The earliest accounts of religious life in Bristol are of meetings held by several families on the Sabbath in their homes. In June 1799 John Smith and Seth Williston organized the Congregational Church of Bristol. In July 1799 the first pastor, Reverend Joseph Grover, was installed. With the construction of a church building in 1795, this church became the first to have a place of worship in the Genesee Valley. Due to rapidly increasing membership it was necessary soon after to build a new meeting house which was completed in 1812. From 1832 to 1834 the Church was referred to as the North Bristol Congregational Society. The church was strongly anti-slavery beginning in 1842.