savannah has 22 squares throughout the town and one of Reynolds Square, has this great monument statue of John Wesley.

And on it are these words, my heart's desire for this place is not that it be a famous or a rich but that it may be a religious

colony and then I am sure it cannot fail of the blessing of God.

But alas, Wesley did not fare so well himself in the fair city of Savannah.

He considered his time there a failure, and there was the matter of a very complicated court case that ended in a mistrial.

Oh, the drama.

Well, George Whitfield fared much better in Savannah.

He arrived in Savannah the first time on May 7, 1738.

He opened an orphanage called the Bethesda Orphan House. It's just south of Savannah. It opened in 1740.

One of those 22 squares is the Whitfield Square.

It's beautiful and it has a gazebo and I'm sure that if Whitfield were alive today,

he'd be in that gazebo and be preaching.

So we have Wesley and we have Whitfield and we also have many

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