Christ United Methodist Church stands at the corner of Harlem and Saratoga Roads in Amherst, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. From a 1949 gathering of about one hundred people in the basement of a new parsonage grew a congregation that today stretches well beyond its 1959 milestone of one thousand members. Its mission is to "make connections and offer opportunities for faith, love, and service," and that vision is lived out across Western New York and as far away as Uganda. The church building, with a sanctuary dedicated in 1962, sits behind a parking lot off Saratoga Road, and the same red-brick structure that has served worshippers for more than six decades also houses a nursery school, a youth orchestra, and a long list of community partners.
Sunday Worship at Ten
Worship happens every Sunday at 10:00 a.m., both in person and online, with the livestream available through the church's YouTube channel. The service includes a Children's Corner at the rear of the sanctuary, plus a glass-walled play space known as the Sky Box that overlooks the worship space with the service transmitted in. Members and visitors alike are invited to stay afterwards for Adult Opportunities for Learning, which meets directly after the service and offers a deeper dive on faith and scripture while a coffee bar provides refreshments. The building is open ahead of each service, and a parking lot off Saratoga Road serves worshippers, with additional road parking available on both Harlem and Saratoga Roads. Prayer requests can be submitted through the church office.
Adult Spiritual Formation Throughout the Week
Adult formation revolves around four regular weekly studies. On Tuesdays at noon, "Exploring Sunday's Scriptures" gathers in person to walk through the passages that will appear in the following Sunday's lectionary, situating them within the Biblical narrative, the liturgical calendar, and the specifics of the present moment. A YouTube version of the study is posted the same morning for those who cannot attend in person. Wednesdays bring "Feasting on the Word," a ten-minute audio meditation built on the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. A single short passage is read four times with silences between each reading, and the recording is published on the church's YouTube channel. Thursdays at 1:00 p.m., the more in-depth "Thirstaid" series tackles a book or topic over the course of a season. Sundays after worship, AOL gathers adults for fuller study over refreshments and conversation. For households with children and teenagers, the Keys for Kids daily devotional app, available through Google Play, the Apple Store, and Amazon, is recommended as a way to keep the whole family engaged with scripture throughout the week.
Children, Families, and a Sanctuary That Welcomes Wiggles
Children are welcomed in worship and given two quieter alternatives when the wiggles win. A Children's Corner at the back of the sanctuary lets the youngest churchgoers play while still feeling part of the service. The Sky Box, a glass-walled room overlooking the sanctuary, lets families watch the service on a screen when they need a different space. The church's ministry statement is clear that "we treasure the voice and vibrancy they bring to worship," while recognizing that young people sometimes have energy to spare. Beyond Sunday morning, CUMC Kid's Place meets on the second and third Sunday of each month from September through June, 11:00 a.m. to noon, in the Crafts Hall. The hour is built around Bible storytelling and crafting for children and their families together, and is coordinated by Lisa Lawson. The church is a Safe Sanctuaries church, observing the United Methodist minimum standard for child safety with background checks, written policy, and the adoption of a published Safe Sanctuaries Policy.
Music: The Arrison Organ and the Sanctuary Choir
Music is central to worship at Christ Church, and the Arrison Organ is the crown of the program. The original instrument was built and installed by the Delaware Organ Company of North Tonawanda in 1962, a relatively modest two-manual organ of twenty-six ranks in the north chamber of the sanctuary. In 1993 the church learned of a Schlicker organ that had once been played in Orchard Park Presbyterian Church and was then sitting uninstalled at a Brethren in Christ Church in Clarence Center. The Brethren community donated the instrument to Christ Church, which disassembled and moved it in November 1994. Many of those pipes trace their history back even further, to an 1888 Johnson organ built for St. James Episcopal Church in Buffalo, making the rebuilt instrument an artifact of three centuries of American organ building. In 2006 Niagara Organ Works was contracted to merge the two organs, and builders Paul Staley and Dr. David Bond completed the unified instrument in early 2008. The Arrison Organ now has three manuals, forty-nine ranks, and 2,783 pipes. The Sanctuary Choir sings regularly at worship and welcomes new singers, regardless of experience. Beyond the choir, the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestras make their home at Christ Church, bringing classical music to the building through the discipline and artistry of talented Western New York musicians.
