Highlights | Speakers | Schedule | Accommodations | Pricing | Study Prep
Event Summary
Join Us in Massachusetts!
All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.” —William Bradford
To build a future for our children, we must remember the past, but we must see the past through the lens of biblical Christianity. We must be grateful for the hand of God in our nation and we must teach our children to be grateful (Psalm 78). Enjoy the remarkable opportunity to study God’s providence in the founding of our nation with like-minded families and a phenomenal team of Christian historians at the place it all started — America’s Hometown — Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Our week culminates with an incredible weekend overflowing with family-friendly activities and fantastic insight brought by an all-star team of historians at Plymouth Rock Foundation’s “Celebrate Faith” event.
- Guided Walking Tours of Plymouth
- More than a Dozen Fascinating Lectures
- Live Theater Performance of “A Venture Almost Desperate”
- Monumental — Kirk Cameron’s Great Documentary Film on the Forefather’s Monument
- Parades, Pilgrim Games, Crafts, Interaction with Wampanoag, Pilgrim, Patriot and Civil War Reenactors, Pilgrim “Dress-Up” and More!
We will begin our adventure in Boston, where we will visit ancient burial grounds and tell the stories of the great men buried there, tour historic landmarks like the Old North Church and the Old State House and view the significant monuments like Bunker Hill and the site of the Boston Massacre.
We will walk the battlefields at Lexington and Concord, the sites of the first military engagements of the war for Independence and stroll the decks of the USS Constitution — the oldest commissioned ship in the navy.
Bill Potter
Dan Ford
Richard Holland
Marshall Foster
Katherine Dang
Leo Martin
Paul Jehle
Bill Federer
Max Lyons
Mayflower II
Pilgrim Mothers Monument
The U.S.S. Constitution
Lexington and Concord
Dan Ford’s Rare Document Collection
Dan Ford will be bringing many remarkable authentic documents and explaining how they came to be and their great influence, giving us unique insight into the minds of the men that shaped the culture during this unforgettable time. This is a unique opportunity to see, and sometimes touch, a piece of history that few will ever experience as Dan’s collection is the envy of many museums.
Copp’s Hill
Paul Revere
Bunker Hill
Plymouth Rock
Join us for a week bursting with providential history in New England. You’ll be encouraged, edified and educated, and if past is prologue, you’ll go home having made new friends that will last a lifetime.
Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many…” —William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation
Tour Highlights
Few historic sites in the United States evoke a stronger sense of our Christian heritage than those of Plymouth and Boston, Massachusetts. Although strenuous attempts have been made in recent years to revise how that past should be interpreted and sometimes violent means have been taken to erase any contemporary significance of the Pilgrims and Puritans, their legacy cannot be easily dismissed. The vital testimonies of those devout Christians of the 17th Century still speak to us in their diaries, letters, sermons, material cultural remains, and even carved on their gravestones.
Although many of their churches have been converted to museums of secular humanism or stand as mere architectural curiosities, they still bear mute testimony to the vibrant faith that once animated the worshipers, men and women who established biblical principles of law, government, and godly culture. They laid the foundations for the American Republic and provided the shock troops in defense of their liberties.
Join historians Bill Potter, Richard Holland, and Paul Jehle as we walk beside the grave sites of some of the greatest Christian men in American history. Hear the stories of the heroes of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. Learn how our Pilgrim fathers suffered and died yet built families, churches and towns — the institutions founded on the Scriptures and worked out in very practical ways. The principles behind the monuments of the past are undying and awaiting new generations of Christians who will stand in the day of battle and the heat of persecution.
The Granary Cemetery
One of the most important American cemeteries, the Old Granary, contains the graves of three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin’s parents, and other luminaries of the early republic like James Otis, Samuel Adams and the victims of the “Boston Massacre”. Here you will learn about the sacrifices made by men who pledged their lives, liberty and sacred honor to build a nation. More than three thousand burials — some say five thousand — are located in this historic plat, snuggled up to the walls of the Old Park Street Church.
Old Granary Burial Ground
Resting Place of Paul Revere at Old Granary Burial Ground
King’s Chapel and Cemetery
A few blocks further along the Freedom Trail we will visit the oldest cemetery in Boston and the location of the grave of Governor John Winthrop, perhaps the most important Christian leader of that century in New England. King’s Chapel — built over the cemetery because no one would sell land to the Anglican Church — was ordered built in Boston by King James II, the pseudo-Catholic tyrant run off by Parliament and replaced with William and Mary. George Washington worshipped there during the War for Independence; the elders of the church later led the congregation into Unitarianism, the bane of New England orthodoxy.
