Our churches take their faith seriously, care deeply about their community, are striving to offer effective and relevant ministries.

Core Values

Depending On God
(this is our most important value with all others flowing from this)
Recognizing our dependence on the Holy Spirit, the work of the District is done in a context of prayer and centered on biblical truth, We believe Christ’s kingdom principles provide the necessary framework for both individual and corporate alignment to God’s purposes.
Developing Healthy Leaders
The foundation of vibrant churches is a growing cadre of servant leaders. Priority is given to training, credentialing and coaching pastors and developing lay leaders.
Building Health Churches
The local church is central to being Christ’s presence in the world. We will resource and empower our churches to be that presence in their community.
Working Together
United by our shared commitment to Christ’s kingdom, the District encourages cooperation and partnership among churches and ministries.
Stimulating Missional Multiplication
Christ’s commission involves the expansion and creation of churches to effectively reach all people groups and make disciples. A clear focus on biblical mandates includes both relevant proclamation and redemptive demonstration of God’s Grace.

District Demographics

We are glad to have within our district, Houghton College, one of the best Christian colleges in the nation. Our summer family camp, Refresh, is held on the Houghton campus.

Western New York is beautifully covered with trees and rolling hills, and our Southern Tier, includes part of the Allegheny Mountain range. Summers are quite mild, with people making great use of the the two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario) for boating, swimming, fishing, etc. In the winter, thanks to the lakes, we are blessed with snow, great skiing, snow-boarding, tubing and snowmobiling, at a very tolerable 32 degree average temperature.

The people of Western New York do not have a typical “New York” accent and are some of the kindest people on the planet. Most cheer for the Buffalo Bills, and the Buffalo Sabres who are exciting to watch. Western New Yorkers are, also, extremely proud of their “Buffalo wings”.

71% of the 1.1 million residents of the Buffalo metropolitan area consider themselves to be adherents to some faith as opposed to 50% for most Americans. 623,000 identify themselves as Catholic; 25,000 as Evangelical Lutheran; 21,000 as Luther-Missouri Synod; 21,000 as United Methodist and 18,000 as Jewish. Only the Wesleyan Church, the Mormons and Islam have experienced growth locally since 1990.