United Women in Faith
The women of Christ Church have been organized since January 9, 1950, when the local unit of the Women's Society of Christian Service was formed. The WSCS became United Methodist Women with the merger that created the United Methodist Church in 1968, and in 2022 the organization was renamed United Women in Faith to be more inclusive of all. The local circle meets in women's circles for book and Bible studies, programs, and picnics, and supports both local and global missions through its annual bake sale and other fundraisers. The national story of United Women in Faith goes back to 1869 and a meeting of eight women in Boston called by Clementina Butler and Lois Parker, who had learned of the struggles of women and girls in India. From that small beginning came the Methodist Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, which in short order sent Isabella Thoburn and Dr. Clara Swain to India. Thoburn went on to found what became Isabella Thoburn College, Asia's first women's college, and Swain founded Asia's first women's hospital.
Outreach Across Western New York
The Outreach Team, led by Lee Watson and Kathy Weaver, organizes the church's local mission, summed up by the line "Jesus Loves Our Neighbors" and Paul's letter to the Galatians: "Let us not grow weary in doing what is right." The church keeps a Christ Church Free Little Food Pantry stocked with non-perishable items near the parking lot; donations can be dropped in the office hallway. On Mondays from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., the Hearts Food Pantry Express rolls into the parking lot as a mobile food pantry, and volunteers are always needed to help distribute food.
Long-term partnerships with Western New York agencies stretch back decades. In 1985 Christ Church became the very first partnership church of Habitat for Humanity Buffalo, and in 1997 members built their first Habitat home. Since 1999 the congregation has sponsored nine refugee families through Journey's End Refugee Services in Buffalo. Each November, Turkey Baskets are prepared in partnership with North Church to stock Thanksgiving tables served by multiple local agencies. Heavier holiday efforts go through the Seneca Babcock Community in Buffalo, where the church prepares food for community meals and collects items for an After School Program and Christmas Shoppe.
Other community partners supported by Christ Church include Durham's Maternal Stress-Free Zone, which supports pregnant and breastfeeding mothers; the Family Justice Center, which serves victims of domestic violence; Family Promise of Western New York, an emergency shelter that keeps families together through the crisis of homelessness; Hearts for the Homeless, which has a red clothing donation bin at the back of the parking lot; and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Each fall the church holds a Make A Difference Day, gathering needed items for local ministry partners and offering free shredding to the neighborhood.
Uganda, UMCOR, and Mission Beyond Buffalo
On the international side, the church has run mission trips to Uganda since 2011 in partnership with Soul Fishing Ministries, founded in 1999 by the Rev. Richard Davis Matovu. Teams have run medical clinics, taught at schools, helped Nexus Seminary Uganda graduate new pastors, and dedicated bore-hole wells through the Wells of Love program. Nexus is a certificate-level training program for rural Ugandan pastors, taught once a month over a two-year period with a goal of training 2,000 pastors in 20 years. Wells of Love addresses a basic lack of clean water in many rural villages. A single bore hole costs between seven thousand and nine thousand dollars depending on the location, and the program has already brought clean water to Kirimangdagi in the Luweero district and Nabukondo in the Gomba district. Giving for the Well Project can be made through the church office.
The church's partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the second pillar of its international work. UMCOR responds to disasters, health crises, food insecurity, and refugee resettlement in more than 125 countries and accepts donations through Christ Church.
A Reconciling Congregation Since 2022
On March 6, 2022, Christ Church Amherst became a Reconciling Congregation after a congregational vote. Members adopted the Reconciling Ministries Network statement that "we welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, including all LGBTQIA persons" of every age, race, ethnicity, ability, education, family structure, and economic and social standing. The church is now formally part of a national network of United Methodist congregations working for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the life and policy of the United Methodist Church.