King’s Chapel
King’s Chapel Burial Ground
Old North Church
The church of Paul Revere and the location of his famous equestrian statue, beckons us as it did the men across the river who saw the lanterns lit in the steeple indicating the advance of British soldiers to the countryside. More than a thousand people are buried in the crypt beneath the church, including British soldiers killed at Bunker Hill. On the hill above the church are the tombs of the three generations of preachers of the Mather Family. From that hill Abigail Adams and young John Quincy Adams watched the battle of Bunker Hill. Located in an area of Boston known today as “little Italy”, this historic site is surrounded with excellent restaurants and patriotic remembrances.
Paul Revere in Front of Old North Church
Old North Church Interior
Bunker Hill Monument
This is the site of one of the costliest battles in British history and which showed King George III that the Americans were serious about defending themselves against tyranny. The death of American General Warren on the bayonets of the enemy and the severe losses of officers among the redcoats served notice that the coming conflict would require great sacrifice and heroism for either side to prevail in the War for Independence.
Bunker Hill
Bunker Hill Monument
Lexington and Concord
Although these battles occurred fifteen months before the formal Declaration of Independence, the Providence of God brought the British regulars and the American militia farmers together in the town of Lexington and the bridge at Concord, igniting the first real combat phase of the war. Join us on the actual green where the first shots were fired and the first men died for their independence from Britain. Run across the bridge that could not be captured and hear the stories that have thrilled American children for almost 240 years.
Minute Man Statue at Lexington Green
Concord’s Old North Bridge
The National Monument to the Forefathers
One hundred twenty five years ago, the singular and astonishing Forefathers’ Monument was unveiled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The result of decades of planning and fund-raising, the 81-foot-tall monument expresses in symbols carved in granite, the virtues and values that the Pilgrims represented and that became the foundation stones of the American Republic. We will be helping celebrate this amazing structure side by side with the Plymouth Rock Foundation and thousands of grateful Americans led by the renowned historian and Pastor, Dr. Paul Jehle and featuring guest speakers Col. John Eidsmoe, Marshall Foster and others.
Forefathers Monument
Forefathers Monument Detail
Plymouth
Join with us to visit all the wonderful sites associated with the Pilgrim Fathers, including the iconic Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrim Mother Monument, the Sarcophagus, the Pilgrim Church, Plymouth Plantation, Burial Hill, Leyden Street and more. If you have ever considered visiting the place where godly government, Reformation Christianity, sacrificial living and zeal for the glory of God all came together in one place in America in the 1620s, there is no better time than the 125th Anniversary of the Monument to the Forefathers.
Plimoth Plantation
Burial Hill
Event Speakers
Historian Bill Potter
An experienced historian and avid bibliophile, Bill Potter combines a lifelong study of American history with an uncommon ability to captivate audiences of all ages as he traces the providential acts of God throughout the ages. He has taught history in high schools and colleges, has led many tours of American and European historical sites and brings to each event a wealth of experience and knowledge. An experienced researcher and writer, Dr. Potter possesses a practical knowledge of antiquarian books, documents, and artifacts and has published several short books and has penned many articles and book reviews for publication. Dr. Potter has earned a well-deserved reputation as a man gifted in communicating the story of God’s providential hand in American history. As a father of eight children, he appreciates the necessity of passing on to the succeeding generations the richness of both our regional and national history. He and his wife, Leslie, reside in Virginia.
Paul Jehle
An ardent student of history, Dr. Paul Jehle serves as the Executive Director of the Plymouth Rock Foundation, an organization dedicated to the remembrance of the Pilgrims and the Christian heritage that was forged in the wake of their influential devotion to God and the Bible. Paul has travelled across the nation and to a number of foreign countries, hosting seminars and teaching on America’s Pilgrim and Patriot heritage. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Barrington College, and a Doctorate degree in Education from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Paul began giving walking tours of Plymouth and its monuments in 1978, and in 2004 he published Plymouth in the Words of Her Founders for visitors to the Plymouth area, allowing the Pilgrims to interpret the monuments erected in their honor through their own words. Dr. Jehle also serves on Plymouth’s 2020 Commission in preparation for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims. Paul and his wife, Charlene, have two grown children.
Dr. Marshall Foster
Dr. Marshall Foster is the founder and president of the World History Institute, which is dedicated to uncovering the unchanging truths and lessons of history that have liberated individuals and nations around the globe. For three decades, Marshall has taught these truths, along with their Judeo-Christian roots, through many venues from best-selling books and dynamic seminars to documentaries, radio programs and historic tours. His ground-breaking video course From Terror to Triumph presents historically proven strategies and solutions which have triumphed over the terrors of the ages. He currently oversees the education of more than 10,000 students and families each year on historic training tours in the United States and throughout Europe. In collaboration with actor Kirk Cameron, Marshall was co-producer for the film, Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure, which was released in theaters nationwide in 2012. The film traces the harrowing and heroic experiences of the early Pilgrims, who risked everything for liberty. Dr. Foster offers hope and encouragement for a lasting spiritual and cultural revival. He is currently conducting cruises and tours of the British Isles and Europe. Marshall speaks at conferences and churches throughout America. He is chairman of GPS 30, a Global Prayer Strategy already involves tens of thousands of churches and individuals praying for every nation and territory on earth.
