KLESIS MINISTRIES DBA imagine/Northampton

Klesis Ministries was founded in 1990 in CT as the inner healing/counseling ministry of Kit and Tricia McDermott. Over the next 24 years, its work would expand to include Spiritual Drection, career cousling using the PLAYMAKER Profile and doing Klesis Listening in Christ Retreats 

in 2007 the McDermott's moved to Northampton to plant imagine/Northampron Church. Fascinated with the missional movement of Christians, especially young folks moving into the cities seeking to serve others with the abounding love of Christ, we moved onto Main Street as a church with counseling offices and the imagine ARTGallery. Our goal was to connect people to God's love for them by doing the unexpected, breaking people's fears of Christians by being kind, respectful and gracious.

We've served the homeless, the disenfranchised, and the defeated. We've also served college students, young families and old folks, or the dying in Hospice care. 

One of the most meaningful ways we've connected with the Pioneer Valley is the imagine ARTGallery Tricia launched 2 years ago. We'd never done an art gallery. Tricia had studied illustration in college and has a great design sense. So we dove in.

We didn't expect the response we got. People loved the quality of the artists we chose and said so. Many of them sold their work. Artists began to inquire about showing at the gallery. We had the privilege of helping some of the artists have their own show for the first time. It inspired them to continue pursuing their art. On Arts Night Out our little space would be packed for the art, but also for the outstanding spread of food Tricia put out. People couldn't believe the quality. They began to call us their "favorite" gallery. It was all more than we could imagine. We connected with folks who wouldn't come to us as a church, but felt safe to see art well done and lavish hospitality.

Over the years we have been inspired by a God who heals people through ordinary people like us. We want to keep helping others have access to such healing and maturing, including knowing their motivational design, or being able to come on retreat and listen to God for a bit without hurry and pressure. 

1. We want to give PLAYMAKER Profiles to high school juniors and college sophomores so they understand their motivational designs and pursue education or careers which fit their passion. We want to help couples getting ready to marry to know how their individual motivational designs will effect their life together.
2. We want more people to be able to come on a Klesis Listening in Christ Retreat for Groups, or an Immersion Retreat for Individuals and Couples so they might find deep intimacy with the God who is far more than they imagine.
3. We want to expand how we can beautify the world around us with great art and build relationships wth artists which express the love of Christ for them by funding a new space.

Since 1980, we've seen so many people from all walks of life healed and set free to live fruitful and fulfilling lives despite what horrors happened to them or what they did. Help us continue and expand this freeing and equipping work in the Pioneer Valley.