The desire for a greater knowledge of God captivated those who founded the Keswick Convention.
Longing is part of being human. We have thoughts, we have desires. We are not just thinkers, but lovers. That’s how God made us and he made us for himself. So when our desires lead us astray it doesn’t mean that desire is wrong, rather that we are longing for the wrong things. Ultimately whether we know it or not our longing is for him.
Longing is awoken in us when we experience the brokenness of a fallen world; longing comes when something is missing, when there’s an intangible void to fill, a higher level of beauty to achieve. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
Like a bride’s love for the heavenly bridegroom, only our relationship with Christ will truly satisfy this longing. Like life-giving water to a parched soul. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Longing speaks of the oneness We yearn for a completeness in Christ. Longing fits our past and the object of our longing is our future.
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John Risbridger is Minister and Team Leader at Above Bar Church, Southampton. After coming to Christ at a young age he studied Mathematics and Economics in Nottingham. He spent 10 years on the staff of UCCF after 5 years in NHS management. He has been involved in Keswick Ministries for many years and served as Chair until the Summer of 2017. He is Chair of the Evangelical Alliance Council. He is married to Alison and has two young adult daughters.
I became a Christian aged 16 through the CU at my school. After studying English at university, I worked in printing and publishing before joining a church staff. For 22 years I have been a pastor at Eden Baptist Church in Cambridge. I see the heart of my ministry as prayer, preaching and pastoring. Over the last few years the Lord has pushed me to grow in prayer. It’s been hard but rich.
Alasdair Paine started as Vicar of The Round Church at St Andrew the Great, Cambridge, in January 2011. He is married to Rachel and they have three children. He became a Christian at university and was a teacher for ten years before being ordained. He has previously served at St Leonard’s Exeter and Christ Church Westbourne, Bournemouth.
John Wyatt is Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics at University College London and a Senior Researcher at the Faraday Institute, Cambridge University. He has a long-standing interest in the ethical, spiritual and personal challenges raised by advances in medicine and technology and what it means to live well and to die well in the light of the Christian hope. John is currently President of the Christian Medical Fellowship and chair of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics.
A little more than a decade ago, when I was a doctoral student at Durham University, I attended a Keswick Convention. I now teach Old Testament in a leading postgrad evangelical seminary in Bangalore, India, and I’m delighted that I can participate in Keswick again – though in a different capacity from the last time – to share from my study of the Song of Songs, that exquisite expression of human longing for God.
Revd Dr James Robson is Ministry Director for Keswick Ministries. Before joining the organisation, he served as Senior Tutor and Tutor in Old Testament and Hebrew, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Previously he taught at Oak Hill College, London. His passion is that the whole of the Bible should shape the whole of the church to the glory of God. His most recent book was Honey from the Rock: Deuteronomy for the People of God, published by IVP. He is married to Bridget, and has two grown-up daughters. He enjoys golf, mountain-biking, hill-walking, growing vegetables and armchair cricket.
Jason Mandryk was born, grew up, and studied in Canada before moving to the UK to join the Operation World team. For 20 years, he has served through multiple editions and publications of this ministry, as researcher, editor, author, and team leader. He is thrilled to minister in an exciting time when we are seeing the increasing convergence of information, prayer, and mission. He also enjoys being outdoors amidst God’s created grandeur; Keswick allows the best of both passions.
Andy is a graduate from Oak Hill College and was an Associate Pastor at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh since 2010. In September 2014, he left Charlotte Chapel to join 20schemes and in 2017 planted a church in a housing scheme of Edinburgh called Gracemount.
Vaughan came to faith as he read through Matthew’s Gospel for himself as a teenager. After studying law at Cambridge University and a brief spell doing student ministry in South Africa, he moved to Oxford to study Theology at Wycliffe Hall and has lived in the city ever since. In 1991 he joined the staff of St Ebbe’s Church and since 1998 he has been Rector. He is also the Chairman of the Proclamation Trust.
