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96-498: A large surrounding area was once called by the name, but this is now less common. In the 18th century it was a disreputable area, known for "the rude sports that were in vogue, such as duck-hunting, prize-fighting, bull-baiting, and others of an equally demoralising character", and "seems to have been much infected by sneaking footpads, who knocked down pedestrians passing to and from London, and despoiled them of hats, wigs, silver buckles, and money", The moral tone gradually improved after

192-646: A dissenting church and "the congregation's response was dismal," he ascribed the response to "the people's being hardened" as were "Pharaoh and the Egyptians" in the Bible. Many New Englanders claimed that Whitefield destroyed "New England's orderly parish system, communities, and even families". The "Declaration of the Association of the County of New Haven, 1745" stated that after Whitefield's preaching "religion

288-600: A "monitor" system whereby each monitor looked after one person and acted as his "confessor". Mudie found himself working very hard to maintain the community, but this affected the quality of the Economist . The publication ceased in March 1822 and the community continued for another two years. The reasons for its demise are not known, but Mudie immersed himself in another community, at Orbiston , run by Abram Combe , but could not agree with Combe and also left this community after

384-611: A "sorcerer" and a "vain-glorious, self-seeking, puffed-up creature". In addition, Whitefield's collecting money for his Bethesda orphanage, combined with the hysteria evoked by his open-air sermons, resulted in bitter attacks in Edinburgh and Glasgow." Whitefield's itinerant preaching throughout the colonies was opposed by Bishop Benson who had ordained him for a settled ministry in Georgia. Whitefield replied that if bishops did not authorize his itinerant preaching, God would give him

480-815: A church, so he began preaching in parks and fields in England on his own, reaching out to people who normally did not attend church. In 1738 he went to Christ Church in Savannah , Province of Georgia , in the American colonies which had been founded by John Wesley while he was in Savannah. While there Whitefield decided that one of the great needs of the area was an orphan house. He decided this would be his life's work. In 1739 he returned to England to raise funds, as well as to receive priest's orders . While preparing for his return, he preached to large congregations. At

576-473: A community, and at this meeting a committee was appointed. They met at the Medallic Cabinet, 158 The Strand , to raise money. As part of the fund-raising effort, Mudie began publication of a weekly journal, the Economist , which ran from 27 January 1821 to 9 March 1822. The plan was soon formulated to create a "Co-operative and Economical Society" of 200 families. The male members had to contribute

672-527: A dead dog as I am". He now said that he "highly esteemed bishops of the Church of England because of their sacred character". He confessed that in "many things" he had "judged and acted wrong" and had "been too bitter in my zeal". In 1763, in a defense of Methodism, Whitefield "repeated contrition for much contained in his Journals ". Among the nobility who heard Whitefield in the Countess of Huntingdon's home

768-415: A guinea to the central fund. There would be a communal kitchen and dining hall, plus there were plans for a school as well. The committee calculated that the community would save around £8,000 per year through its own manufacture of various items that it would use. Mudie believed that the community would be able to become independent. During this period the chairman was George Hinde and one prominent member

864-588: A load and burden" to him. In 1743 after four miscarriages, Elizabeth bore the couple's only child, a son. The baby died at four months old. Twenty-five years later, Elizabeth died of a fever on 9 August 1768 and was buried in a vault at the Tottenham Court Road Chapel. At the end of the 19th century the Chapel needed restoration and all those interred there, except Augustus Toplady, were moved to Chingford Mount cemetery in north London; her grave

960-670: A mark of divine favor) all served to help make him one of the first celebrities in the American colonies. Like Edwards, Whitefield preached staunchly Calvinist theology that was in line with the "moderate Calvinism" of the Thirty-nine Articles. While explicitly affirming God's sole agency in salvation, Whitefield freely offered the Gospel , saying at the end of his sermons: "Come poor, lost, undone sinner , come just as you are to Christ ." To Whitefield "the gospel message

1056-555: A ministers' training college at Trefeca (Trevecca) near Talgarth , in Mid Wales , not far from Brecon . George Whitefield preached at the opening ceremony. The college moved to Hertfordshire in 1792, and was renamed Cheshunt College . It moved to Cambridge in 1906. Cheshunt College, Cambridge merged with Westminster College, Cambridge , the training college of the Presbyterian Church of England (and after 1972, of

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1152-652: A moral judgment on slavery itself as an institution". Whitefield is remembered as one of the first to preach to slaves. Some have claimed that the Bethesda Orphanage "set an example of humane treatment" of black people. Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784), who was a slave, wrote a poem "On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield" in 1770. The first line calls Whitefield a "happy saint". Benjamin Franklin attended

