George_Whitefield

George Whitefield George Whitefield The English evangelist and founder of the Calvinists Methodists, George Whitefield was born in Gloucester, England, on December 16, 1714. He was an innkeeper’s son and did not care much for schooling as a young child. In 1732, he matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford. During his studies at Oxford, Whitefield became associated with John and Charles Wesley who were trying to revive the lifeless and passionless Anglicanism that seemed grip the nation. In 1936 Whitefield graduated from Oxford and in the same year was ordained as a deacon of the Church of England (4). It was within a year after his ordination that Whitefield started to become known as a controversial figure for he dared to challenge the established church, which nobody really did at that time. In 1738 Whitefield made his first of seven trips to America. During his first visit he preached and helped organize schools and orphanages in Georgia. In late 1738 he returned to England only to find that the national church looked down on him (including being denounced by the bishop of London) and pulpits began to close to him and the clergy of the local churches whitefield, people, america, george, preaching, church, new, helped, great, england, colonies, work, through, sermons, revivalism, oxford, john, first, even, during, churches, awakening, after, york, year, working, whitefield’s, wesley’s, upon, travels, time, thousands, though, spirit, south