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He continued at sea till 1754, meanwhile studying [[Latin]] and the [[Bible]]. It was after much soul searching and Bible reading that Newton saw the horrors of slavery and the hypocrisy it made him feel as a [[Christian]]. He soon gave up his association with slave shipping. He was surveyor of tides at [[Liverpool]], [[England]] from 1755 to 1760, where he heard [[George Whitefield]] and [[John Wesley]] preach, and later studied [[Greek]], [[Hebrew]], and [[Syriac]].
In 1763 he was brought to the notice of Lord Dartmouth by Thomas Haweis, through whose influence he was ordained deacon and priest in 1764, and given the curacy of [[Olney]], [[Buckinghamshire]]. In 1767 the poet William Cowper settled there, and the result of their friendship was the [[Olney Hymns]] (London, 1779 and often), which greatly influenced English hymnology. Other well-known hymns by Newton include [[Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat]]] , [[Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare]] and [[Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken]].
In 1779 Newton was invited by [[John Thornton]] to become Rector of [[Saint Mary Woolnoth (Lombard Street, London)]] where he officiated until his death in 1807. He was a strong supporter of evangelicalism in the [[Church of England]], and was a friend of the dissenting clergy as well as of the ministry of his own church. John Newton died in London and is buried in Olney. Olney also has a museum in his honor.
Among Newton's greatest contributions to history was his encouragement, in 1785 encouraging , of the newly converted Member of Parliament, [[William Wilberforce]], to stay in Parliament and "serve God where he was," rather than enter the ministry. Wilberforce heeded the ex-slaveship captain's advice, and spent the next five decades successfully working for the Abolition abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
Newton was recognized for the longstanding influence of his hymns of longstanding influence by the [[Gospel Music Association]] in 1982 when he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
The town of [[Newton (Sierra Leone)|Newton]], [[Sierra Leone]] is named after John Newton. To this day there is a philanthropic link between John Newton's church of Olney, [[Milton Keynes]] and Newton, Sierra Leone.
