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George Whitefield
Before
the era of the television evangelists such as Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, and Jimmy
Swaggart, were their predecessors--preachers, the likes of George Whitefield. Few may have
guessed his life would amount to much judging by his early beginnings. The son of an
innkeeper, George entered the world the youngest among seven on December 16, 1714 in
Gloucester, England. He was born in the Bell Inn where his father, Thomas, also worked as
a wine merchant. Two years later, his father died, leaving his widowed mother, Elizabeth
to provide for the family.
He was
enrolled in the school of St. Mary de Crypt at Gloucester, at the age of twelve. As a
teenager, George was often truant and convinced his mother to allow him to quit school and
work in the inn, thinking nothing would come of pursuing academics for a young man of
modest origins. He did stay up at night reading the Bible of his own volition, however. In
1732, he resumed his studies after a year's recess at the persuasion of an Oxford
University student. He entered Pembroke College in Oxford, England, where he soon met the
Wesley brothers-- John and Charles. He borrowed the book, The Life of God in the Soul
of Man and joined the Holy Club, a group dedicated to study and pursuit of Biblical
topics. Already squint-eyed from a bout with childhood measles, George became ill
while in college, leaving for a while to recover. The book along with the time of
recuperation led to the young man’s conversion to Christ, the first among his
colleagues to do so. He left Oxford for a year, returning in March 1736.
The Englishman was ordained a deacon in
the following June, receiving a B.A. degree the same year. Whitefield began ministering to
inmates at Oxford, as well as preaching in London among other places. The tone of his
ministry was set early—his very first sermon none-the-less! While many in the
congregation seemed to enjoy the message, the pastor of the church where he preached
received several complaints from opponents who claimed the first sermon he ever preached
drove 15 people mad! His life took yet another twist in May 1738 as he took up the
Wesley brothers on their invitation to sail to America to evangelize the colonies. Four
months later, Rev. Whitefield journeyed back to England where a bishop friend ordained him
as an Anglican priest in early 1739. Yet, despite his vote of confidence, many
churches banned him from their pulpits for his loose Methodist affiliation, charging him
with being a fanatic. Whitefield continued, nevertheless, to fellowship with people of
differing faiths against the wishes of more than a few Anglican adherents. He began
preaching open-air services that his friend, John Wesley, felt initially was a bizarre
move—and for good reason. Preaching outdoors at that time was illegal
apart from, of all things, public hangings. The trend caught on soon, though, with
both Whitefield and the Wesley brothers. The potent trio helped establish the
Kingswood School in England that became an important asset in the push for the Methodist
movement.
If the controversial preacher weren’t
making enough enemies, he traveled to Wales and Scotland where he alleged that many of the
English clergy were “blind guides”. His influence with the populous
continued to expand, however, as he returned to America in 1740. One of the few
ministerial allies was Jonathan Edwards, whom he preached for on a number of occasions.
Among his favorite ‘pulpits’ was a balcony at the Philadelphia courthouse, where
crowds would gather to hear him speak and judges would postpone business for the pleasure.
Included in the list of his enthusiasts was a man fairly well known in his own
right by the name of Benjamin Franklin. The famous diplomat remarked that the
esteemed reverend had a voice “like an organ”. The evangelist was known by many
to have an eloquent delivery with a voice that could be heard a mile away without the
modern benefit of amplification. Although Franklin was not a professing
Christian at that time, the two became good friends. In fact, the prestigious
inventor / diplomat came to know the preacher so well that before one of his meetings Mr.
Franklin emptied his pockets at home, realizing the conviction he was sure to feel to give
in the offering could not be resisted. The only problem was that when the compulsion to
give in the collection became too great, he resorted to borrowing from someone to donate,
having left his money at home to prevent him from giving in the first place. The former
ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin was not naïve, nor was his perception of
Whitefield’s persona distorted because of their friendship. It was not uncommon
in his services to see hundreds in the crowd fallen prostrate under the power of the
Spirit of God. There were even supernatural cases in which people literally dropped
dead during the services after resisting the moving of the Spirit! Conversions
during the preaching were the norm, often negating the need for an altar call.