Katherine Dang
Katherine Dang is an educator, homeschool consultant, conference speaker, historian and author. She is a first-generation Chinese American. Born in San Francisco, California, she and her family have resided predominantly in the East Bay. Since receiving her Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970, Katherine Dang has been involved in alternative elementary and secondary classroom education as well as in school administration. She is founder and president of Philomath Foundation, a non-profit organization, in which she serves the needs of parents and schools throughout America and in other nations of the world.
Bill Federer
Bill Federer is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s noble heritage.
Bill’s “American Minute” radio feature is broadcast daily across America and on the internet. His “Faith in History” television airs on the TCT Network on stations across America and via DirectTV. A former U.S. Congressional Candidate, Bill has appeared on: CSPAN, FOX, Hannity & Colmes, O’Reilly Factor, and NPR among many others.
Bill’s first book America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over a half-million copies. His other works include American Minute: Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They Occurred, George Washington Carver – His Life and Faith in His Own Words, America’s God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations (his best-selling work), The Faith of FDR, The Ten Commandments and Their Influence on American Law, Three Secular Reasons Why America Should Be Under God, and What Every American Needs to Know About the Quran: A History of Islam and the United States.
Dan Ford
Dan Ford has been an avid collector of artifacts and historic documents for nearly two decades. As a researcher and historian, he has compiled an archive of original source materials by which to verify contemporary accounts of the lives of our forebears. These artifacts range from more ancient cuneiform tablets, scrolls, and pottery, to less ancient pamphlets, maps, broadsheets, books, private letters, and public documents. He has been a group teacher and conference speaker on the subjects of Christian English and American history for the past ten years. His single goal in each presentation has been to explain and document, by way of facts and artifacts, the abundant evidence of our godly cultural inheritance. With twenty-five years in the field of graphic illustration, he is well-known for his illustrated work In the Name of God, Amen. Dan and his wife Theresa reside in St. Louis, Missouri.
Richard Holland
Born and raised in Boston, Richard Holland founded CTB Tours in 1994 after performing tours locally and abroad for over 20 years. In addition to earning a Masters in Education from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, he is a perpetual student of colonial and recent history of Boston. His depth of knowledge and passion for providential history translate into tours that are entertaining and educational, making history come alive.
Leo Martin
Leo Martin, an educator and expert on the early history of our nation, has been called “the last God-fearing guide in historic Plymouth, MA”. While so many others are taking God out of the history books, Leo maintains that the Pilgrims and Founding Fathers established “one nation under God”, founded on Judeo-Christian values.
A true patriot and historian, Leo Martin is the Education Director at the Jenney Museum in Plymouth, MA, where he is known for his service giving historical tours and lectures dressed in Pilgrim costume. He is a champion of our nation’s founding values displayed in the National Monument to the Forefathers in Plymouth. He was a speaker at the Glenn Beck rally “Man in the Moon” in July, a fundraiser for the Oklahoma City tornado victims, speaking on his book Pilgrim Pursuit of Happiness. As well as giving historic tours of Plymouth, Leo speaks around the country on a variety of subjects relating to the Pilgrims and the founding of our country.
Leo and his wife Nancy have been married for forty years, have three grown children and four grandchildren. They have been working together at the Jenney Museum in Plymouth for the past 12 years preserving the Christian heritage of our country.
Event Schedule
Note: Schedule times subject to change.
