What makes Kerry Keyser’s classrooms come alive?
“It is the presence of the Holy Spirit touching my students — children and adults alike — in ways that deepen their faith. Knowing that Jesus is alive and really does speak to them and through them. My students come alive when they speak about God and share all he does for them and others when they pray,” offers Kerry.
The lens through which Kerry teaches religion to her elementary students at St. Mary School of Charlevoix is “Living Our Faith.” The children actively pray for one another and for the many people who request their prayers, knowing “the power of the Holy Spirit flows through them.” They frequently pray walking through the school and parish asking God to bless everyone who comes to “experience the love of God,” she shares.
Kerry is also the director for Encounter Charlevoix, which is a satellite campus of the Encounter School of Ministry based out of Brighton.
“This (Encounter School) is the ‘more’ that many adults are looking for to deepen their relationship with God, and for Jesus to come alive in their hearts through the Holy Spirit. Thus, allowing them to share Christ with those around them in a way that they too, experience the presence of God,” attests Kerry.
Discipleship Formation
Kerry’s faith journey catapulted during her collegiate years at Albion College. “It was there I met, for the first time, people who spoke about Jesus as their best friend, and I wanted what they had, an encounter with the living Jesus.
“Through a campus ministry, I learned to pray from my heart and with my own words. It was there when I was first introduced to the Catholic Church and her teachings when a friend gave me a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This was inspirational as it had the answers to all my questions,” she recalls.
“I was also given a copy of Scott Hahn’s The Lamb’s Supper, where I learned the biblical traditions of the Mass. This created a deep longing to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, fully present, and not as a symbolic representation of him that I was receiving in the Christian Church I had been attending.”
That longing was fulfilled when Kerry entered the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in 2002.
“In 2004, I went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje to visit the Marian apparition site. The leader prayed for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for me, and I came home with a new zeal for Eucharistic adoration, attending daily Mass, confession, fasting, praying the rosary and a love for Mary that I had never known before.”
In 2021, Kerry, an Illinois native with family ties to Northern Michigan, told her husband: “I know you already know this; I think God is calling us to live in Charlevoix and to minister and serve there. At the time, I had no idea what that would look like. But the Lord knew. He was just waiting for my ‘yes’ to move up north.”
Impact
Kerry shares, “Each time we give our ‘yes’ to God, we allow him to fill us with more of his presence and become more of who God created us to be.
By trade, Kerry is a licensed clinical professional counselor in Illinois and a certified spiritual director through Franciscan University.
“When I was a student at the Encounter School of Ministry, an instructor heard God say I had an anointing for teaching. I wrote it in my journal as it was not until two years later that I was asked to teach. This word has served as an encouragement that Jesus is with me as I teach about him in all settings.”
Her teaching is making an impact on the youngest believers. “Getting to pray for people has put peace in my heart,” says one of Kerry’s fifth-grade students. “I feel the power of God going through me and into the person I am praying for. I feel as though God is talking through my mouth,” offers two of her older elementary students.
“I pray for the young, elderly, dead, sick and healthy because I know God is listening and will help,” adds a sixth-grade student.
“It is such a joy when my students share how they experience the presence of Jesus in a very real way when they are praying in adoration, altar serving, at Mass and praying at home with their siblings. Jesus is always making himself known to them and they come alive when he does,” reflects Kerry.
“In April 2023, Kerry and her class prayed over my son,” shares Julie Chellis. “He was having sinus issues which caused hearing loss in both ears and speech problems. I went ahead with the surgical procedures knowing that God was in charge.
“Six months after his surgery, we went in for a check-up and unexpectedly all was corrected and appeared normal. The doctors completed a hearing test on him, and he had perfect hearing. After we left the doctor’s office, I reminded him of his teacher and classmates praying over him. I asked if he thought the doctors healed him or if it was God. He was quiet for a moment, and he said God healed me.
“My son’s faith and love for God only grew stronger after that. All kids are born with God in them. I am so grateful that Kerry can bring that alive. To show the kids what God can do, and all we have to do is ask.”
Dr. Kristen McClure echoes the sentiments: “My 10-year-old had a virus last winter that caused severe neck pain, and he was unable to sit upright without support for his head. Kerry did a Zoom call with us and led my son through the prayer for himself. He felt like a sword was being pulled out of his upper back, and he started to have pain relief. By the end of our Zoom call, he could sit upright better. It was amazing to witness.
