FEBRUARY 28, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
KeizerCommunity
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Keizer Christian’s roots in city grow deep
By LAUREN MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer Christian Church
congregants believe in what
Rev. Erik Free called the “core
elements of Christianity.”
They include tenets such as:
Jesus as the Son of God, who
came to save the world, God
as divine creator of the world,
a mission to spread the Gospel
and the practice of baptism and
holy communism.
“Even amongst our church-
es you won’t fi nd the same
answer to any given question,”
Free said.
Free has been the pastor of
Keizer Christian Church for
three years.
The only requirement to
becoming a member is a pro-
fession of faith – there is no
statement to sign.
Keizer Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) is a Prot-
estant denomination of Chris-
tianity. The denomination
came into being through the
Stone-Campbell movement, a
Christian movement in the ear-
ly 19th Century that wanted to
unify all the churches
and model them af-
ter the church in the
New Testament.
The
name,
Stone-Campbell,
came from the lead-
The seven square miles of Keizer
ers of two separate
are home to more than a dozen
groups that had sim-
churches of various religious
ilar ideologies about
affi liations. Matters of Faith is
how the church
a series aiming to explain what
was supposed to
makes these places of worship
look. Barton Stone
different and unique.
lead a group called,
“Christians,” based
in Kentucky. In
western Pennsylvania and Vir- common Christian belief,”
ginia, Thomas and Alexander Free said.
The church has no set be-
Campbell were starting a group
liefs
on theologically debated
called, “Disciples of Christ.”
topics
that are not considered
They believed that creeds
(formal statements of Christian core elements. Despite the dif-
belief) kept the church separat- ference in opinions on certain
ed and, as a result, Keizer Chris- topics, Free said the church is
tian Church has no doctrinal “committed to being church
together,” and it welcomes and
statement.
“We avoid strict adherence encourages questions.
“We are an outward fo-
to historical doctrinal state-
cused
worshiping community
ments as a requirement for
membership, asking only for – our time together on Sunday
agreement to a general state- mornings is meant to fi ll us,
ment of faith meant to refl ect equip us, and inspire us to serve
God by serving God’s people,
the people of our community,
each day of the week,” Free
said.
They operate under the
Disciples of Christ denomi-
nation, but do not answer to a
higher denominational power.
Free said individual churches
are responsible for themselves.
He added Disciples of Christ
are closely tied with the United
Church of Christ.
“All churches are self-de-
scribed as welcoming,” he said,
but he still describes Keizer
Christian Church that way.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Keizer Christian Church, a Protestant denomination, has its
foundation in the Stone-Campbell Movement of the early 19th
Century.
“We expect people to come as
you are.”
Free said there are a mix of
worshippers
in the con-
g re g a t i o n ,
“some peo-
ple wear a
sports coat,
some people
wear jeans
and some
people wear
Rev. Erik Free
their favor-
ite
sports
sweatshirt,” he said. “I tend to
preach in a suit and I get teased
for it,” he added.
Though the congregation
is older, the music is a mix of
traditional hymns and contem-
porary worship and a choir is a
staple of the church.
“There’s something for ev-
erybody so nobody is happy all
the time,” he said, smiling.
Keizer Christian Church has
a long history in Keizer. They
were planted here by Salem
First Christian Church and
were originally located on the
plot that became Albertsons.
After selling the land to Al-
bertsons they moved the orig-
inal building to Wheatland
Road, where the church is now.
They split the building in half
and added the sanctuary in the
middle.
The congregation is one of
the funding churches of the
Keizer Community Food Bank
and the Keizer Community
Dinner. They host a “Fun in the
Field” event in the summers
which is a local event for the
neighbors.
“It is a neighborhood, carni-
val-type event with activity and
game booths and food that we
offer free to the community,”
he said.
Keizer Christian Church is
located at 6945 Wheatland Rd
N. They meet weekly on Sun-
day’s from 10 to 11:30 a.m.; af-
ter the service there is a time of
fellowship.
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