1248-812: A new form of pulpit oratory. Whitefield's "Abraham Offering His Son Isaac" is an example of a sermon whose whole structure resembles a theatrical play. Divinity schools opened to challenge the hegemony of Yale and Harvard; personal experience became more important than formal education for preachers. Such concepts and habits formed a necessary foundation for the American Revolution . Whitefield's preaching bolstered "the evolving republican ideology that sought local democratic control of civil affairs and freedom from monarchial and parliamentary intrusion." Whitefield's sermons were widely reputed to inspire his audience's devotion. Many of them, as well as his letters and journals, were published during his lifetime. He

1344-536: A new nature within that wants to serve God, not in order to be saved, but because one has been graciously and undeservedly saved. In 1736, after Whitfield's conversion, the Bishop of Gloucester ordained him a deacon of the Church of England . Whitefield preached his first sermon at St Mary de Crypt Church in his home town of Gloucester, a week after his ordination as deacon. The Church of England did not assign him

1440-510: A place of strong Gospel influence, with a wholesome atmosphere and strong discipline. Having raised the money by his preaching, Whitefield "insisted on sole control of the orphanage". He refused to give the trustees a financial accounting. The trustees also objected to Whitefield's using "a wrong method" to control the children, who "are often kept praying and crying all the night". In 1740 he engaged Moravian Brethren from Georgia to build an orphanage for negro children on land he had bought in

1536-929: A plain reading of Article 17 —the Church of England's doctrine of predestination —and disagreed with the Wesley brothers' Arminian views on the doctrine of the atonement . However, Whitefield finally did what his friends hoped he would not do—hand over the entire ministry to John Wesley. Whitefield formed and was the president of the first Methodist conference, but he soon relinquished the position to concentrate on evangelistic work. Three churches were established in England in his name—one in Penn Street, Bristol , and two in London, in Moorfields and in Tottenham Court Road —all three of which became known by

1632-489: A preacher's eloquence and fervency". During Whitefield's 1744–1748 visit to America, ten critical pamphlets were published, two by officials of Harvard and Yale . This criticism was in part evoked by Whitefield's criticism of "their education and Christian commitment" in his Journal of 1741. Whitefield saw this opposition as "a conspiracy" against him. Whitefield would be derided with names such as "Dr. Squintum", mocking him for his esotropia . When Whitefield preached in

1728-737: A revival meeting in Philadelphia and was greatly impressed with Whitefield's ability to deliver a message to such a large group. Franklin had previously dismissed as exaggeration reports of Whitefield preaching to crowds of the order of tens of thousands in England. When listening to Whitefield preaching from the Philadelphia court house, Franklin walked away towards his shop in Market Street until he could no longer hear Whitefield distinctly—Whitefield could be heard over 500 feet. He then estimated his distance from Whitefield and calculated

1824-540: A right to employ as many chaplains as she pleased. In her chapel at Bath (now owned by the Bath Preservation Trust and housing the Building of Bath Collection which is open to the public), there was a curtained recess dubbed " Nicodemus ' Corner" where bishops sat incognito to hear services. Following the expulsion of six Methodist students from St Edmund Hall , Oxford in 1768 the Countess founded

1920-413: A small number in London including founding one adjacent to her London home at Spa Fields , Clerkenwell / Finsbury (which resulted in a case being brought before the ecclesiastical courts by the vicar of the parish church of St James ). She partly funded the independent Surrey Chapel, Southwark of Rowland Hill . She appointed ministers to officiate in them, under the impression that as a peeress she had

2016-727: A tour of England to raise funds for Indian missions in the colonies. She became a slave owner herself in 1770 when she inherited Whitefield's overseas estates in Georgia and South Carolina , including the Bethesda Home for Boys . On Whitefield's advice, she bought additional slaves for the orphanage's benefit. The Countess promoted the writings and freedom of formerly enslaved Africans who espoused religious views compatible with her own. For instance, she supported publication of memoirs, or slave narratives , by Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and Olaudah Equiano . She also used her influence in

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2112-512: A tree to urinate on him." In 1760, Whitefield was burlesqued by Samuel Foote in The Minor . Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, made Whitefield her personal chaplain. In her chapel, it was noted that his preaching was "more Considered among persons of a Superior Rank" who attended the countess's services. Whitefield was humble before the countess saying that he cried when he was "thinking of your Ladyship's condescending to patronize such

2208-600: A true Christian than had Muhammad". He also attacked Richard Allestree's The Whole Duty of Man , one of Anglicanism's most popular spiritual tracts. At least once Whitefield had his followers burn the tract "with great Detestation". In England and Scotland (1741–1744), Whitefield bitterly accused John Wesley of undermining his work. He preached against Wesley, arguing that Wesley's attacks on predestination had alienated "very many of my spiritual children". Wesley replied that Whitefield's attacks were "treacherous" and that Whitefield had made himself "odious and contemptible". However,

