LEWISTON — The Lewiston Baptist Church has announced that its grand opening celebration will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, with Sunday School starting at 9:30. The church will meet at 437 Main St., one of the historic homes of Lewiston. All are invited to attend.

The founder and pastor of the new church is Tim Kelly, a native of Missouri with roots in Maine. Out of high school, he attended and graduated from Northeast Missouri State University in Kirksville, Mo., with a bachelor of arts degree in music. He started his own business in 1991 with a two-pronged focus: tuning pianos, but more importantly, teaching students to play the piano. After 12 years, he sold his business and went to Bible College to train for the ministry.

Kelly and his wife, Beth, of 16 years, have one son, Grant, who also plays piano and violin. Beth enjoys baking, gardening and working with children. Tim will continue piano teaching and tuning part time, but plans on devoting most of his time to the ministry. The Kelly family enjoys singing the Gospel through sacred music ministry.

When asked about his philosophy of ministry, Pastor Kelly said, “Well, historically, Baptist Churches are well known for holding orthodox doctrinal positions on such truths as the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross, His bodily resurrection, the eternal security of the believer, the second coming of Christ and salvation by the grace of God through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. Certainly, we stand for all those truths and preach them faithfully and unapologetically. But just as important, we believe that God has called us to minister to the spiritual needs of the people of Lewiston. We truly hope that many Lewiston residents will give us that opportunity.”