For the past 12 years, Roger Willmore has traveled to Japan to preach at a Keswick Convention — a gathering that’s not your normal conference.
For one, there aren’t new themes or a variety of sermon topics. It’s the same outline every year and has been for 145 years. The Keswick Convention, which started in a small town in England by the same name and has spread around the world, is a revival-style meeting that follows a certain format and emphasizes key points of the faith, points like the assurance of cleansing from sin and the power of the Holy Spirit.
The convention’s ultimate purpose is the total dedication of life to God, Willmore said.
And preparation for the meeting’s sermons have taken a good bit of dedication, too.
Meticulous translation
“In Japan, they are very meticulous about the translation,” said Willmore, director of missions for Calhoun Baptist Association.
In the past he’s had to turn in sermons a month in advance to give translators time to get everything just right for when he preaches live. That’s been no different this year, though pretty much everything else is.
Because of COVID-19, Willmore isn’t preaching in person. He recently recorded videos of sermons to be aired at conventions in Trinidad and Osaka, Japan. Then he was available by Zoom to interact with participants afterward.
‘Different experience’
It’s been a different experience for him, but he said he’s had two reactions. First, he’s thankful the conference has been able to keep going.
And second, he’s reminded to pray even more for the endurance of pastors in his association who are trying to navigate all that comes with gathering safely or streaming online because of COVID-19.
“Almost daily I watch pastors in our association who are coming back to gathering for worship services, facing positive cases in their churches and then having to decide when and how to shut it down again,” Willmore said. “Pastors all over the place are dealing with this all the time on a pretty large scale.”
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