About | Amherst Community Church

Our Congregation

We strive to follow Jesus, reflecting God's love, serving and welcoming all.

The people of the Amherst Community Church come from our neighborhood in Snyder, Amherst, Williamsville, and all over WNY. Some grew up in this congregation, while others arrived here from a variety of religious traditions. Our members are native to this area and transplants from other parts of the country and world. Like most human families, this church family is made up of babies, children, teens, and adults from young to older. We may hold different views on faith, politics, and other topics, but we love and honor each other as co-workers in Christ. We bring our questions, our doubts, our beliefs, our criticism, our willingness to both ask questions and lean into faith in order to make our lives, and the world, a better place. Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life's journey, there is a place for you at ACC.

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Church members at Buffalo Pride Parade holding ACC banner.

Inter-generational sharing

Decorating for Pride Week

Special music in summer worship

Helping neighbors during the pandemic

Children lighting the Advent Wreath

Inter-generational Summer Science

ACC Canine Carnival

Summer Worship in Fellowship Hall

Community Music Night 2021

Baby baptism

Christmas Carol Sing-Along

A Brief History of ACC:

Amherst Community Church was incorporated on January 18, 1915. The founding families built an institution that would serve as a church as well as a recreational center for those seeking "clean fun." The original building contained a sanctuary, community room, gym, bowling alley & billiard room, showers, a dining room, and a kitchen. For many years, ACC was only one of two English-speaking Protestant churches in Amherst.

ACC was founded as a "free church," which did not require its members to pledge themselves to a doctrinal creed. In the late 1940s, ACC affiliated with the Congregational Christian denomination, which later became the United Church of Christ. The membership voted to affiliate with the UCC denomination in 1961. With its congregation-based governance, in which decision-making power rests almost entirely with local congregations, the UCC was a natural fit for this independent-minded congregation.

In 1987, the congregation voted to formally declare itself Open and Affirming, extending an intentional welcome to LGBTQ persons. ACC was one of the first local churches in the UCC to take this step, and number 12 in the nation to do so. In 2012, the congregation voted to allow same-sex marriages to take place in the church sanctuary.

In 1996, ACC undertook a capital campaign to finance construction of an elevator to make the building accessible. The elevator and new entranceway were installed in 1997, making concrete ACC's desire to welcome those with mobility issues to our building.

In 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, an upgraded sound and video system were installed in the sanctuary. These upgrades have allowed us to live stream our Sunday worship, special services, and funerals, through our Facebook page, reaching those who are unable to be with us in person.