Mel Lacy teaches at Oakhill College, and is thrilled to be involved with the formation and training of men and women to serve in the local church to facilitate the passing on of the great truths of God to the next generation. Her vision is to see young people equipped to share their faith with those around them, she has been involved in biblical youth and children’s ministry and training for many years. Mel has served as a deacon in the Church of Ireland, and more recently as a youth minister in St John’s, Knutsford, Cheshire.
I am the CEO of Crossways Community, a Christian mental health charity based in Tunbridge Wells. We provide homes and support for those living with poor mental health alongside a social enterprise and a community cafe. We are passionate about helping people in our community understand their own mental health and build better mental resilience. We also want to help Christians understand more about this topic so we can end the stigma around mental health and support one another better.
Duncan was born and raised on a large council estate in London, where he now serves as a pastor. He’s been involved in overseas missionary work, and in the UK: prison ministry, drug rehabilitation work, and youth outreach on various council estates. He and his wife, Shay, have an urban music ministry. They have four children they home-school. Duncan runs the Urban Ministry Program to equip people to make disciples who make disciples in the urban context.
I am Associate Director of The Faraday Institute in Cambridge and Professor of Biochemistry at Southampton University, where my research interests concern the properties of DNA. I am a former chairman of Christians in Science. I am passionate about the positive interaction between science and Christian belief, and I have special interests in bioethics and genetics. I am a licensed lay minister in the Church of England. I am married to Sheila and we have three adult children.
Martin lives and works in Bradford as associate pastor of Grace Community Church, Bedford. He is married to Sarah and they have three children. They have been involved in and loved Keswick Convention for about 20 years. In his spare time, Martin enjoys running.
Paul has been working at Torch since 2016, initially in the Production department printing large print books and magazines etc and now part of the Presence Team leading Torch’s new initiative, Sight Loss Friendly Church. He is passionate about the local church and its importance in the community. With this new initiative we want to enable churches to include, and make church accessible for, people with sight loss, through raising awareness, resources, advice and training.
Trained as an aircraft fitter and telephone engineer, Pete worked with BT’s Community Programme until redundancy intervened. After 15 years with Prospects (now Livability), equipping churches and festivals to include adults with learning disabilities, Pete and his wife felt God’s call to set up Count Everyone In. They long for churches to be welcoming and accessible to people who are often forgotten. Married for 42 years, Pete and Christine live in Newbury. They have two married sons and five grandchildren.
Peter is Minister-at-large of Keswick Ministries. He retired from the role of International Director of Operation Mobilisation in August 2013. He now serves as International Director Emeritus. His new role gives more time for preaching and teaching which today is his main ministry role.
Rebecca McLaughlin holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Cambridge University and a theology degree from Oak Hill College. Her first book, “Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion” (Crossway: 2019) aims to convert roadblocks to Christian faith into signposts to Christ. Rebecca believes Jesus is the answer to all our longings and that all our questions find their “yes” in Him.
Tim Chester is the Chair of Keswick Ministries. He is the pastor of Grace Church Boroughbridge, a faculty member with Crosslands Training and the author of over 40 books.
Originally from Yorkshire, Dominic was a church minister from 1988 to 2015. Since then he has worked with churches, Christian organisations and businesses to develop strategy, leadership and other people-skills. He has also helped with two church plants, lectures at Edinburgh Theological Seminary and preaches regularly. An author and conference speaker, he is married with four grown–up children.
Gary Haugen is the founder and CEO of International Justice Mission – a global organisation who protect the poor from violence throughout the developing world. Prior to IJM, Gary was a human rights lawyer and, in 1994, served as the Director of the UN investigation following the Rwandan genocide. He has authored several books, including ‘The Locust Effect’, and was invited to deliver a TED Talk on the themes of the book which has been viewed almost 2 million times
Jonathan is a former chairman of Keswick Ministries and is now a minister-at-large, serving the Keswick movement in the UK and internationally. He is a Vice President of IFES and the former Director of Langham Preaching, and continues to train leaders and preachers around the world, as well as regularly teaching at Conferences and Conventions. He is the author of many books, including several published by Keswick Ministries/IVP, such as ‘Preaching Matters’, ‘Knowing God Better’, and ‘Habakkuk’. He lives in Oxford with his wife Margaret, and they have a small cluster of energetic grandchildren.
