In Co-Operation with Greenwich School of Theology UK the North Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY (POTCHEFSTROOM CAMPUS) in co-operation with Greenwich School of Theology UK The North of Ireland Keswick Convention: An intensive evaluation of its impact on Protestantism in the North of Ireland since 1914. by the Reverend JOSEPH FELL M.A. # 23309318 Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Church and Dogma History at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Promoter: Professor Ben Rees Ph.D. Co-Promoter: Professor Dries Du Plooy Th.D. May 2013 Abstract There can be no doubt that the Keswick Convention in Cumbria, England has had an enormous impact on the lives of many Christians and churches worldwide since its foundation in 1875. This thesis traces its history, albeit it briefly until 1914 and the evolution of its Teaching until 2012. The North of Ireland Keswick Convention, known locally from 1917 as ‘The Portstewart Convention’and from 2005 as ‘Keswick at Portstewart’, was carefully modelled on the Keswick Convention in Cumbria. Its original leaders invested heavily in property and have left a legacy without which the current Convention could not exist. Both Conventions were focused, through the sequence of Keswick Teaching, to encourage the promotion of Scriptural and practical holiness. Ever since the North of Ireland Keswick was established, most of its Speakers, also preached at the Cumbrian Keswick and the general format of Keswick was adopted. These facts created connectivity between both gatherings. The Keswick Convention and the North of Ireland Keswick Convention were both established in particular historical contexts and both seemed to be God’s provision for His church at rather difficult times. The thesis attempts to explain the theological emphasises which inspired the Keswick Movement. It also provides biographical details of the founders and the way in which God prepared them before they became the immediate catalysts for both Conventions. The long story of the North of Ireland Keswick Convention is explained and an analysis is given of its struggles and challenges as its leadership sought to cope with an ever changing church scene. Not only did they cope, but they also developed the Convention’s ministry and this is explained in the course of this thesis The main focus of the thesis is an evaluation of the impact made by the North of Ireland Keswick Convention upon Protestantism in the North of Ireland. The contribution made has been significant through the annual Convention itself, through local Conventions and through a number of ancillary ministries. Many people have been called into what is called “full time” Christian service through the ministry of the Convention. This greatly enhanced the impact of the Convention locally and worldwide. ii The North of Ireland Keswick Convention has been rejuvenated since 2005. Not only was its name changed, but a change of mindset also occurred. In 2013 the Convention is a faithful contemporary expression of the Keswick ideal. For a few years, the North of Ireland Keswick Convention became a Bible Week and followed a thematic approach to its ministry. In 2011 the Convention Committee reverted to the Keswick sequence of teaching although not in any slavish manner. Every organisation has to adapt itself to the context and culture in which it exists and the North of Ireland Keswick Convention has with varying degrees of success followed this dictum. The thesis follows the course of its development through times of growth, consolidation, decline and renewed growth throughout its 100 years. iii Acknowledgements The Ministry of God’s Word at The North of Ireland Keswick Convention has moulded my life ever since I began to attend in the late 1950’s. My own minister, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Fitch of Ravenhill Presbyterian Church, Belfast was a Keswick man and his ministry strongly reflected Keswick spirituality. Every year, and for many years, he took a party from the Congregation to Keswick. In 1965, as a university student, I joined the party and had the privilege of being present at the significant morning Bible Readings taken by the late Rev Dr. J.R.W. Stott and which were subsequently published by Inter Varsity Press under the title, Men Made New. Dr. Stott’s masterful exposition of Romans 5-8 was both illuminating and inspiring. That same year I heard Dr. Stott expound John 10 at the Ministers’ Meeting and that was a formative experience for me. The Rev. Ernest Kevan, Principal of London Bible College, on his first visit to Keswick as a Speaker, delivered the Bible Readings in 1953, and they were subsequently published by Pickering and Inglis under the title, The Saving Work of the Holy Spirit. He was an interesting choice! The previous year the Rev. Graham Scroggie had given Bible Readings from Romans in