Preacher of the "Great Awakening." Working in his parents' tavern, he discovered early a passion for acting and the theatre. This love of drama would serve him well in his ministry. He later attended Pembroke College and the University of Oxford, graduating in 1732 with a bachelor of arts degree. While at college, he met John and Charles Wesley, joined their Christian club, and experienced a "born again" religious conversion. He was ordained in the Anglican Church of England and began preaching, delivering his first sermon when he was 21. By 1738, he traveled to Georgia in America at the invitation of the Wesleys. While there he saw the need for an orphanage and returned to England to raise funds for what would become the Bethesda Orphanage (known today as the Bethesda Academy). Returning to the states in 1740, construction was began on the orphanage and he embarked on a preaching tour. His enthusiastic and dramatic sermons helped to spark a spiritual revival that in the colonies came to be known as the The First Great Awakening. He was conflicted about slavery. A slaveholder himself at the Orphanage, he campaigned against cruelty and inhuman living conditions. However, some historians credit his preaching to black congregations as the possible start of African-American Christianity. One of the attendees at a revival in Philadelphia was Benjamin Franklin who was impressed with Whitefield's fervor. A friendship developed and letters between them still exist. Franklin was prompted to open the Academy of Philadelphia (which later became the University of Pennsylvania) as a compliment to the Bethesda Orphanage. His final sermon on this tour was at the Boston Commons and drew over 20,000 people. While back in England, he published his "Journals," which kept name alive in the states. By 1942, a typical gathering to hear him preach would number between 20,000 to 30,000 necessitating most of his sermons to be outdoors. During his thirty-four year ministry, he traveled to American seven times, fifteen to Scotland as well as Wales and rural England. Credited with over 18,000 sermons, he became known as the "Apostle of the British Empire." Although he was a Calvinist, he preached to all. He, along with the Wesleys, would inspire a sect that became known as the Methodists.