In 1897, Penn-Lewis reportedly first visited Keswick, Cumbria, where she "prayed publicly". She returned there as a public speaker in 1898. In 1901, she served as a speaker at the Scottish Bridge of the Allan Keswick Convention. There was controversy at the time, because she addressed a mixed audience of men and women. She was originally supposed to teach only in the women's meetings of the Convention, but she was asked to step in for a missing speaker. In subsequent years, Penn-Lewis attracted an audience of male ministers, who attended the women's meetings just to hear her speeches.