2304-573: A vigorous protest against the anti-Calvinistic minutes of the Wesleyan Conference of 1770, and against relaxing the terms of subscription of 1772. On the Countess's death in 1791, the 64 chapels and the college were bequeathed to four trustees. Amongst them were Dr Ford, as well as Lady Ann, who was requested to occupy and reside in Lady Huntingdon's house adjoining Spa Fields Chapel, and carry on all needful correspondence (which

2400-471: A wife, yet wanting to live as if without one—brought Whitefield a disappointing love life and a largely unhappy marriage. On 14 November 1741 Whitefield married Elizabeth (née Gwynne), a widow previously known as Elizabeth James. After their 1744–1748 stay in America, she never accompanied him on his travels. Whitefield reflected that "none in America could bear her". His wife believed that she had been "but

2496-558: A year or so. 51°31′33″N 0°06′30″W  /  51.5257°N 0.1082°W  / 51.5257; -0.1082 Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon ( née Shirley ; 24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English Methodist leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She founded an evangelical branch in England and Sierra Leone , known as

2592-564: Is a prevailing misconception that Whitefield was not primarily an organizer like Wesley. However, as Luke Tyerman, a historian of Wesley, states, "It is notable that the first Calvinistic Methodist Association was held eighteen months before Wesley held his first Methodist Conference ." He was a man of profound experience, which he communicated to audiences with clarity and passion. His patronization by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, reflected this emphasis on practice. Whitefield welcomed opposition because as he said, "the more I am opposed,

2688-594: Is also remembered for her adversarial relationships with other Methodists. Selina Shirley was born in August 1707 at Astwell Castle , Northamptonshire , second daughter of Washington Shirley, 2nd Earl Ferrers , and Mary Levinge, daughter of Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet . The family moved to Staunton Harold Hall , in Leicestershire when she was 17 and in 1728, she married Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon , who lived at nearby Donington Hall . This

2784-505: Is in the collection of the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery . It was John Wesley who preached his funeral sermon in London, at Whitefield's request. Whitefield left almost £1,500 (equivalent to £263,000 in 2023) to friends and family. Furthermore, he had deposited £1,000 (equivalent to £175,000 in 2023) for his wife if he predeceased her and had contributed £3,300 (equivalent to £578,000 in 2023) to

2880-520: Is now in a far worse state than it was". After Whitefield preached in Charlestown , a local newspaper article attacked him as "blasphemous, uncharitable, and unreasonable." After Whitefield condemned Moravians and their practices, his former London printer (a Moravian) called Whitefield "a Mahomet, a Caesar, an imposter, a Don Quixote , a devil, the beast, the man of sin, the Antichrist". In

2976-473: Is now my parish'. In 1740, Whitefield had attacked Tillotson and Richard Allestree's The Whole Duty of Man . These attacks resulted in hostile responses and reduced attendance at his London open-air preaching. In 1741, Whitefield made his first visit to Scotland at the invitation of "Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine , leaders of the breakaway Associate Presbytery . When they demanded and Whitefield refused that he preach only in their churches, they attacked him as

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3072-490: Is unmarked in its new location. Cornelius Winter , who for a time lived with the Whitefields, observed of Whitefield, "He was not happy in his wife." And, "He did not intentionally make his wife unhappy. He always preserved great decency and decorum in his conduct towards her. Her death set his mind much at liberty." After Elizabeth's death, however, Whitfield said, “I feel the loss of my right hand daily.” In 1770,

3168-545: The Black Loyalists . Until her death in London, Lady Huntingdon exercised an active, and even autocratic, superintendence over her chapels and chaplains. Alice Membury, appointed schoolmistress in Melbourne, Derbyshire by Lady Elizabeth Hastings, was ejected by the Countess for 'not turning Methodist'. Selina successfully petitioned George III about the gaiety of Archbishop Cornwallis' establishment, and made

3264-518: The British Empire . Whitefield could enthrall large audiences through a potent combination of drama, religious eloquence, and patriotism . He used the technique of evoking strong emotion, then using the vulnerability of his enthralled audience to preach. Whitefield was born on 27 December [ O.S. 16 December] 1714 at the Bell Inn, Southgate Street, Gloucester . Whitefield

3360-657: The Church of England , with which most Methodists were still connected. That year the consistorial court prohibited her chaplains from preaching in the Pantheon in Spa Fields, Clerkenwell, which had been rented by the Countess. To evade the injunction, she was compelled to take shelter under the Toleration Act . This placed her among classified dissenters . Such prominent members as William Romaine and Henry Venn did not want to be classified in that status, and left

