He preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million people. George Whitefield (1714–1770) was the best-known evangelist in Britain and America during the 18th century. Preaching throughout the colonies to large crowds, he has been called America’s first “celebrity.”
This year is the 300th anniversary of Whitefield’s birth.
Born Dec. 16, 1714, in his father’s inn in Gloucester, England, he was the seventh child of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield.
At an early age he found a passion for acting. He used his talent later in his dramatic preaching.
In 1732 he entered Pembroke College, Oxford, as a servitor, the highest rank of students at Oxford. In return for free tuition he served as a minister to upperclassmen. His duties included tasks such as carrying their books and assisting with written assignments. With John and Charles Wesley he founded the evangelical movement that became Methodism.
After years of seeking salvation through severe discipline and good works, Whitefield became ill. In 1735 after reading Henry Scougal’s “The Life of God in the Soul of Man,” he cried out to the Lord to save him. Years later he declared, “Whenever I go to Oxford, I cannot help running to the spot where Jesus Christ first revealed Himself to me and gave me the new birth.”
After getting his degree that year he was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church and preached his first sermon in his hometown. He substituted in the pulpit for several friends and preached in London and Bristol. Thousands packed churches to hear him.
In 1738 he sailed to America, serving as a missionary for three months in Georgia. Back in England he was ordained a priest. Unlike Anglican ministers who emphasized ritual, Whitefield preached repentance and conversion — that one must experience a new birth through faith in Christ. Many opponents criticized him and churches closed their doors to him. He began preaching outdoors and soon tens of thousands came to hear him.
From 1739 to 1741 he returned to America and preached to thousands as part of the spiritual revival that was known as the “Great Awakening.” He met Benjamin Franklin and they became lifetime friends. Franklin once calculated that more than 30,000 people could hear Whitefield in an open-air meeting.
He visited America seven times, drawing great crowds and newspaper coverage. Estimates are that 80 percent of Americans heard him at least once. He also made 14 journeys to Scotland and two to Ireland where he was almost killed by a mob.
He married widow Elizabeth James in 1741. They lost a 4-month-old son, John, in 1744.
Preaching until the end
While on his last tour in America, the frail 55-year-old Whitefield preached the day before his death. On Sept. 30, 1770, he died in the parsonage of Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, Mass. A New England newspaper reported 12,000 people attended his funeral at the church. He is buried in a crypt under the pulpit.
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