Matthew Emery

Served as senior minister and head-of-staff of a historic mid-size congregation (membership ~300; avgerage weekly attendance 85 to 115) immediately adjacent to the main campus of the University of Connecticut.  Supervisor of one ordained Minister of Word & Sacrament as associate pastor (2011, and 2012-2019), a doctorate-level professional church musician, and other support staff.  Key contributions included:

• serving as primary preacher and worship planner;
• bringing the standard-of-excellence in worship into alignment with the church’s historic and current prominence in a university context, while also encouraging the incorporation of new and diverse gifts of music and arts;
• fostering renewed creative collaboration between pastoral staff and professionally-led music ministries;
• shepherding the congregation and its leadership into a sustained period of relational health and staff stability following an era of conflict, toxic behavior, and frequent staff turn-over;
• catalyzing and actively guiding the education, exploration, and planning efforts to discern and implement completely new governance and ministry-leadership structures for the congregation;
• guiding and resourcing discernment and planning processes around staffing structure in 2011 and in 2020;
• implementing vibrant and well-received online forms of worship and other ministries during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and guiding efforts to make further long-term investment in infrastructure and plans for vital digital ministry into the future;
• integrating spiritual reflection and leadership development elements into the regular meeting patterns of the congregation’s leadership bodies;
• leading (together with associate pastor) a high-engagement series on issues of white privilege and racial justice;
• creating and leading a variety of short-term adult faith formation series, with topics including Bible 101, Holy Communion / Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Reformation and United Church of Christ history, spiritual gifts discovery, and Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship;
• teaching a weekly lectionary bible study group on a regular basis;
• fostering new cooperative relationships with neighboring Episcopal and Roman Catholic congregations, including periodic shared worship and programming;
• contributing leadership to area interfaith groups and initiatives;
• maintaining a visible presence in the university campus community, especially through relationship and participation with the UConn Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the UConn Rainbow Center (LGBTQ+ cultural center), and other offices within student services and residence life;
• supporting lay leaders as they guided the church through discernment leading to the congregation’s declaring itself a Just Peace Church, and as they engaged area efforts in refugee resettlement;
• redeveloping the church’s website and communications-branding collateral, and contributing significantly to ongoing graphic design, communications, and promotion work;
• serving as primary staff support to annual stewardship commitment campaigns, and introducing a variety of new techniques in those campaigns;
• contributing actively to annual budgeting processes and ongoing fiscal oversight, involving annual budgets of over $400,000 and overall assets totaling over $1.9 million (as of the end of 2019, exclusive of property).

Served as full partner with Senior Pastor in providing pastoral leadership to a mid-size congregation (membership ~500; average weekly attendance ~150-160) located in downtown of a smaller city.  Key contributions included:

• frequent preaching and weekly worship leadership;
• significant liturgical planning, serving as the lead worship planner for all special/festival services (Holy Week, Easter, Christmas Eve, 160^th Anniversary celebrations, etc.);
• helping facilitate, together with senior pastor, significant visioning and vitality work with the Church Council;
• creating, and writing for, a weekly congregation-wide scripture study faith formation email;
• staffing stewardship ministry team and facilitating changes to stewardship ministry methods;
• organizing and leading new member classes;
• redeveloping the congregation’s website;
• assisting with pastoral visitation;
• leading high school youth ministry, including revitalizing upon my arrival, adding annual summer mission trips, facilitating a comprehensive youth ministry assessment by outside consultants, and ongoing relationships and pastoral care with our active youth.

(** Note: two years after my departure, this congregation federated with neighboring First Presbyterian, becoming the ‘Second Congregational (UCC) / First Presbyterian (PCUSA) Church of Rockford’, commonly known as ‘Second First Church’)

Served full-time on the pastoral staff of a larger mid-size congregation (membership ~600; average weekly attendance ~250) located in the near-suburbs of Washington, DC. Ministry included preaching & worship, pastoral care and visitation, adult education, youth ministry, administration, and fellowship ministries. Special contributions included work in liturgy planning and worship leadership; pastoral visitation among elder and home-bound membership; re-visioning the role of the congregation’s Board of Deacons; and leadership and care through significant staff transition (simultaneous resignation of the associate pastor, extended study leave for the senior pastor, and death of a long-time church secretary).

Engaged in pastoral care with patients and visitors to this major tertiary care hospital while undertaking Clinical Pastoral Education Level I education.

Served on a part-time basis at a predominantly Puerto Rican pastoral-sized congregation, through Chicago Theological Seminary's Center for Community Transformation. Ministry included work with the youth Sunday School class, occasional worship leadership and preaching, and presence in community-building and fellowship activities. As part of this internship, I also worked at the Near Northwest Neighborhood Network, an urban community organizing group with which the congregation was active.