LEWISTON — Per Almquist knew he would be a minister even before he knew where he fit in as a Christian.

As an Air Force brat, his family moved from city to city. He’d attend whatever church was nearby. By the time he reached college, he described himself as “generic evangelical protestant.”

Then, he felt the tug of the ministry.

“I’m a very systematic person,” Almquist said. First, he read his Bible. He picked up books on theology. His aim was to find a religion that fit.

“I sat down and started to walk through this, ‘What is it that the scripture teaches?'” he said. “‘Where do I fit in the theological spectrum?'”

He found his place with the Presbyterian Church. 

The Calvinist doctrine and its strict interpretation of the Bible seemed to fit Almquist’s beliefs.

Today, he is looking for a fit of another kind.

Almquist is searching for a niche for his church — Free Grace Presbyterian Church in Lewiston — among Lewiston-Auburn’s small and large congregations.

So far, it’s going well.

The church was begun as an offshoot of the Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Portland. Both churches belong to the Presbyterian Church in America.

Working from Portland, Almquist formed Bible study groups in 2007 with a few Lewiston-area Presbyterians. The meetings grew so fast that in May 2010, the congregation held its first Sunday morning services at the former Carroll’s Music building at 160 Canal St.

And this August, the congregation will begin to govern itself. Church members plan to elect their own elders and formally install Almquist as their pastor. 

“It’s been a great ride for us,” Almquist, 36, said. For the first Sunday, the church hosted about 60 people. There was an expected dip in attendance, but it has bounced back. Sundays now average 50 people.

One of the selling points is the church’s location in the former music shop.

“It seems really important to people, especially around here, that we have our own building,” Almquist said. Whenever he mentions Carroll’s music, local folks immediately know the spot. They give him a little history, too.

Almquist has learned that the building’s tenants have included two restaurants, a bank, a spa and an arcade known as Ali Baba’s Cave.

It’s the kind of history that makes the soft-spoken preacher smile.

In the South, where he spent much of his youth, churches routinely share or lease space. The permanence of a New England steeple, pulpit and organ seem far from his mind.

He appreciates the space, particularly for his collection of books, but it’s not as important as what happens there, he said.

“We’re here because we’re all broken,” Almquist said. “We aspire to a life that lives for God and His glory.”

It’s territory Almquist has explored.

When he finished his studies at his seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, he taught there for six years.  After a while, he tired of attending services rather than leading them.

“I wasn’t living up to what God called me to do,” he said.

That epiphany sent him and his wife, Beth, to Portland and, finally to Lewiston.

“It’s not about us,” he said. “It’s about the glory of God.”

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