Two Centuries on Main Street
St. Paul's Lutheran Church sits on Main Street in Eggertsville, a hamlet in the town of Amherst just north of Buffalo. Founded in 1827, it is the oldest Lutheran congregation in Erie County and now approaches its 200th anniversary. The church's motto, "Reaching Beyond Ourselves," captures its dual identity: a traditional Lutheran parish rooted in nearly two centuries of history, and a community known throughout Western New York for bold, innovative outreach, including Buffalo's first not-for-profit food truck and a televised worship service that airs across the region every Sunday morning.
The congregation's story begins on December 18, 1827, when it was incorporated under its first pastor, Rev. Meyerhoffer. The original land came from a fifty-acre Holland Land Company grant in Cheektowaga, with a second one-acre parcel at the present site. The first church building went up in 1831. A second building replaced it in 1874; four years later, in 1879, fire destroyed the church, the parsonage, and several neighboring structures, and a new cornerstone was laid the following October. By the early twentieth century the congregation had grown large enough to electrify the sanctuary and install stained glass windows that, with small alterations, remain in place today. Those windows still glow over worshipers in the 1930s sanctuary, when the church was moved back eighty-six feet from Main Street and faced in brick to allow New York State to straighten the road's curve, a project that, remarkably, has still not happened.
St. Paul's has had 26 pastors since 1827. Rev. Adolph Boettger served the longest stretch, from 1865 to 1896, dying while in office. Rev. Carl G. Olin Jr. followed him with another long tenure, from 1968 to 1996, and was named the congregation's first Pastor Emeritus upon retirement. In the 1930s the parish adopted a new constitution and became part of the United Lutheran Church in America, a predecessor body to today's Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. After a transition period in the early 2010s, Rev. Steve Biegner returned to his hometown as the church's pastoral leader in September 2013 and continues to serve today.
Traditional, Broken Open
Pastor Steve describes Sunday worship at St. Paul's as "casual traditional, but broken open." Visitors will find robes and a pulpit, but also pastors who step down to sit on a stool and speak in everyday language. Some weeks the order is more formal; other weeks it shifts to give more room for prayer and silence. Through it all, the same classic elements remain every week: forgiveness, hope, scripture lessons, peace, and communion.
"What can you expect on Sunday? Expect to experience God," Pastor Steve writes. The pastor and worship leaders are open about their belief that Sunday should be the one place where people of any background can encounter God's presence, not just attend another program. Visitors often comment on the mix of generations in the pews, with babies, working adults, and members in their nineties worshiping side by side.
Saturday in Williamsville, Sunday in Eggertsville
St. Paul's holds two weekly worship services across two campuses. On Sunday at 10:00 a.m., the congregation gathers at the Eggertsville Campus, 4007 Main Street, just a block from the intersection of Main Street and Eggert Road, next to Brunner's on Main. Coffee and fellowship are available in the gathering area beforehand. On Saturday at 5:00 p.m., a service is held at the Amherst Campus, 5125 Main Street in Williamsville, giving those who cannot make Sunday mornings another chance to attend.
For those who prefer to worship from home, the Sunday service is livestreamed on YouTube, and the weekly bulletin is posted online so viewers can follow along. A second ministry, WNY Church Unleashed, broadcasts the same worship service on MeTV, channel 67 on DirecTV, channel 5 on cable, Fios, and Dish Network, and 67.1 on antenna, making the service available to viewers across Western New York and beyond. Pastor Steve calls this at-home audience the #couchcongregation and encourages them to "sing louder."
First-time visitors often ask what to wear. The answer is simple: anything from jeans to suits to shorts. There is no dress code. Worship leaders sometimes wear robes; they have also been known to wear a Buffalo Bills stole. The congregation makes a point of saying that all are welcome, regardless of size, shape, color, politics, income, or gender or sexual identity.
Children, Youth, and the Path to Confirmation
Christian education at St. Paul's begins early. Sunday School is offered during the 10:00 a.m. service for children ages three through fifth grade, led by Christian Education Coordinator June Piette, who has taught Sunday School at St. Paul's since age seventeen. The curriculum emphasizes loving neighbor, community, and family through God's Word. Each December the children present a Christmas pageant, and adult volunteers are welcome to help with crafts, costumes, and scenery.
Older children and teens find a dedicated Youth Group for students in sixth through twelfth grade, directed by Youth Ministry Director Jordan Dwyan. The group's rhythm is simple: eat, play games, connect with one another, and do devotions, and St. Paul's youth also gather for mission trips, an annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser, and trips to Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center for summer camp and retreats.
Confirmation is a two-year program typically undertaken by students in seventh through ninth grade. The program partners with neighboring congregations to hold classes once a month from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with lunch included. Topics walk through the Lutheran faith tradition: the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the sacraments of baptism and communion, the meaning of worship, modern-day discipleship, and a service day.
Adults Growing in Faith
For adults, St. Paul's offers a range of small groups and Bible studies designed to deepen relationships as well as scriptural understanding. An Adult Bible Study meets in the Fellowship Room every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., with Timbits provided and a relaxed, conversational format. Small Groups are organized around shared interests and neighborhoods, giving members a way to connect beyond Sunday mornings.
The Flower Ministry is one of the congregation's quiet treasures. After each Sunday service, two altar bouquets are delivered by volunteers to homebound members, those in the hospital, and people facing special needs or concerns. The bouquets come with a smile, a copy of the bulletin, and sometimes a few moments of conversation.