3456-951: The Colony of Georgia . Lady Huntingdon Lane at the Givens Estates in Asheville, North Carolina , a retirement community affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Lady Huntingdon Road on the grounds of the United Methodist Assembly, Lake Junaluska, NC, located near the World Methodist Center. Huntingdon : County seat of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania (founded September 20, 1787) are both named for her. By her marriage to Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, she had seven children. Of those, three died in childhood and

3552-548: The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion . She helped finance and guide early Methodism and was the first principal of Trevecca College, Wales , established in 1768 to train Methodist ministers. With the construction of 64 chapels in England and Wales, plus mission work in colonial America, she is estimated to have spent over £100,000 on these activities, a huge sum when a family of four could live on £31 per year. A regular correspondent of George Whitefield and John Wesley , she

3648-465: The Free Church of England in 1863. One of the earliest changes under the new trustees was to complete plans to relocate the college. In 1792 it was removed to Cheshunt , Hertfordshire where it remained as Cheshunt College , until 1905, when its functions were transferred to Cambridge University. The college was noted for the number of men it sent to foreign missions. In 1795, Spa Fields Chapel

3744-682: The Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania . Following a theological disagreement, he dismissed them and was unable to complete the building, which the Moravians subsequently bought and completed. This now is the Whitefield House in the center of the Moravian borough of Nazareth, Pennsylvania . Beginning in 1740, Whitefield preached nearly every day for months to large crowds as large as eighty thousand people as he travelled throughout

3840-556: The " Preaching Braes " of Cambuslang in 1742—two journeys to Ireland, and one each to Bermuda, Gibraltar, and the Netherlands. In England and Wales, Whitefield's itinerary included every county. Whitfield County, Georgia , is named after Whitefield. When the act by the Georgia General Assembly was written to create the county, the "e" was omitted from the spelling of the name to reflect the pronunciation of

3936-416: The " Rodborough congregation"—a gathering of 10,000 people—at a place now known as "Whitefield's tump". Whitefield sought to influence the colonies after he returned to England. He contracted to have his autobiographical Journals published throughout America. These Journals have been characterized as "the ideal vehicle for crafting a public image that could work in his absence." They depicted Whitefield in

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4032-459: The "best possible light". When he returned to America for his third tour in 1745, he was better known than when he had left. Whitefield was a plantation owner and slaveholder and viewed the work of slaves as essential for funding his orphanage's operations. John Wesley denounced slavery as "the sum of all villainies" and detailed its abuses . However, defenses of slavery were common among 18th-century Protestants, especially missionaries who used

4128-457: The 'marvel of the age'. Whitefield was a preacher capable of commanding thousands on two continents through the sheer power of his oratory. In his lifetime, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers. In terms of theology, Whitefield, unlike Wesley, was a supporter of Calvinism. The two differed on eternal election , final perseverance, and sanctification, but were reconciled as friends and co-workers, each going his own way. It

4224-433: The 55-year-old Whitefield continued preaching in spite of poor health. He said, "I would rather wear out than rust out." His last sermon was preached in a field "atop a large barrel". The next morning, 30 September 1770, Whitefield died in the parsonage of Old South Presbyterian Church , Newburyport, Massachusetts , and was buried, according to his wishes, in a crypt under the pulpit of this church. A bust of Whitefield

4320-498: The Anglican clergy from whom she had preferred not to separate, she founded the " Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion ", a Calvinistic movement within the Methodist church. In the earlier part of her life Isaac Watts , Mary, Lady Abney , Philip Doddridge , and Augustus Montague Toplady were among her friends. Lady Anne Erskine (eldest daughter of the 10th Earl of Buchan ), was her closest friend and companion for many years in

4416-734: The Bethesda Orphanage. "Questions concerning the source of his personal wealth dogged his memory. His will stated that all this money had lately been left him 'in a most unexpected way and unthought of means.'" In an age when crossing the Atlantic Ocean was a long and hazardous adventure, he visited America seven times, making 13 ocean crossings in total. (He died in America.) It is estimated that throughout his life, he preached more than 18,000 formal sermons, of which 78 have been published. In addition to his work in North America and England, he made 15 journeys to Scotland—most famously to

4512-579: The Church of England. In response, clergy called Whitefield one of "the young quacks in divinity" who are "breaking the peace and unity" of the church. From 1738 to 1741, Whitefield issued seven Journals . A sermon in St Paul's Cathedral depicted them as "a medley of vanity, and nonsense, and blasphemy jumbled together". Trapp called the Journals "blasphemous" and accused Whitefield of being "besotted either with pride or madness". In England, by 1739 when he