“Kerry has done an excellent job of teaching the kids to listen to the Holy Spirit and be mindful of others’ needs. I have attended the beginning of her religion class a few times and I am amazed at how sweet and thoughtful the prayers are coming from these children. Kerry is a huge blessing to our kids.”
Similarly, the Encounter students feel blessed to have Kerry as an instructor. Student Ben Macks shared: “Kerry’s enthusiasm and love for our Lord is inspiring and contagious. I always appreciate her insight and devotion which has helped me strengthen my own faith.”
Speak to the Soul
Another way Kerry helps others to encounter the love of Christ is through her original piano compositions for prayer that “stir the heart and evoke the movement of one’s soul.”
“The songs elicit a sense of hope that comes from the assurance of God’s presence in all of life’s joys and trials,” she offers.
Her songs are available on her website: HolyHopeMusic.com.
When asked what drives Kerry in all her work, she humbly attests it is “a desire to bring others into a relationship with Jesus to authentically experience him and his love.
“Everything changes when we know in our heart the promise God speaks over each of us in Isaiah 43:1: ‘I have called you by name, you are mine.’
“God loves to make himself known to us. … We just have to ask him,” ends Kerry.
Encounter Ministries Charlevoix
Encounter School of Ministry, developed by Father Mathias Thelen and Patrick Reis, teaches, equips and activates disciples to demonstrate the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit in their spheres of influence.
The Encounter Ministries Charlevoix satellite campus opened at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish. The ministry originated in January 2022 when Father Peter Wigton – a 2021 graduate of the two-year Encounter School of Ministry’s Brighton campus – was sitting at Kerry Keyser’s dining table stating his desire to bring this ministry to Northern Michigan.
“No matter how meekly we give our ‘yes’ to God, he will strengthen and equip us for his calling,” Kerry recounts when Father Peter asked her to be the director after discussing the potential fruitfulness of the program and its impact in our area.
“I am incredibly blessed to have Father Peter, Jeff Crane and Steve Tillotson as our leadership team ministering to the 30 adult students from across our Gaylord diocese in our opening year,” she says.
“What is especially valuable about Encounter Charlevoix Campus is that we are learning how to be a field hospital. To not only help those in our parishes, but also those in our community in very meaningful ways. This is evangelization at its best,” says John Keyser, a first-year Encounter student in Charlevoix.
“The discovery of Encounter Ministries has been life-changing for me and my ministry,” adds Father Peter. “It has also begun to shift mindsets and culture in the parish.”
The program is rooted in Catholic teaching and the curriculum is reviewed by Catholic theologians to ensure an authentically Catholic perspective. The program is available online or in person, and participants deeply explore their identity in Christ, praying for healing, hearing and understanding God’s voice, and releasing God’s presence in their respective spheres of influence.
The Encounter School has set the Charlevoix students’ hearts on fire. First-year student Marcee Kargol, of Petoskey, shares: “Encounter Ministries has taken me to a deeper relationship with Jesus and is making me a better person. I have learned to evangelize and share God‘s love with others through his son, Jesus Christ.”
Student Jamie Kalkman, of Petoskey, adds: “Encounter School of Ministry has been powerful in my journey to grow in faith, to know my identity as a child of God, to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit in my daily life and to become an instrument of God’s healing power. In the name of Jesus, I’m learning to bring healing, peace, freedom, love and joy beyond imagination to myself and others.”
Peggy LeBlanc, of Alanson, concludes, “I’ve been deeply touched to realize the power of the Holy Spirit, to know the incredible love and to bring that to others, sharing hope and healing.
Are you hungry to experience “more of God” and the power of the Holy Spirit so the love of God may flow through you in an ever greater way? Learn more about Encounter Ministries at https://encounterschool.org/charlevoix/. A new two-year Charlevoix Encounter Ministries cohort will commence in September.
To discern if the two-year school is for you, the Charlevoix campus is offering a four-evening Summer Intensive experience, providing an overview of the first year, July 15-18, from 6-9 pm at St. Mary in Charlevoix. For more information, visit https://encounterschool.org/charlevoix.