Monday, July 28
7:00pm | Welcome Dessert Reception in Plymouth Introductions and Tour Overview |
Tuesday, July 29
8:00am | Depart for Boston Via Motor Coach |
9:30am | Freedom Trail Walking Tour — Stops Include: Boston Common, Granary Burying Grounds, Massachusetts Street House, Park Street Church, King’s Chapel, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church and Copp’s Hill Burying Ground |
4:00pm | Return to Plymouth |
5:00pm | Dinner on Your Own |
8:00pm | Optional Lecture |
Wednesday, July 30
8:00am | Depart via Motor Coach |
9:00am | Lexington and Concord Battlefields (Lunch Included) Bunker Hill U.S.S. Constitution |
5:00pm | Return to Plymouth |
6:00pm | Dinner on Your Own |
8:00pm | Optional Lecture |
Thursday, July 31
8:00am | Depart Hotel via Shuttle |
9:00am | Plymouth Plantation Jenney Gristmill Mayflower II |
4:30pm | Return to Hotel |
5:00pm | Dinner On Your Own |
7:00pm | “Celebrate Faith” Opening Ceremonies — With Marshall Foster and Paul Jehle at Plymouth Memorial Hall: Showing of Kirk Cameron film Monumental |
Friday, August 1
“Celebrate Faith” The National Monument to the Forefathers
9:00am | Lectures and Walking Tours |
11:30am | Lunch on Your Own |
1:00pm | Lectures and Walking Tours |
6:00pm | Pilgrim’s Progress Parade |
7:00pm | “A Venture Almost Desperate” (Performed by the Academy of Arts) |
9:00pm | Return to Hotel |
Saturday, August 2
“Celebrate Faith” The National Monument to the Forefathers
9:00am | Day at the Monument Pilgrim Progress Opening Festivities (American Flag Raising, National Anthem) Presentations at the Monument by Various Speakers |
12:00pm | Celebration Continues with Vendors, Games, Crafts, Interaction with Wampanoag, Pilgrim, Patriot and Civil War Reenactors, Presentations, Pilgrim “dress-up” and More! |
7:00pm | Farewell Banquet |
9:00pm | Return to Hotel |
Accommodations
Comfort Inn Plymouth
155 Samoset Street
Plymouth, MA 02360
For your convenience, Landmark Events has secured a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn in Plymouth at a rate of $119 plus tax (11.7%) for 1-4 people and includes full hot breakfast. A limited amount of rollaway beds are available at $20 per night.
You are free to stay wherever you like in Plymouth but take into account that the bus will be departing and returning to the Comfort Inn each day and it is your responsibility to get from your accommodation to the Comfort Inn each day.
If you want to reserve rooms at the Comfort Inn at our rate you may do so during the tour registration process — the hotel will not accept call-ins for this rate. Reservations must be made and guaranteed with one night’s room and tax payment by June 28 to receive the discounted rate. Reservations after June 28 will be at a space and rate availability basis.
Room Block Details
• Complimentary full hot breakfast is served daily in the hotel lobby 6:30 a.m. on weekdays and 7:00 a.m. on the weekends
• Indoor, heated pool that is open from 8:00am until 9:00pm daily
• Free WI-FI
• The hotel is a 3-story structure with inside room entry and has an elevator
• All guest rooms are equipped with coffee makers, hairdryers, microwave/refrigerator units, and ironing boards with irons and have been upgraded to the “Truly Yours Bedding System”
Ticket Information
Ticket Pricing Information
* Children 4 and under free if sitting on the lap of an adult on buses and at meals. No meals provided for lap children.
Included in This Tour
- Opening Welcome Reception Monday Evening in Plymouth
- All Venue Admissions
- All Guide Fees and Gratuities
- 3 Box Lunches
- Transportation on Clean, Comfortable Motor Coaches
- Exclusive Lectures by Dan Ford and Bill Potter
- All-Inclusive Pass to “Celebrate Faith” Event in Plymouth
- Access to Landmark Events’ Special Discounted Hotel Rates in Plymouth
- Study Preparation Section
- Farewell Banquet Saturday Night in Plymouth
Weekend-only passes for the Celebrate Faith Event are available at the Plymouth Rock website.
Study Preparation
Key People
Squanto
Sachem Massasoit
Governor William Bradford
Governor John Winthrop
Rev. Cotton Mather
Paul Revere
General Joseph Warren
Samuel Adams
John Hancock
John Adams
Major John Pitcairn
King George, III
Pastor John Robinson
James Otis
Mercy Warren
Betsy Ross
General Thomas Gage
King Phillip
Miles Standish
William Brewster
Key Issues and Topics
The Doctrine of Providence
The Mayflower Compact
The Virginia Company
Wampanoag Confederacy
The City on a Hill
Commonwealth
The Old Deluder Satan Act
Colonial Charter
Township Selectmen
The Battle of Bunker Hill
The Intolerable Acts
The Sons of Liberty
The Stamp Act
Writs of Assistance
Plymouth Plantation
Continental Congress
Suggested Reading
Of Plymouth Plantation, by William Bradford
John Winthrop, by Francis J. Bremer
The Puritan Experiment, by Francis J. Bremer
The Puritan Family, by Edmund Morgan
The Mathers: Three Generations of Puritan Intellectuals, 1596-1728, by Robert Middlekauff
Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were, by Leland Ranken
The Guise of Every Graceless Heart, by Terrill Elniff
The Minutemen and Their World, by Robert A. Gross
Now We Are Enemies: The Story of Bunker Hill, by Thomas J. Fleming
Paul Revere’s Ride, by David Hackett Fischer
The Boston Campaign, by Victor Brooks
Driven to Resistance, Vol. 1, by R.A. Sheats