4608-547: The Commissary, Alexander Garden , suspended him as a "vagabond clergyman." After being suspended, Whitefield attacked all South Carolina's Anglican clergy in print. Whitefield issued a blanket indictment of New England's Congregational ministers for their "lack of zeal". In 1740, Whitefield published attacks on "the works of two of Anglicanism's revered seventeenth-century authors". Whitefield wrote that John Tillotson , archbishop of Canterbury (1691–1694), had "no more been

4704-876: The Connexion. After the Patriot victory in the American War of Independence , the Crown fulfilled promises to enslaved Africans and African Americans who had fled their American masters to join the British. The British evacuated thousands of former slaves from the colonies, who became known as Black Loyalists . About 3,000 were resettled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , where they were to be given land and supplies. The Countess sent missionaries to these colonies, including John Marrant and William Furmage, to attend to

4800-596: The Countess of Huntingdon. This included 4,000 acres of land and 49 black slaves. In 1740, during his second visit to America, Whitefield published "an open letter to the planters of South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland" chastising them for their cruelty to their slaves. He wrote, "I think God has a Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes." Furthermore, Whitefield wrote: "Your dogs are caressed and fondled at your tables; but your slaves who are frequently styled dogs or beasts, have not an equal privilege." However, Whitefield "stopped short of rendering

4896-768: The Foundling Hospital 'one of the most fashionable charities of the day.' Selina would later provide the Coram with 'financial support for fees, stamp duties, vellum, seals and others expenses [sic] connected with the presentation of the Foundling Hospital Charter for the King's signature.' The petition was presented to King George II in 1735. In 1739, Lady Huntington joined the first Methodist society in Fetter Lane , London. Sometime after

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4992-525: The Spa Fields Chapel was erected in 1777 by the Countess of Huntingdon , a famous Evangelical. The community was established in a number of properties at Guildford Street East , Bagnigge Wells Road and Spa Fields, London. The community was based on the cooperative ideas of Robert Owen and was the idea of George Mudie (b. 1788). On 23 January 1821, a group of printers met at Mitchell's Assembly Rooms , London, to discuss Mudie's proposals for

5088-658: The United Reformed Church), in 1967. In 1842, the Presbyterian Church of Wales opened a college at Trefeca which is approximately a quarter of a mile south of the site of the Countess's college (which is now a farmhouse). The Countess had an interest in the Thirteen Colonies , and issues related to Native Americans and enslaved Africans there. During the mid-1760s, she met and befriended Mohegan preacher Samson Occom , then on

5184-473: The University of Pennsylvania campus. On 2 July 2020, the University of Pennsylvania announced they would be removing the statue because of Whitefield's connection to slavery. "I believe it is God's will that I should marry", George Whitefield wrote to a friend in 1740. But he was concerned: "I pray God that I may not have a wife till I can live as though I had none." That ambivalence—believing God willed

5280-719: The Whitefield meeting house, with its Charity School, to be purchased as the site of the newly-formed Academy of Philadelphia which opened in 1751, followed in 1755 with the College of Philadelphia, both the predecessors of the University of Pennsylvania . A statue of George Whitefield was located in the Dormitory Quadrangle, standing in front of the Morris and Bodine sections of the present Ware College House on

5376-431: The area of a semicircle centred on Whitefield. Allowing two square feet per person he computed that Whitefield could be heard by over 30,000 people in the open air. After one of Whitefield's sermons, Franklin noted the: wonderful ... change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro'

5472-473: The authority. In 1740, Jonathan Edwards invited Whitefield to preach in his church in Northampton. Edwards was "deeply disturbed by his unqualified appeals to emotion, his openly judging those he considered unconverted, and his demand for instant conversions". Whitefield refused to discuss Edwards' misgivings with him. Later, Edwards delivered a series of sermons containing but "thinly veiled critiques" of Whitefield's preaching, "warning against over-dependence upon

5568-425: The colonies, especially New England . His journey on horseback from New York City to Charleston, South Carolina , was at that time the longest in North America ever documented. Like Jonathan Edwards , he developed a style of preaching that elicited emotional responses from his audiences. But Whitefield had charisma, and his loud voice, his small stature, and even his cross-eyed appearance (which some people took as

5664-427: The colony would never be prosperous unless slaves were allowed to farm the land. Whitefield wanted slavery legalized for the prosperity of the colony as well as for the financial viability of the Bethesda Orphanage. "Had Negroes been allowed" to live in Georgia, he said, "I should now have had a sufficiency to support a great many orphans without expending above half the sum that has been laid out." Whitefield's push for

