Keswick has always been about transformation.
The Convention’s founder Thomas Dundas Harford-Battersby, Vicar of St John’s Keswick, was a man troubled by a lack of holiness in his own walk with God. It was while on holiday on the Cumbrian coast at Silloth that he was first introduced to a new teaching that would lead to a personal transformation by a work of God’s Holy Spirit. In just three weeks, he and his friend Robert Wilson organised their own “Holiness Convention” in June 1875 using a tent in the garden of Harford-Battersby’s Keswick vicarage (see photo of the 150th anniversary book cover*). Hundreds attended, and such was the success it was decided to hold another the following year, and so it has continued for 150 years.
Over those years, thousands of lives have been transformed. Some have returned home from the Convention changed, ready to live for and serve God in a new way in their daily lives. Countless others have heard the call to vocational full-time service either in their own country or out on the worldwide mission field. Initially it was thought that the introduction of a call to service and mission would distract from the main purpose of the Convention, however a natural reaction to the life transformations experienced at Keswick was a willingness and desire to serve. Hudson Taylor spoke at early meetings and eventually missionary giving at the Convention funded several Keswick missionaries, the first, of course, being Amy Carmichael. The archives contain many reports sent by Keswick missionaries to the Missionary Committee recording what God was doing in and through their work for him. Such was the impact of the Convention’s call for lives to be transformed, that many other Christian organisations and mission societies trace their roots back to Keswick.
Over the last 150 years Keswick itself has been transformed. In the early years, the call to holiness was solely a personal transaction between an individual and God. Following the First World War, society was reeling from the sheer scale of what had happened, which was anything but holy! People came to Keswick searching for answers. Regular Convention speaker Graham Scroggie commented: “The war has widened our horizon, and increased our sympathies, and is leading us not to a new message, but to a proper adjustment of the old message to the new condition of things.”
Under the leadership of Stuart Holden in the 1920s, Keswick responded. Holden’s aim was to press for a spiritual outlook which engaged with society, encompassed younger people and was genuinely interdenominational. He set up the very first youth meetings which contributed to the formation of the Inter Varsity Fellowship (now UCCF). Founder Norman Grubb said that “with Keswick came fire!” Holden also broadened the pool of speakers, which had previously been predominantly Anglican, to include many more non-conformists. By the time Holden stepped down in 1929 attendance at the Convention had risen dramatically, and it was in a much healthier state.
The second major transformation came in the 1960s. Over the 20th century the theological understanding of holiness had developed within the evangelical church in the UK. Whilst the original call for personal transformation was still very clear, a more Biblically robust understanding of how a person became holy was set by new, younger speakers such as Alec Motyer, Ken Prior and, in particular, John Stott.
The third transformation came in the 1980s when there was serious talk amongst the leadership as to whether Keswick had “had its day”. With the arrival of new Bible -teaching events, Keswick felt dated and was in danger of not connecting with a new generation. After a great deal of prayer, Philip Hacking led a major transformation which formed the foundations of the Keswick Ministries we know today. He argued that “the message of holiness needs to be majored on today because it isn’t being majored on today.” Alongside a reaffirmation to clear, Bible-based gospel teaching, he introduced major changes in the established weekly pattern of preaching. The style and content of the meetings were modernised, and a clear future vision was set. Former Chair of Keswick Ministries, John Risbridger, commented: “It is hard to over-estimate the significance of Philip’s visionary leadership which helped transform the Convention into the large contemporary, family event it is today.”
As Keswick sets out on the next 150 years, the call to transformation remains at its core: hearing God’s word, becoming like God’s Son and serving through mission, which, God willing, will lead to the transformation of His people for many years to come.
*The photo shows the cover of the 150th Keswick anniversary book which is available to purchase at the Convention or online at 10ofthose.com . To celebrate 15 decades of Keswick Ministries the book tells the story of 15 lives transformed by God’s grace at the Convention. But more than that, it tells the bigger story of countless individuals who met with God at Keswick and have gone on to live with passion for his glory, at home and abroad, in ordinary but eternal ways. Packed with fascinating photos, this book reflects on the past but also looks to the future and the story God is still writing. A story that he invites you to be a part of.
