Newburyport, Mass.

First Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, Mass., commonly known as Old South Church, was founded during the First Great Awakening. Curiously enough, it was founded because a congregation needed a pastor and a pastor needed a congregation, and both as a consequence of the preaching of George Whitefield.

The pastor who was in need of a congregation was a man named Jonathan Parsons. He was a minister, but it turns out that he was in need of conversion. He went to one of Whitefield's sermons and heard him preach the gospel. He was especially struck by Whitefield's emphasis on the new birth. Through Whitefield's preaching, Parsons, already a minister, came to Christ.

Parsons went back to his church and began to preach on the necessity of the new birth. And his congregation shut him out. They didn't want to hear it. So rather than endure his preaching, they kicked him out of the church.

Meanwhile, back in Newburyport, groups of people from two local churches had also heard Whitefield preach, and they had also come to Christ. And when they went back to their churches, these people weren't welcome either. Whitefield heard about these folks in Newburyport, and he knew the story of Parsons as well. So he acted as a matchmaker: he brought a congregation that needed a pastor together with a pastor that needed a congregation.

Whitefield remained friends with Parsons and with the church at Newburyport. He was invited to preach there in September 1770. He showed up on Saturday, September 29, and was scheduled to preach the next morning. But as was often the case with Whitefield, when he showed up, the word spread around town that he was there. And the people came and practically demanded a sermon from Whitefield.

The crowd gathered at Parsons' house, where Whitefield was staying, knocked on the door and requested that Whitefield preach to them. He graciously obliged. He stood on the stairwell in Parsons' home and preached as the crowd filled the home and spilled out onto the porch and onto the brick streets, with people standing around the house listening in through the windows. Someone stood next to Whitefield and held a candle so that he could see as he opened his Bible and preached. And Whitefield preached as long as that candle burned, and when the candle got down to the end, he ended his sermon. The crowd expressed their thanks and went home. And Whitefield turned around and went up the steps to his room. The intention was for Whitefield to preach the next morning, but he never woke up. Whitefield passed away that night, September 30, 1770.

His funeral was held October 2, 1770, in the church in Newburyport. Eight thousand people came to this funeral. The church couldn't even hold a thousand. They were bursting the seams at the aisle, standing in the church yard, spilling out into the streets again, listening through open windows, trying to catch a little bit of the funeral service.

Whitefield had said on numerous occasions to that church that he hoped that he would die preaching his last sermon there and that he would be buried in the churchyard. And sure enough, that's what happened. But apparently, Whitefield had also expressed this wish to other churches. Between his passing and his funeral, word spread around New England, and delegates from various churches started showing up, telling their stories of how Whitefield wanted to be buried in their churches, and trying to claim the body. It seems that possession is nine-tenths of the law, so Newburyport was the church in which he died, and Newburyport is the church in which he is buried.

Whitefield made thirteen transatlantic trips and brought the Great Awakening to old England and to New England. A son of England, he died here in America and is buried in a church founded upon his preaching. And he remained faithful and zealous to preach the Word of God to the end.