I have served the Lord as a WEC International missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo for about 50 years. God saved and challenged me to serve Him as a full-time missionary while doing my nursing / midwifery training in Belfast and Edinburgh during the early 1960s. I received my call to DRCongo while attending a memorial service for missionaries martyred during the 1964 rebellion. I had many opportunities of proving God’s faithfulness and precious promises during my time Mulita.
For the first time, we are taking groups of Convention visitors into the pencil factory to see how we plan to transform this unique building. There’s a special tour through the building to see the changes underway and a chance to ask questions. This will be followed by prayer in the building.
Ray Ortlund has earned degrees from Wheaton College, Dallas Theological Seminary, The University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Aberdeen. He was ordained in 1975. In addition to teaching Old Testament for nine years at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, Ray’s primary ministry has been as a pastor – in California, Oregon, Georgia and now at Immanuel Church, Nashville, Tennessee. Ray and his wife Jani have been married for 47 years.
Revd Dr James Robson is Ministry Director for Keswick Ministries. Before joining the organisation, he served as Senior Tutor and Tutor in Old Testament and Hebrew, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Previously he taught at Oak Hill College, London. His passion is that the whole of the Bible should shape the whole of the church to the glory of God. His most recent book was Honey from the Rock: Deuteronomy for the People of God, published by IVP. He is married to Bridget, and has two grown-up daughters. He enjoys golf, mountain-biking, hill-walking, growing vegetables and armchair cricket.
Dr Amy Orr-Ewing is the Present Senior Fellow, OCCA, The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. She leads a team of pioneering apologist-evangelists and speaks around the world on how the Christian faith answers the deepest questions of life. Amy gained a DPhil (doctorate) in Theology from the University of Oxford. She is also the co-founder of REBOOT, a youth apologetics initiative aimed at helping young people think deeply about faith.
Dai is a 42 year old follower of Jesus from Wales. He is married to the beautiful Michelle and they have 4 children, 2 rabbits and a dog! Dai is pastor of Redeemer – a diverse inner-city church that he planted in Cardiff in 2017. Dai heads up Red Community – a gospel-centred anti-slavery charity, and is a director of Manumit – a coffee roasting business that employs survivors of modern slavery. He has also written a few books.
Tim Farron became the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale in 2005. He was elected as the President of the Liberal Democrats in 2010. In 2015, Tim was elected Leader of his party, until stepping down after the general election in 2017. He is currently the party’s spokesperson on Communities, Local Government and the North of England. Tim lives in Milnthorpe with his wife Rosie, his daughters Isabella and Gracie and his sons Jude and Laurie. In his limited spare time, he enjoys following the (mis)fortunes of Blackburn Rovers, fell running and playing football.
Matt works for the South Central Gospel Partnership, in the South of England, as Director of Training, and loves to help people get to know the Bible better so they can know their Lord better. He particularly loves teaching from the Psalms, helping people see how they are a gift from God to us to help us relate to him in all areas of life.
Mel Lacy teaches at Oakhill College, and is thrilled to be involved with the formation and training of men and women to serve in the local church to facilitate the passing on of the great truths of God to the next generation. Her vision is to see young people equipped to share their faith with those around them, she has been involved in biblical youth and children’s ministry and training for many years. Mel has served as a deacon in the Church of Ireland, and more recently as a youth minister in St John’s, Knutsford, Cheshire.
Liz Cox works as the Minister for Women and Community at St Giles, Derby. She moved to Derby from Sydney, Australia in 2004 with her husband David and their three children Rachel, Olivia and Jordan. Since then their family has expanded to include two sons-in-law, twin grandchildren and a cat. Liz likes drinking tea, watching films and series, cooking and eating out. Most of all she enjoys talking, and especially talking about the Bible.
Tim Chester is the Chair of Keswick Ministries. He is the pastor of Grace Church Boroughbridge, a faculty member with Crosslands Training and the author of over 40 books.
For the first time, we are taking groups of Convention visitors into the pencil factory to see how we plan to transform this unique building. There’s a special tour through the building to see the changes underway and a chance to ask questions. This will be followed by prayer in the building.
