Sonoma Creek flows down the valley to the bay. The area includes the incorporated city of Sonoma and part of the City of Santa Rosa, as well as numerous unincorporated communities, including Kenwood and Glen Ellen near Santa Rosa and, near Sonoma, El Verano, Boyes Hot Springs, Fetters Hot Springs, and Agua Caliente.
These camp meetings quickly became a popular and important feature of the Second Great Awakening. Charles Grandison Finney Other than the creator of the camp meeting, one of the prominent leaders of this movement was the preacher Charles Grandison Finney. Finney, a lawyer turned preacher, was undoubtedly the most influential leader of the awakening. He was an incredibly eloquent speaker as well as a skilled writer, likely due to his years as an attorney. Finney was also a leader for allowing women to lead prayer, while also being a strong supporter of abolition.
The First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans' understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the  back country  regions, the Awakening was influential among Presbyterians.he arrival of the young Anglican preacher George Whitefield sparked the Great Awakening. Whitefield, whose reputation as a great pulpit and open-air orator preceded his visit, traveled through the colonies in 1739 and 1740.