5760-479: The day. On 21 April 1730, she became one of the 21 aristocratic women whose support Thomas Coram would enlist in his efforts to establish the Foundling Hospital . Securing the support of notably pious women such as Lady Huntingdon as signatories to the Ladies' Petition for the Establishment of the Foundling Hospital lent his endeavour not only respectability but cachet; many of the women were lending their signature where their husbands had previously refused, making

5856-675: The death date of a fourth is unknown. Her longest surviving children were: On the Countess of Huntingdon and the Welsh Methodists, see E. Wyn James, 'Blessèd Jubil!’: Slavery, Mission and the Millennial Dawn in the Work of William Williams of Pantycelyn', in Cultures of Radicalism in Britain and Ireland , ed. John Kirk, Michael Brown & Andrew Noble, 'Poetry and Song in the Age of Revolution', vol. 3 (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2013), 95-112. George Whitefield George Whitefield ( / ˈ hw ɪ t f iː l d / ; 27 December [ O.S. 16 December] 1714 – 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield ,

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5952-479: The death of her husband in 1746, she threw in her lot with John Wesley and George Whitefield in the work of the great revival. According to Schlenther, it was Wesley who first attracted her to Methodism, noting a visit to his chapel in Donnington (Wood) in East Shropshire, in which a rare exception to egalitarian principles was made and she was offered a private pew. Whitefield became her personal chaplain, and, with his assistance, following problems put in her path by

6048-442: The financial woes of his Bethesda Orphanage to Georgia's prohibition of black people in the colony. He argued that "the constitution of that colony [Georgia] is very bad, and it is impossible for the inhabitants to subsist" while blacks were banned. Between 1748 and 1750, Whitefield campaigned for the legalisation of African-American emigration into the colony because the trustees of Georgia had banned slavery. Whitefield argued that

6144-425: The institution to emphasize God's providence. Whitefield was at first conflicted about slaves. He believed that they were human and was angered that they were treated as "subordinate creatures". Nevertheless, Whitefield and his friend James Habersham played an important role in the reintroduction of slavery to Georgia. Slavery had been outlawed in the young colony of Georgia in 1735. In 1747, Whitefield attributed

6240-402: The latter part of Lady Huntingdon's life. In 1748, the Countess gave Whitefield a scarf as her chaplain, and in that capacity, he preached in one of her London houses, in Park Street, Westminster , to audiences that included Chesterfield , Walpole and Bolingbroke . She held large dinner parties at which Whitefield preached to the gathered dignitaries after they had eaten. Moved to further

6336-432: The legalization of slave emigration in to Georgia "cannot be explained solely on the basics of economics". It was also his hope for their adoption and for their eternal salvation. Black slaves were permitted to live in Georgia in 1751. Whitefield saw the "legalization of (black residency) as part personal victory and part divine will". Whitefield argued a scriptural justification for black residency as slaves. He increased

6432-536: The more joy I feel". He proved himself adept at creating controversy. In his 1740 visit to Charles Town , it "took Whitefield only four days to plunge Charles Town into religious and social controversy." Whitefield thought he might be martyred for his views. After he attacked the established church he predicted that he would "be set at nought by the Rabbies of our Church, and perhaps at last be killed by them". Whitefield chastised other clergy for teaching only "the shell and shadow of religion" because they did not hold

6528-452: The morning, helping them bathe, cleaning their rooms, carrying their books, and assisting them with work. But, Whitfield would later confess that though he did good works and tried to obey the law of God, he was not yet truly converted to Christ. It was Henry Scougal 's book, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, that Whitfield says opened his eyes to the Gospel and led to his conversion. It was that book he says, that God used to show him that he

6624-400: The name of "Whitefield's Tabernacle". The society meeting at the second Kingswood School at Kingswood was eventually also named Whitefield's Tabernacle . Whitefield acted as chaplain to Selina, Countess of Huntingdon , and some of his followers joined the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion , whose chapels were built by Selina, where a form of Calvinistic Methodism similar to Whitefield's

6720-429: The name. George Whitefield College , Whitefield College of the Bible , and Whitefield Theological Seminary are all named after him. The Banner of Truth Trust 's logo depicts Whitefield preaching. Kidd 2014 , pp. 260–263 summarizes Whitefield's legacy. Mark Galli wrote of Whitefield's legacy: George Whitefield was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century. Newspapers called him

6816-484: The necessity of a new birth, without which a person would be "thrust down into Hell". In his 1740–41 visit to North America (as he had done in England), he attacked other clergy (mostly Anglican) calling them "God's persecutors". He said that Edmund Gibson , Bishop of London with supervision over Anglican clergy in America, knew no "more of Christianity, than Mahaomet , or an Infidel". After Whitefield preached at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Charleston, South Carolina ,

