Upon his return to England, Whitefield began his open-air preaching near Bristol. He was the first modern evangelist to preach to large crowds outdoors. He preached an average of 20 sermons a week and made 14 preaching trips to the American colonies.
Whitefield's trips to the American colonies from 1738 to 1770 were the thread that tied the First Great Awakening together. His ministry was interdenominational, and he preached to thousands in virtually every colony. Whitefield even made friends with Benjamin Franklin, who