The Comforters meet on the second Wednesday of every month at 10:00 a.m. in the upstairs Parish Hall, knitting and crocheting prayer shawls, baptismal blankets, confirmation shawls, and quilts. The finished pieces have been given to Haven House, the cancer ward at Women and Children's Hospital, missions in Nicaragua, the Erie County Home, local nursing homes, and the Harvest House Baby and Children's Ministry. Members who cannot attend can still help by donating yarn or unfinished projects.
The Men's Club gathers on the second and fourth Saturday of each month for fellowship, faith enrichment, and an annual Chiavetta's chicken dinner.
Nourishing Lives: The Missions of St. Paul's
St. Paul's mission statement reads: "Empowering others with the gospel of Jesus Christ to make connections, enrich faith, nourish lives, and demonstrate God's love out into the world." Nowhere is that put into practice more visibly than in the congregation's community missions, which have become signature programs in the region.
The Tiger's Den Food Pantry, housed on church property, feeds more than one hundred families each month with fresh fruits and vegetables, non-perishable items, personal care products, and bakery goods. It is a community-based partnership with the Amherst Central School District, local area churches, and the Food Bank of WNY. The pantry is open on alternating Thursdays and Saturdays, with hours updated monthly. Donations of specific items are requested each month, and volunteers are always needed to keep the pantry running.
Wheels, Burritos, and a Food Truck Named Daily Bread
The Daily Bread Food Truck, launched in 2016, calls itself Buffalo's first and only not-for-profit food truck. Its philosophy is "get one, give one": when a customer buys a meal, the proceeds help provide a meal to a hungry family in the community. From late fall through late spring, the truck delivers weekend meals to families identified by the Amherst Central School District, the Tiger's Den Food Pantry, and the grassroots Burrito Project. The two trucks are staffed mostly by volunteers, and 100% of the truck's overhead costs are covered by separate donations so that every dollar beyond supplies and chef staff costs goes directly to feeding neighbors. The mission shares more than 10,000 meals annually.
The Burrito Project is a homemade burrito-and-lunch ministry that prepares 100 bean and rice burritos and lunch bags each week, then sends a street team into Buffalo to hand out food, coffee, blankets, socks, gloves, hats, scarves, and clothing to homeless men, women, and children. Volunteers of any age can help in the kitchen, even young children with a parent, while street volunteers must be at least mature teens accompanied by a parent.
Wheels for Workers is a refugee transportation ministry that collects donated used bicycles, rehabs them with volunteer labor, and delivers them to resettling refugees who need a way to get to work. The program has provided transportation for more than 1,300 refugees in a single year.
Reaching Haiti and Erie County
Beyond Western New York, St. Paul's has maintained a long-running partnership with Grace School and Ministries on Île à Vache, Haiti. Pastor Steve and Michelle Biegner began traveling to Haiti a few months after the 2010 earthquake and have returned twice a year since, leading teams from across WNY to build the school, install solar power in the village, host medical clinics, and launch the Church of Grace, certified as an official church by the Haitian government in February 2014. Grace School today provides free education to more than 400 students.
Closer to home, Fire Church was created in 2020 to give first responders in Erie County a place to gather together in a faith community. Waiting in Hope Ministries, hosted at St. Paul's, is a national non-profit support group for women and couples walking through infertility, miscarriage, adoption, or the waiting process, meeting every other Monday evening in the Gathering Space. Noah's Helping Hands Project strengthens the surrounding community through donations of school supplies, clothing, food, Christmas gifts, and kindness bags to local schools and hospitals.
The Amherst Central Family Support Center, operated by Parent Network of WNY, is now based at St. Paul's, providing one-on-one support, workshops, and resources to families of individuals with disabilities from birth through adulthood.
WNY Church Unleashed
WNY Church Unleashed is a cooperative ministry of three Western New York Lutheran churches that share the Gospel on television and online. Each Sunday at 10:00 a.m., the service airs on MeTV and is posted on YouTube for viewers who cannot attend in person. The worship is unconventional by design; it might come from a camp, a farm, in front of a police station, or even from a bell tower, as a reminder that the gospel is not confined to a sanctuary. At St. Paul's, Director of Digital Ministry Andrew Gruszka manages the sound and video operation and helps bring the church's onsite ministries into a digital and global reach. The congregation says its pandemic-era livestreaming revealed that it had been "truly unleashed into the world to share the good news of Jesus."
The Building, the Rooms, and the Welcome
St. Paul's Eggertsville campus is a working church building with stained glass windows, a sanctuary that seats up to 225 people, a Parish Hall that fits 100, a Gathering Area with high-top tables, lounge chairs, and an electric fireplace that fits up to 40, and a Fellowship Room that seats 5 to 15. Each of these spaces can be rented for outside meetings, weddings, funerals, or small church services during the week.
The church hosts weddings and baptisms as a regular part of its ministry, offering pre-marital counseling to any couple, whether or not the wedding is held at St. Paul's. Baptisms are scheduled with the pastors as a first step of faith for children and adults. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Online giving is available through the church's giving application.
The staff that supports this work includes two Pastoral Leaders (Pastor Steve Biegner and Kristen Arends, a Synodically Authorized Minister and professional youth ministry veteran now studying through Luther Seminary), Director of Musical Arts Paul Storfer (an accomplished organist, pianist, and accordionist who has led music at St. Paul's since 1994), Director of Digital Ministry Andrew Gruszka, Youth Ministry Director Jordan Dwyan, and Christian Education Coordinator June Piette, a St. Paul's member since 1967 and Sunday School coordinator for the past decade.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church invites all who want to follow Jesus to join in the work, empowering with the good news, nourishing lives in the community, and reaching beyond itself into the world.