Changes
Presbyterians
Whitefield started as an associate of [[John Wesley]] in England. He was ordained as an [[Anglican]] minister. However, he was not assigned a pulpit and began preaching in parks and fields in England on his own. In short, he preached to people who normally did not attend Church. Like Edwards, he had developed a style of preaching that elicited emotional responses from his audiences. However, Whitefield had charisma, and his voice (which according to many accounts, could be heard over vast distances), small stature, and cross-eyed appearance (which some people took as a mark of divine favor) all served to help make him the first American celebrity. Thanks to the use of print in colonial America, perhaps more than half of all colonists, heard about, read about, or read something written by Whitefield. Whitefield used print extensively. He sent advance men to put up broadsides and to distribute handbills announcing his sermons. He also arranged to have his sermons published (a common practice in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries). Most notably, he entered into a profitable business partnership (and lifelong friendship) with [[Benjamin Franklin]]. While Franklin noted that Whitefield’s sermons tended to improve morality among the colonists, Whitefield was never able to get Franklin to embrace Christianity on a personal level.
==Presbyterians==The Presbyterians split on the wisdom of revivals, with the “New Side” faction strongly supportive and the “Old Side” holding back. Gilbert Tennent was the most uncompromising of New Side Presbyterians. His sermon, "The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry" (1741) played a major role in the schism that divided the Old Side and New Side. However, there was another side of Tennent's faith, one characterized by the pietism that nurtured religious renewal in the 18th century. This pietism is best seen in Tennent's celebration of the Sacramental Season, with its emphasis on Christian love and fellowship. Indeed, Tennent, like other revivalists, drew inspiration from the communal emphasis that permeated the sacramental celebration. In 1757, Tennent wrote a sacramental sermon, entitled "Love to Christ." It contains those elements of pietistic communion that inspired this "Son of Thunder" to work feverishly for the reunion of the New York and Philadelphia Synods, which took place the very next year.<ref> James B. Bennett, "'Love To Christ': Gilbert Tennent, Presbyterian Reunion, and a Sacramental Sermon". ''American Presbyterians'' 1993 71(2): 77-89. 0886-5159 </ref>
==Impact on individuals==
Sermons were the centerpiece of the movement. They contained far less theology and stressed the impact of Christ’s message on the souls of the audience. Receptive listeners became much more passionately and emotionally involved in their own destiny. New converts made the Bible a center of their home life, with frequent reading in family groups. Home study decentralized religion and was a further step in the individualistic trends introduced in Europe by the [[Protestant Reformation]] of the 16th century.
* Butler, Jon. "Enthusiasm Described and Decried: The Great Awakening as Interpretative Fiction." ''Journal of American History'' 69 (1982): 305-25.
* Butler, Jon. ''Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People.'' (1990). [http://www.amazon.com/Awash-Sea-Faith-Christianizing-American/dp/0674056019/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195464788&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Coalter, Milton J. ''Gilbert Tennent, Son of Thunder: A Case Study of Continental Pietism's Impact on the First Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies'' 1986) [http://www.amazon.com/Gilbert-Tennent-Son-Thunder-Contributions/dp/0313255148/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236478372&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Conforti, Joseph A. '' Jonathan Edwards, Religious Tradition and American Culture'' University of North Carolina Press. 1995. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35958357 online edition]
* Gaustad, Edwin S. ''The Great Awakening in New England'' (1957)
