"What does the boy mean? Prithee hold thy tongue!" This is how George Whitefield's mother, an innkeeper in Gloucester, greeted his announcement that while running an errand for her, a "very strong impression" was made upon his heart that he should preach. Whitefield pursued his calling anyway, eventually gaining even his mother's full support.

Whitefield began developing his preaching skills early. In school he developed a strong interest in plays and acted in several. Although he decried the theater in his later years, his journals demonstrated that his theater experience helped develop his vast oratorical gifts, which would later allow him to preach with ease to crowds of up to 10,000 during the Great Awakening.

Through an influential friend, Whitefield's mother was able to secure her son a work-study arrangement at Oxford. But before he left Gloucester, a friend named Gabriel Harris, the keeper of the city's best bookshop, showed him ...

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