which he had clearly expounded the usual understanding of Keswick teaching at that time. However, Kevan offered a more Reformed interpretation. Keswick was changing and in 1965, Dr. Stott’s Bible Readings were a significant watershed. I remember something of the debate that the Bible Readings caused. I have been a member of the North of Ireland Keswick Committee since 1986, serving as Secretary from 1991 until 2004, when I was appointed Chairman. I want to express my thanks to Mr. J. Lawson McDonald A.C.I.S., a former Secretary and my immediate predecessor as Chairman of the Convention for his help in providing some primary source material. The Very Rev. Dr. W.M. Craig M.A., B.D., a former Convention Chairman, gave me great encouragement, insights and many personal memories. The Deputy Librarian at Union Theological College, Belfast, Mr. Donald Garvie M.A., B.D., M. Th., was never bothered by my many requests for books and articles and I thank him. I am also grateful to Mr. Paul Henry of the Craigavon Library Services for his help with several important Quaker sources, the staff at the Linenhall Library Belfast, and to the librarians at my alma mater, Trinity College, Dublin. My Promoters, the Rev. Professors Ben Rees of Liverpool and Dries Du Plooy of the North West University, (Potchefstroom Campus) gave me much advice and encouragement and I iv thank them both. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Eleanor M. Evans, the Liaison Administrator at Greenwich School of Theology (UK) for her invaluable help with many issues during the period of my research and writing. While attending the North of Ireland Keswick in 1968, I met the young woman who would become my wife. Her name was Sheila E. Dunlop and her father, the Very Rev. Dr. James Dunlop M.A. was the Convention Chairman at the time. Finally, I want to thank Sheila for her patience, understanding and encouragement, as in our retirement from active congregational ministry in Londonderry, N. Ireland, she encouraged and supported me in my research into the Convention which has meant so much to us, both before and throughout our married life. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: KESWICK IN CUMBRIA (1875-1914) AND IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND (1914-1945)……………………………………………………………...5 2.1 The Keswick Convention and in its immediate historical setting in 1875............................5 2.1.1 A brief analysis of the American Holiness and the British Higher Life Movements ...........................................................8 2.1.2 The Broadlands, Oxford and Brighton Conferences as preparation for the Keswick Convention....................................................12 2.2 Rev. Canon T.D. Harford-Battersby and the Keswick Convention....................................13 2.3 The development of the Keswick Convention the ministry, the leaders and its expansion (1875 -1914)...............................16 2.4 The North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1914-1945).....................................................20 2.4.1 Pre 1914 Irish Keswick Conventions……………………………………….22 2.4.2 The North of Ireland – politically, ecclesiastically and socially in 1914………………………………………...27 2.5 Keswick comes to Portstewart in 1914…………………………………………………...31 2.5.1 The Leaders of the North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1914 – 1945)......………………………………………………33 2.5.2 The Speakers and the ministry at the North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1914 -1945) …………………………………………43 2.5.3 Challenges encountered by the North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1914 – 1945)......…………………………………….47 CHAPTER 3: KESWICK TEACHING …………………………………………………………..64 3.1 Keswick’s historic interpretation of Sanctification...............…………………………….68 3.2 Keswick Teaching analysised…………………………………………………………….72 3.2.1 Augustinian Holiness, Pelagian Holiness And Wesleyan Perfectionism……………………………………………….74 3.2.2 Keswick’s response to a major theological critique of its Teaching……………………………………………………….…...…79 3.2.3 Is there an authentic 21st Century Keswick Teaching? ................................ 80 3.3 A Teaching reflected in hymnody………………………………………………………..87 3.4 A Teaching that inspired service…………………………………………………………96 vi CHAPTER 4 THE NORTH OF IRELAND KESWICK CONVENTION (1946-2013)………………………………………………………………..111 4.1 The North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1946 – 2013) ……………………...111 4.1.1 The Leaders of the North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1946 – 2013)……….……………………………………………………..114 4.1.2 The Speakers at the North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1946 -2013)…….....………………………………………………………126 4.1.3 Major challenges faced by the North of Ireland Keswick Convention (1946 – 2013).....……………………………………126 4.1.3.1 Protestant Fundamentalism………………………………………..127