6912-404: The number of the black children at his orphanage, using his preaching to raise money to house them. Whitefield became "perhaps the most energetic, and conspicuous, evangelical defender and practitioner of the rights of black people". By propagating such "a theological defense for" black residency, Whitefield helped slaveholders prosper. Upon his death, Whitefield left everything in the orphanage to

7008-468: The open air in Dublin , Ireland (1757), Whitefield condemned Roman Catholicism , inciting an attack by "hundreds and hundreds of papists" who cursed and wounded him severely and smashed his portable pulpit. On various occasions, a woman assaulted Whitefield with "scissors and a pistol, and her teeth". "Stones and dead cats" were thrown at him. A man almost killed him with a brass-headed cane. "Another climbed

7104-529: The religious revival in a Calvinistic manner compatible with Whitefield's work, she was responsible for founding 64 chapels and contributed to the funding of others, insisting they should all subscribe to the doctrines of the Church of England and use only the Book of Common Prayer . Amongst these were chapels at Brighton (1761), Bath (1765), Worcester (c. 1766), Tunbridge Wells (1769), several in Wales, and

7200-569: The revivalist preacher and the worldly Franklin. True loyalty based on genuine affection, coupled with a high value placed on friendship, helped their association grow stronger over time. Letters exchanged between Franklin and Whitefield can be found at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. These letters document the creation of an orphanage for boys named the Charity School. In 1749, Franklin chose

7296-440: The suggestion of friends he preached to the miners of Kingswood , outside Bristol, in the open air. Because he was returning to Georgia he invited John Wesley to take over his Bristol congregations and to preach in the open air for the first time at Kingswood and then at Blackheath, London . Whitefield, like many other 18th century Anglican evangelicals such as Augustus Toplady , John Newton , and William Romaine , accepted

7392-445: The town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. Franklin was an ecumenist and approved of Whitefield's appeal to members of many denominations but unlike Whitefield was not an evangelical. He admired Whitefield as a fellow intellectual, and published several of his tracts, but thought Whitefield's plan to run an orphanage in Georgia would lose money. A lifelong close friendship developed between

7488-573: The two reconciled in later life. Along with Wesley, Whitefield had been influenced by the Moravian Church, but in 1753 he condemned them and attacked their leader, Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf , and their practices. When Joseph Trapp criticized Whitefield's Journals , Whitefield retorted that Trapp was "no Christian but a servant of Satan". English, Scottish, and American clergy attacked Whitefield, often in response to his attacks on them and Anglicanism. Early in his career, Whitefield criticized

7584-521: The world of the arts to secure publication for Phillis Wheatley 's 1773 volume of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England , which was dedicated to the Countess. Because the Countess was ill when Wheatley visited London, the two women never met. Several pieces of their correspondence are extant. Until 1779, Lady Huntingdon and her chaplains were members of

7680-606: Was Lady Townshend. Regarding the changes in Whitefield, someone asked Lady Townshend, "Pray, madam, is it true that Whitefield has recanted ?" She replied, "No, sir, he has only canted ." One meaning of cant is "to affect religious or pietistic phraseology, especially as a matter of fashion or profession; to talk unreally or hypocritically with an affectation of goodness or piety". In the First Great Awakening, rather than listening demurely to preachers, people groaned and roared in enthusiastic emotion. Whitefield

7776-423: Was a "passionate preacher" who often "shed tears". Underlying this was his conviction that genuine religion "engaged the heart, not just the head". In his preaching, Whitefield used rhetorical ploys that were characteristic of theater, an artistic medium largely unknown in colonial America. Harry S. Stout refers to him as a "divine dramatist" and ascribes his success to the theatrical sermons which laid foundations to

7872-513: Was an English Anglican minister and preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement . Born in Gloucester , he matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1732. There, he joined the " Holy Club " and was introduced to John and Charles Wesley , with whom he would work closely in his later ministry. Unlike the Wesleys, he embraced Calvinism . Whitefield

7968-432: Was arranged by his elder half-sister, Lady Elizabeth Hastings , a well-known religious philanthropist and supporter of women's education. She gave birth to seven children in the first ten years of the marriage, four of whom died young; her husband died in 1746, while she allegedly suffered from poor health. The family were interested in politics, religion and the arts, and commissioned portraits from fashionable artists of

