George Whitefield (1714-1770) Sensational Evangelist of Britain and America

The title of ’ * Sensational Evangellst of Britain and America* ’ is given to George Whitefield by *Christianity Today. *

The magazine goes on to say that he is probably the most famous religious figure of the 18th century. He was an English Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of the Methodist and evangelical movement.

As a boy he enjoyed reading plays and skipped school to practice for his performances. Later in life he may have repudiated the theatre but in his sermons he portrayed biblical characters with a realism by crying, dancing and screaming - he took the theatre to the pulpit. It brought the crowds ‘out’- most of his sermons were preached outside.

He went to Pembroke college, Oxford as a servitor, the lowest rank of undergraduate - his tuition was free but he acted as a servant to his fellow students. He was part of the ’ Holy Club ’ with John and Charles Wesley.

An illness plus Henry Scougal’s book The life of God in the soul of Man influenced him, He had a religious conversion and became a passionate preacher. The week after his ordination he preached in his home town of Gloucester.

In 1738 he went with the Wesleys to Georgia in the USA as a priest. He decided he wanted to build an orphanage for black children - this became central to his preaching. He came back to the UK to raise money. In 1940 the construction began. He had a theological disagreement. The building bought by the Moravians is today called The Whitefield House.

He preached nearly every day for months to crowds in their thousands with his big booming voice. Benjamin Franklin attended a meeting in Philadephia and estimated George could be heard 500 feet away. On horseback he travelled from New York to Charleston, South Carolina - at the time the longest distance by a white man in North America,

Back in the UK he was met by similar size crowds. The Church of England did not assign him a pulpit so preached in parks and fields.

This itinerant preacher’s career was divided between the American colonies and the whole of the UK.

In 170, aged 55,he made this comment I would rather wear out than rust out.
He preached his last sermon from the top of a large barrel in a field in the colonies. The next morning he died.

Thomas S. Kidd summarized George’s life in the title of his book
*George Whitefield America’s Founding Father * 2014

(For full summary read Veneration and legacy.)

Sources
wikipedia
Britannic Online Encyclopedia
Christianity Today