Keswick Ministries Spring Appeal: Why Being Together Still Matters in an Online World
Keswick Ministries has launched its Spring Appeal 2026, asking supporters to give towards the Keswick Convention's Kids & Youth ministry and its commitment to free livestreaming and teaching resources. CEO Mark Ellis reflects on why gathered worship remains irreplaceable.

Analysis
In an age when world-class Bible teaching is available at the tap of a screen and AI can condense a half-hour sermon into a two-minute summary, Keswick Ministries is making a case for something that algorithms cannot replicate: the irreplaceable experience of being together as the people of God.
CEO Mark Ellis opens the 2026 Spring Appeal with a question that many church leaders are quietly wrestling with — does gathered worship still matter when everything is available online? His answer is both theologically grounded and warmly personal. We are not machines, he writes. We are human, made in God's image, made relational. My joy in Jesus is amplified by your joy in Jesus. My courage to follow him is strengthened by your courage to follow him.
The appeal is raising funds for two specific priorities. The first is the Convention's Kids & Youth ministry, which Keswick describes as costly because of its commitment to a high ratio of engaged and motivated leaders working in small groups where, as Ellis puts it, God's truth can be riveted into young lives. As numbers of young people attending continue to grow, a larger team is needed. The second priority is the Convention's commitment to accessibility — livestreaming all teaching live and making it freely available afterwards, never hoarding the riches of God's word.
The Keswick Convention, held each summer in the Lake District, has been a gathering point for evangelical Christians from across the UK and beyond for over 150 years. Its influence on British Christianity — in terms of missionary sending, theological formation, and the cultivation of a devotional culture centred on Scripture — is difficult to overstate. The Spring Appeal is an invitation to be part of sustaining that legacy for another generation.