Faith United Church of Christ sits along Boston State Road in the small town of Boston, New York, in the rolling southern tier of Erie County. Rooted in two predecessor congregations whose presence in Boston Valley stretches back to 1834, Faith Church was formed in 1960 - three years after the founding of the United Church of Christ itself - and today counts about 160 members from Boston, Colden, Glenwood, Concord, Eden, Hamburg, Orchard Park, Springville, and other nearby towns. About 50 people gather for worship each Sunday, and the congregation's promise is simple: "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here."
Sunday Morning at Faith Church
Sunday worship begins at 10:15 AM from September through May. The service runs less than an hour and weaves together traditional and contemporary music, scripture readings, a children's message, prayer, and a sermon. Communion is celebrated once a month and is served by the pastor and members of the Church Board.
Children start the morning in the sanctuary with their parents or Sunday school teachers. After a short children's lesson at about 10:30, kids ages 3 through 6th grade head to Sunday school, which runs until about 11:15. For infants and parents who want a quieter spot, a nursery room is set up just outside the sanctuary with an audio feed from the service, and a separate play area is available for children ages 3 to 6 after the children's lesson. During the summer, the schedule shifts to a single 9:30 AM worship service with no Sunday school.
Livestream, Bulletins, and DVDs for Those at Home
For those who can't make it in person, the Sunday service is livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, with only the Facebook stream active during August. Permission to stream the service music is covered through One License. Members who are homebound receive weekly DVDs of the service, and the Sunday bulletin is shared so anyone can follow the prayers and readings along at home.
Sunday School and Teen Programs
Sunday school runs weekly from September through May, with age-appropriate lessons, activities, and games for children ages 3 through 6th grade. Teachers weave in community-wide mission projects and seasonal celebrations, and a confirmation class is offered every other year for youth preparing to affirm their faith.
Teens in grades 7 through 12 have their own Sunday school that mixes Bible lessons, field trips, fellowship nights, and service projects around the community. Adult Bible studies are offered periodically throughout the year, and small groups gather around seasonal book studies.
Women, Men, and a Monday Night Meditation
The Women's Support Group brings together women of all ages for a mix of mission projects, program work, worship planning, Bible study, and fellowship. They meet roughly once a month from September through May.
The Men's Group gathers about once a month on Saturday mornings over coffee and donuts, often rolling up their sleeves for maintenance and upkeep projects around the church building. Both groups are open to anyone who wants to drop in.
A six-week introduction to meditation series titled "Intro to Meditation: Peace" meets on Monday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 PM, giving members a quiet rhythm alongside the busier Sunday schedule.
Walking With Members Through Every Season
Faith Church takes seriously its call to walk with members through every season of life. Grace for the Journey is a gathering for anyone who is or has been a caregiver for a loved one - a chance for conversation, support, and friendship over coffee.
GriefShare is offered twice a year, in 13-week sessions each fall and spring, for people who have lost someone close. The program uses a DVD curriculum paired with a weekly devotional workbook.
Called to Care extends the church's pastoral reach into the wider congregation, organizing visits to members who are homebound, in the hospital, or living in adult care facilities, and assisting the pastor at memorial services and weddings.
Health Care Ministry rounds out the care team, offering monthly blood pressure checks after worship, occasional Red Cross blood drives, and a friendly source of information when health questions come up.
Outreach Across Western New York and Beyond
Outreach is woven into the rhythm of the church year. Each September, members collect school supplies for children at a local elementary school. As Christmas approaches, women of the church sew mittens, hats, and scarves that are distributed at the same school. School and health kits are assembled each year and given to Church World Service for shipment to disaster regions around the world.
Seasonal Saturday-morning events for children open their doors to the wider community at Christmas and Easter. Food drives are held periodically, with donations going to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Cupboard in Boston, the Bread of Life Outreach Center in Colden, and the Springville Food Pantry.
A St. Pauly Textile clothing donation shed in the church parking lot collects roughly twenty tons of clothing each year, which is then distributed to economically disadvantaged families across the county and around the world.
The Sunday school also supports a mission in La Laguna, Honduras, through the New York Help Honduras program. Money collected in Sunday school goes toward school supplies and educational materials for children in the village.
Faith Church partners with several regional ministries. Through Churches In Action, members join the annual Crop Walk, contribute to community food drives, assemble school kits, and pitch in on work projects for local service organizations. Love In the Name of Christ helps coordinate volunteers across local churches, and Faith members are especially active in the Family to Family Christmas program and the December Kettle Drive. Several members also volunteer with Hearts and Hands, which provides transportation for elderly residents in the Boston area, and the church points families toward summer programs at the Dunkirk Conference Center, a UCC camp and conference center overlooking Lake Erie.
Rooted in Boston Valley Since 1834
Faith United Church of Christ is the direct descendant of St. Paul's Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Boston Community Church, whose combined presence in Boston Valley dates back to 1834. In 1952, the young Rev. Richard Whitney arrived at St. Paul's fresh from Lancaster Theological Seminary. Under his leadership, St. Paul's gained financial independence in 1957, and the two congregations formed a Cooperative Parish the same year.
A basis of union was approved by both churches on January 10, 1960, and a uniting service was held at the Boston Fire Hall on March 13, 1960, formally establishing Faith Church. Six acres of land were purchased that July for a church, parsonage, and parking lot. The building program moved steadily ahead under Rev. Charles Zechiel, called in 1963; much of the interior work - paint, trim, floor tiles, even the installation of the pews - was donated and done by the church family itself. The building was dedicated on May 22, 1966.
Rev. Gary Burdick was called in 1972 and served for thirty-five years, retiring in September 2007. During his tenure the church joined the Dunkirk Conference Center, Love In the Name of Christ, and Churches In Action; long-range planning sessions produced the paved parking lot, an accessibility addition, and the "Vision 2000" classroom, office, music room, and storage expansion. A small vocal ensemble called Voices of Faith was formed in 2001.
Rev. Bonnie Bates arrived in February 2009 as the congregation's first called woman pastor. She was followed by Rev. David W. Shoobridge in April 2014, Rev. Richard Diekmann in September 2015, and Rev. Theodore Brelsford as Transitional Pastor in May 2019. Rev. Zoe Milliman now serves as supply pastor.
Open, Affirming, and Connected to the Wider UCC
Faith Church lives out its United Church of Christ identity through a written Covenant of Inclusion that publicly and enthusiastically welcomes people of every age, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, economic status, and family structure into the full membership, leadership, ministry, and sacramental life of the congregation.
The congregation is part of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, with offices in Syracuse, and joins other regional UCC and Disciples of Christ churches in the Western New York Area Churches in Covenant. The national United Church of Christ, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, provides spiritual resources, support for local and global mission, and a biennial gathering for worship, workshops, and the study and passage of resolutions.
The church building itself is fully accessible: an elevator serves the west entrance, front and rear pew spaces accommodate wheelchairs, and DVDs of the weekly service go to members who cannot attend in person. The pastor and lay members also visit the homebound, deliver altar flowers to those who are ill, and bring communion to those who can't make it to church.