In 1831, a Unitarian and a Universalist church were organized in Buffalo. These congregations merged in 1953 and began services at the structure built as the First Unitarian Church, now known as the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo. This preceded the national merger of these two denominations in 1961.

In 1957, in response to the growing suburbs around Buffalo, the UU Church of Buffalo organized the Amherst Parish Council. Rev. John Kolbjornsen was called as the first minister for UU Church of Amherst (UUCA) in 1958.