George Whitefield

George Whitefield (1714-1770), British evangelist and organizer of the Calvinistic Methodists.

Whitefield was born in Gloucester, England, and educated at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. During his undergraduate days Whitefield met John and Charles Wesley and joined the Holy Club, the members of which were known as methodists. In 1736 Whitefield was ordained deacon in the Church of England and two years later followed the Wesley brothers to Savannah, Georgia, as a missionary. Shortly thereafter, Whitefield returned to England and was ordained a priest. Because of his unconventional manner of preaching and conducting services, many Church of England pulpits were closed to him; he therefore began to preach in the open air and attracted vast crowds by his eloquence. In 1739 he returned to America and participated with the American Congregational clergyman Jonathan Edwards in inaugurating the revival movement that later became known as the Great Awakening.

In 1741 Whitefield went to England to preach, extending his evangelical work to Scotland and Wales. Largely because of differences concerning the question of predestination, Whitefield broke with John Wesley about 1741, although the two men maintained their friendship. After this rupture Whitefield was recognized as leader of the Calvinistic Methodists.

Between 1744 and 1748, Whitefield again toured the American colonies, drawing enthusiastic crowds. On his return to England in 1748, he became chaplain to the British religious leader Selina Hastings, countess of Huntington, who aided him materially in his evangelical pursuits and enabled him to speak before members of the British nobility. After 1751 Whitefield preached extensively throughout Great Britain and Ireland and in America. He also found time to compile a hymnbook, which appeared in 1753. While in America, again on one of his preaching circuits, he died in 1770.

The extraordinary influence Whitefield exercised during his lifetime was attributable chiefly to his oratorical skill; he is said to have preached more than 18,000 sermons. His collected writings were published posthumously (7 volumes, 1771-1772).