8064-530: Was attempted until 90 years after her death. Obituaries and tributes were written: Horace Walpole described her as the patriarchess of the Methodists , whilst the Roman Catholic, John Henry Newman , commented She devoted herself, her means, her time, her thoughts, to the cause of Christ. She did not spend her money on herself; she did not allow the homage paid to her rank to remain with herself. She

8160-538: Was clearly a pivotal figure in the Evangelical Revival. Huntingdon College , in Montgomery, Alabama , is a coeducation liberal arts college named after the Countess of Huntingdon to honour her contributions to Methodism. Huntingdon Street in Savannah, Georgia , is likewise named after her in recognition of her association with Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley in their apostolic works in

8256-466: Was educated at The Crypt School in Gloucester and at Pembroke College, Oxford . Because business at the inn had diminished, Whitefield did not have the means to pay for his tuition. He therefore came up to the University of Oxford as a servitor , the lowest rank of undergraduates. Granted free tuition, he acted as a servant to fellows and fellow-commoners; duties including teaching them in

8352-561: Was immense). She did this dutifully until her own death in 1804 and burial at Bunhill Fields . The principal trustee was the Reverend Thomas Haweis , who presided at the Convocation of the Connexion, comprising about 120 chapels. As rector of the Church of England parish at Aldwincle until his death in 1820, he ensured the Connexion kept as close to the Church of England as was possible; many chapels became part of

8448-692: Was ordained after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree. He immediately began preaching, but he did not settle as the minister of any Church of England parish ; rather, he became an itinerant preacher and evangelist . In 1740, Whitefield traveled to British North America where he preached a series of Christian revivals that became part of the First Great Awakening . His methods were controversial, and he engaged in numerous debates and disputes with other clergymen. Whitefield received widespread recognition during his ministry; he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps ten million listeners in

8544-449: Was ordained priest, Whitefield wrote that "the spirit of the clergy began to be much embittered" and that "churches were gradually denied me". In response to Whitefield's Journals , the bishop of London, Edmund Gibson , published a 1739 pastoral letter criticizing Whitefield. Whitefield responded by labelling Anglican clergy as "lazy, non-spiritual, and pleasure seeking". He rejected ecclesiastical authority claiming that 'the whole world

8640-464: Was so critically important that he felt compelled to use all earthly means to get the word out." Thanks to widespread dissemination of print media, perhaps half of all colonists eventually heard about, read about, or read something written by Whitefield. He employed print systematically, sending advance men to put up broadsides and distribute handbills announcing his sermons. He also arranged to have his sermons published. Much of Whitefield's publicity

8736-466: Was still lost despite all his attempts to gain the favor of God by means of good works. Only by God's grace can a person realize they have offended God and their need for Jesus Christ, God's Son, and His righteousness imputed to them by faith. Henry Scougal's book showed him the need for a man to be born of God from above, and that this is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit creating a new heart and

8832-468: Was taught. Many of Selina's chapels were built in the English and Welsh counties, and one, Spa Fields Chapel , was erected in London. Whitefield's endeavour to build an orphanage in Georgia was central to his preaching. The Bethesda Orphanage and his preaching comprised the "two-fold task" that occupied the rest of his life. On 25 March 1740, construction began. Whitefield wanted the orphanage to be

8928-411: Was the fifth son (seventh and last child) of Thomas Whitefield and Elizabeth Edwards, who kept an inn at Gloucester. His father died when he was only two years old, and he helped his mother with the inn. At an early age, he found that he had a passion and talent for acting in the theatre, a passion that he would carry on with the very theatrical re-enactments of Bible stories he told during his sermons. He

9024-474: Was the printer Henry Hetherington . By December 1821, the "Spa Fields Congregational families" had begun to live together. The women worked from 6am to 8pm, and the children were also kept busy "without a moment's intermission". The community advertised various services that they would provide, such as cobbling, painting, haberdashery, etc., and they also announced that they would be opening a school run on approved Fellenbergian lines. The community also set up

9120-456: Was the work of William Seward, a wealthy layman who accompanied Whitefield. Seward acted as Whitefield's "fund-raiser, business co-ordinator, and publicist". He furnished newspapers and booksellers with material, including copies of Whitefield's writings. When Whitefield returned to England in 1742, an estimated crowd of 20–30,000 met him. One such open-air congregation took place on Minchinhampton Common , Gloucestershire. Whitefield preached to

9216-855: Was used by the founders of the non-denominational Missionary Society , which became the London Missionary Society , for preachers contributing to this, its founding meeting. After her death, much of her movement merged with the Congregationalist Church , who came to predominate in the London Missionary Society, and more joined the Free Church of England in 1863, although in 2022 there were still 22 Connexion congregations functioning in England, with others in Sierra Leone. In her will, she requested no biography of her should be written and none

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