I was driving down the main street of San Fernando.
In the pleasant heat of South Trinidad, there it was – a banner advertising the Keswick Convention. Shuffling carefully through the snow in Hokkaido, north Japan, I entered the auditorium where a banner headline again proclaimed: ‘Keswick: All One in Christ’, with no linguistic concessions to non-English speakers. And the same is taking place in Blantyre in Malawi, alongside Lake Balaton in Hungary, in Halifax Nova Scotia, on the beautiful Cayman Islands, at a summer camp over New Year in Rotorua, New Zealand and in many related events across Australia, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Keswick Fellowship
This year sees the launch of the Keswick Fellowship, consolidating links with Bible Conventions across the UK and worldwide.
By WWI, Keswick Conventions were being held in scores of centres across the UK, with links across the globe. In 1910, F. B. Meyer reported on his travels on behalf of Keswick over the previous three years. His visits had included South Africa, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Ceylon, China, Nigeria and the USA. In the decades after WWII, it was George Duncan who travelled widely and spoke in 1975 of the variety of conventions associated with Keswick, from the massive Maramon Convention at Kerala, South India, where numbers could rise above 100,000, to much smaller conventions, such as that in Hokkaido, Japan.
National and international
Today ministry continues in over 40 locations across the UK, from the islands of Orkney, Lewis and Shetland in the far north, to the thriving south coast events such as the Bournemouth & Poole Convention and Keswick-in-Devon (and down to Jersey too), and from Keswick in Wales in the west to a growing number of events in East Anglia. Internationally, there are many countries where multiple events take place. Some ten cities in Japan host interdenominational Keswick events, attracting many hundreds of believers in what is a challenging environment for evangelicals. Australia has events in some ten locations, including the thriving ministry of the Katoomba Christian Convention near Sydney, with its multiple events for people of all ages, and the Belgrave Heights Convention, hosting Easter and summer programmes on their beautiful woodland site outside of Melbourne.
Remarkably, this development was no centrally organised initiative. As people caught the vision, so the ministry has spread – it has truly been a work of the Spirit. And we keep discovering events. I landed recently in Entebbe for a student Bible-teaching event, and several believers asked if I had come to visit Keswick in Kampala – a surprise to me! It was born out of the East African Revival.
Solidarity
Last year there were two significant consultations – one for UK Bible Conventions and local Keswick events, attracting representatives from 25 different cities, and a second consultation for leaders from 12 different countries. The outcome has been the launch of the Keswick Fellowship. In the spirit of the Keswick movement this is not a formal organisation, but a network of like-minded believers throughout the UK and around the world who have affirmed together a commitment to evangelical faith. The Keswick Fellowship is an expression of solidarity across the world, a supportive network for prayer, an opportunity to share resources, and a shared commitment to strengthen the vision.
Although the Keswick movement began over 140 years ago, initiatives are still taking place, with new Keswick events being established in several towns and cities in the UK as well as in other countries. By God’s grace, the launch of the Keswick Fellowship will continue to provide a platform for the proclamation of God’s Word, the life-transforming ministry of God’s Spirit, and the call to wholehearted commitment to God’s Son.
