George Whitefield and Old South Church

The Standard June 17, 2023

At the Saturday evening close of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s homecoming in South Hamilton, MA, I asked the president to recommend a local church for worship the next morning. He offered a few options, one of which was Old South Church in Newburyport. A good friend and fellow alumna told me she loved going there, and that it was home to the remains of George Whitefield (pronounced Whitfield). Not thinking much about historical value, my husband and I headed north the next morning.

The service was highly liturgical yet conducted in a way which seemed surprisingly down to earth and visitor friendly. The children’s sermon for Trinity Sunday was delightfully interactive. Preparing for communion, the minister reminded us of the brother-like bond Jesus demonstrated with his disciples at the Last Supper.

The beautiful sanctuary was overflowing with history. After the close of the service, several congregants were happy to engage in conversation. We were offered a tour of the building and only then learned this was a regular part of their outreach. Our guide was well-informed and passionate about the spiritual significance of that place in America’s Great Awakening, especially with the Holy Spirit working through George Whitefield.

As a boy in Gloucester, England, Whitefield was extremely conscious of his sins and desired to become a minister. At Pembroke College, Oxford he met a group of men who steadfastly sought to become closer to God. By methodical acts of fasting, praying, reading Scripture and visiting the poor and imprisoned, they tried to make themselves acceptable to the Lord. In that group, which became known as the Holy Club or the Oxford Methodists, were brothers Charles and John Wesley. Whitefield was so intense in fasting that he ended up in the hospital and had to go back home for nine months to recover. His acts of piety did little to make him feel as if he were winning his struggle against daily temptations or as if he were resolving the inner conflict and burdens that oppressed him. Charles Wesley gave Whitefield the book The Life of God in the Soul of Man in which Puritan author Henry Scougal showed that good works or spiritual practices could not suffice. A person needed to be joined with Christ, trusting that Jesus paid the price for their sins on the cross. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the free gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) For Whitefield this revelation that he could have union with Christ was dramatic and led to his “new birth” and lasting great joy.

Ordained as a deacon in 1736 in the Church of England and as a priest in 1739, Whitfield focused many of his estimated 18,000 sermons over the course of 33 years on our need of grace through faith in Christ. The Nature and Necessity of Our New Birth in Christ Jesus, his first published message, became his signature sermon. Whitefield had a gift of drawing in listeners with engaging, vigorous preaching which successfully challenged listeners to convert or recommit their lives to the Lord.

In 1735 he got on a ship bound for America and joined John Wesley in ministry in Georgia, where Whitefield eventually established an orphanage, the first institution of its kind in America. Wherever he went he preached the gospel, prayed publicly and ministered to the sick. Often, buildings would not hold the crowds, so he engaged in open-air preaching.  This actually enabled him to reach more people, reportedly as many as 30,000 at one time. From Charleston to Boston Whitefield was one of the most well-known names. He worked alongside Jonathan Edwards to organize a revival tour in 1739. Eventually, Whitefield was dubbed “the marvel of the age” by newspapers, and due to his preaching during seven journeys to America, 14 trips to Scotland, three to Ireland and stops throughout England and Wales he probably was the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century.

Many Anglican pulpits were closed to him. Saying things like, “Congregations are lifeless because dead men preach to them” made Whitefield largely controversial. He opposed the practice of the Church of England collecting taxes from worshippers in America, and encouraged ministers in various colonies to start Presbyterian churches to avoid this. Whitefield regularly crossed denominational lines and promoted any church proclaiming salvation through faith in Christ. 

His friend Benjamin Franklin, not a believer, figured out how lucrative it was to publish Whitefield’s sermons in multiple newspapers in America. Whitefield was glad for yet another way to spread the gospel. In 1770 he died in Newburyport, MA and was buried underneath the pulpit of the Old South Presbyterian Church.