The vote followed a season of conversation guided by a Reconciling Team of laypeople including Peggy Bermudez, Sandy Cumming, Toni Neidel, Barb Mitchell, Karen Hoffmann, Carol Corsaro, Julie Wrisley, and Bradley Loliger. Joining the Reconciling Ministries Network added a formal layer to a long-running journey of welcome. The pastor's life verse, Galatians 3:28, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus," is a daily expression of that calling.
Weddings and a Building Shared with the Community
The Sanctuary and the Chapel are both available for weddings, for members and non-members alike, with separate rooms for the bride and attendants, dressing facilities, and a Crafts Hall for rehearsal dinners and receptions. The building opens one hour before the ceremony; candles are lit a half-hour ahead, and prelude music begins fifteen minutes before the bride walks in. Couples are asked to give the church office at least four months' notice so the pastor's calendar can be cleared. The wedding booklet outlines all arrangements, fees, and etiquette.
Beyond weddings, Christ Church describes itself as "a community center for faith and service," and the building is shared with several community partners. The Amherst Nursery School has made its home at Christ Church for years, offering cooperative preschool classrooms for two-, three-, and four-year-olds. The Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestras rehearse in the space. NAMI Buffalo & Erie County uses facilities for its work supporting families affected by mental illness, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Spiritual Care Department is among the affiliated groups using the building for meetings and programming.
The Story from 1947 to Today
In April 1947 the Buffalo District Church Extension Society purchased property at the corner of Harlem and Saratoga Roads. Ground was broken for a parsonage in March 1949, and on September 11 of that year the first worship service drew about one hundred worshippers to the parsonage basement. Charter members were received on January 8, 1950, and the cornerstone of the church building was laid that November. The sanctuary was dedicated on March 11, 1962, and by 1959 the congregation had passed its one-thousandth member.
Missions shaped the congregation from its earliest days. The church pledged partial support of Norman and Alice Parsons, missionaries in Japan, in 1955. The 1985 partnership with Habitat for Humanity Buffalo was a defining moment, as Christ Church was the organization's very first partnership church, and in 1997 members built their first Habitat home. In 1993 Christ Church became a Global Mission Partner church, supporting the Rev. Mark and Diane Abbott in their work at the United Evangelical Theological Seminary in Madrid, Spain, and Clara Swain Hospital in Bareilly, India. The first refugee sponsorship through Journey's End Refugee Services came in 1999. The new organ project was completed in 2008. In 2016 a revitalization process began that continues today, leading to the 2022 decision to become a Reconciling Congregation and a renewed focus on what it means to make connections across differences in a changing Western New York.
The Staff
The Rev. Daven Oskvig is the pastor. He grew up across Texas, Missouri, and New York, graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School, then earned his undergraduate degree at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, and graduated from Boston University School of Theology before beginning doctoral studies in sociology at the University at Buffalo. He was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in June of 2006 and previously served congregations in Niagara Falls, Lancaster, Elma, and Kenmore before arriving at Christ Church. He is also an adjunct professor at Canisius College and an avid trail runner who can be spotted on long training runs through the neighborhoods of Amherst.
Kevin Durkin serves as Minister of Music, and the office team includes Kyanah Nichols as Office Administrator, Doris Schanzlin as Financial Secretary, and Jessica Brown as Accountant. The church office is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and can be reached by phone at 716-839-2460 or by email at office@christchurchamherst.org.
From its corner at Harlem and Saratoga, Christ United Methodist Church continues to grow into its vision of making connections and offering opportunities in faith, love, and service, with worship every Sunday at 10:00 a.m., a children's welcome that includes both the sanctuary itself and the Sky Box play space, a music ministry built around the Arrison Organ and the Sanctuary Choir, four weekly adult studies, an active United Women in Faith circle, and a wide-reaching outreach that runs from a Monday food pantry in the parking lot to bore holes bringing clean water to villages in Uganda.