The
itinerant preacher sailed back to England in 1741. His voyages were legendary in and
of themselves, having spent over 2 years of his life traveling at sea. Not all the
sailing was smooth, either. He and his fellow passengers encountered serious storms
and other problems in the Atlantic Ocean at least twice—enough to force landings in
times and places not of their choosing. Being the persistent preacher, the reverend
took the ‘opportunities’ to minister while making the unscheduled ports of call.
Upon his
1741 arrival in Western Europe, Whitefield visited Glasgow, Scotland and the surrounding
area. He was received warmly as he preached to tens of thousands on several occasions.
One meeting saw a turnout of 100,000! Revival fires were alive among
the Scottish. Moving on to Wales, romance finally tracked down the voyager. He and
widow Elizabeth James, met and married there on November 14, 1741, welcoming a son,
John, on October 4, 1743. Tragically, the baby died just four months later.
George and the Wesley’s went their separate ways in 1743 over doctrinal
differences related to predestination. They reconciled later, none the worse for
wear. The same time he accepted the position as moderator for the Calvinistic
Methodists, a post he held for a number of years.
The
popularity Reverend Whitefield enjoyed with his devoted followers was not universal.
In 1744, the celebrated evangelist fell prey to an attacker who derided him
as he beat him with a cane, nearly costing him his life. If that weren’t
enough, that same period George was accused of mismanaging finances that he had
accumulated. Yet, in actuality, he nearly bankrupted himself for the sake of the
orphanage he started in Georgia as well as supporting his mother until her death a few
years afterward. The strong-willed man of God continued to preach undeterred,
leaving for the American colonies where he stayed until 1748. He fell ill and returned to
England where he stayed for a while. In 1751, Whitefield took off again, the
fourth of seven visits to the colonial outpost of America. By the time 1753 rolled
around, the wandering worker traveled nearly 1,000 miles preaching on horseback, along the
way publishing a compilation he called “"Hymns for Social
Worship." Physical persecution remained an unfortunate trademark of Whitefield’s
ministry. While delivering a sermon, the dynamic messenger was knocked off a table upon
which he stood by stones that were hurled at him.
1754 saw the evangelist
make another circuit to the new world along with Portugal. In 1756, as the preacher held a
crusade in Dublin, Ireland, he was stoned by a mob and left for dead. Those
intending to help him fled, leaving him to walk alone to a fellow minister’s house
for refuge. The barraged clergyman claimed after the latest instance of stoning to
have attained apostleship, suffering as he had for the gospel. The same year saw him
open the Congregational Chapel in London. It seems his tolerance for personal
assaults began to wane at this point in his life, as he largely avoided areas where he
suffered previously. Reverend Whitefield made another trip across the Atlantic in
1763 where he spent two years preaching to the colonists and Indians alike. In 1768
he toured Scotland his final time, where he publicly affirmed the mutual love between him
and the European country. He made his way to Holland for medical treatment and back
to England as wife, Elizabeth died. Preaching her funeral, he cited the oft-quoted
Romans 8:28. He spent the next year supporting his newly founded chapel before
leaving for America the last time a few years before the American Revolution. It was
obvious the love and vision he had for a philosophical experiment soon to be a great
nation called the United States of America.
In 1770 the weathered crusader fell sick,
canceling some speaking engagements. But in Whitefield fashion, he summoned the
energy once more to make his way to preach a final time for two solid hours to a small,
informal gathering just hours before his death. September 30, 1770 Reverend George
Whitefield took his eternal rest in Newburyport, Massachusetts at age 55. Those
attending his funeral could not fit in to the small Presbyterian Church.
Appropriately, the beloved evangelist was laid to rest beneath the church’s
pulpit, as he earlier requested. Many memorial services were held abroad with
John Wesley presiding at the ceremony in England. Over the span of his ministry,
Whitefield preached an astounding average of ten times a week—typically long sermons
at that! His legacy makes a powerful argument that he was one of the greatest
preachers to ever live.
Resources: believersweb.org, monergism.com, victorshepherd.on.ca,
ccel.org, anglicanlibrary.org
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