A closer look at the Southern Aroostook Church of Christ

By Ben Austin
Staff Writer
    In a small community most aspects of life are more up close and personal than city life, and a church in town is now looking to be the “small community” of church goers Houlton.
    The Southern Aroostook Church of Christ has been a relatively unknown church in Houlton for the last five years. Up until last week, the church and its 16 members quietly worshipped in the house of Don Keiser, who serves as the minister for the church.
    The Southern Aroostook Church of Christ takes a more historic perspective of the bible. Keiser stresses the need to get back to the first century teachings of the church, rather than the more liberal teachings of larger churches. The S.A. Church of Christ is a completely sovereign congregation, which emphasizes personal relationships with each other and with God based primarily on the bible.
    “Being small, that means we offer more of a family setting, as opposed to high church or something like that. We are looking to give people an opportunity to come and learn in a more relaxed environment,” explained Keiser.
    Last year, the church started to contemplate stepping out of the church to let voice their word and let the community know their message.
    “For the first few years we kind of concentrated on trying to grow spiritually and become a tighter unit. About a year ago we realized that, if we’re really going to be about what the bible says then we need to follow the great commission, that talks about going out into the world and teaching others,” summarized Keiser.
    Members of the church finally took steps to opening up last week, when, along with members of a congregation in Maryland, walked through a Houlton neighborhood to hand out fliers and voice their message to those who would lend an ear.
    “The people with us were impressed by the friendliness of the people they encountered here in Houlton. I think it speaks well of Houlton,” said Kaiser.
    While the townsfolk represented Houlton in a very well to the out-of-towners, the church would like to carry on the very same personalized, friendly, small town feel into their message.
    “We’re just like all other humans, we’re not perfect, we’re still learning, and we will be learning until the day we die, but our goal is to learn from the bible, not from what somebody else has decided,” said Keiser.
    For more information on the Southern Aroostook Church of Christ, call 207-532-5683 or check out the Web site at www.sa-coc.org.