Ontario Street United Methodist Church has been located on the corner of Ontario and Tonawanda Streets in the Riverside neighborhood of Buffalo since 1894. The United Methodist congregation holds two worship services – a traditional English-speaking service and a Mizo (Burmese) service.

In recent years, the Riverside neighborhood has welcomed an influx of refugees and immigrants from around the world, and especially from southeast and central Asia. The congregation reaches out to these new residents to offer all kinds of assistance, including material items, spiritual support and love.

In addition to our United Methodist congregation, we have opened our arms, and our church, to a Spanish-speaking congregation, RLP, which in Spanish is an acronym for “Redeeming the Lost”. It is their mission to reach out to the less fortunate in Riverside by operating a food pantry, offering free clothes and toiletries, and hosting various classes and events.

Just as the temperature started getting cold this fall, our church’s furnace boiler malfunctioned beyond repair, necessitating a replacement which will cost $38,000. The United Methodist congregation (English and Mizo) and the RLP congregation have raised a substantial amount toward the cost of the boiler, but we need your help to cover the rest. Any amount of money that you could contribute will be greatly appreciated.

Riverside has suffered population loss, blight and poverty over the last two-plus decades, yet our church endures to serve the needs of this neighborhood. With your help, we hope that the church will remain in the neighborhood for a long time to come.

Thank you and God bless.

Ontario Street United Methodist Church