English: St. Matthew's United Church of Christ, 5289 McKinley Parkway, Hamburg, New York, January 2023. Built in 1961, this design by the Buffalo-based architectural practice of Shelgren, Whitman & Associates typifies the firm's stylistic approach in the latter era of its existence, when they had mostly abandoned the Colonial Revivalism they'd favored in the 1940s and '50s in favor of an unassuming, one might say conservative Modernism tempered by vaguely defined but palpable nods to traditionalism. Note the tasteful color scheme, prominent vertical lines especially on the stone trim surrounding the narrow central window, and especially the spire with its louvering and spindly pinnacle. An interesting counterpoint is the decorative masonry work on the façade, where the motif is a pattern of projecting header bricks. The congregation has a long history whose first phase played out in The Hydraulics, an industrial precinct of the nearby city of Buffalo, where it was initially known as St. Matthew's German Evangelical Protestant Church and had been founded in January 1868 by a close-knit community of the titular ethnicity. Construction of their original home on Swan Street - the stout brick Romanesque edifice now home to Delaine-Waring AME Church - was completed just a few months later, and it served as their home for over 90 years, after which time, as the majority of its members already had done, the church began planning for a move to the suburbs. The process began in 1959, shortly after the installation of the Rev. Lawrence J. Rezash as its new pastor, with the announcement that the Armor Fire Hall, nearby its new site, would play host to a number of additional weekly services. This rented space was their principal home for the next two years, as fundraising for the new building transitioned briskly into the construction process per se. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the $280,000 building that would comprise a 300-seat sanctuary, fellowship hell, classrooms, kitchens, administrative offices and a pastor's study were held in May 1960, the cornerstone was laid the following October, and the new church was dedicated in July of the following year.