The Rev. Matthew Emery

The Rev. Matthew C. Emery (“Pastor Matt” or "Reverend Matt" or simply "Matt") came to Cloverdale United Church in April 2021 after serving over 10 years as Senior Minister of the Storrs Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, a historic church immediately adjacent to the main campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs.  Prior to his time in Connecticut, he served for four-and-a-half years as the Associate Pastor of the Second Congregational United Church of Christ in Rockford, Illinois, and spent a year full-time on the pastoral staff of a United Church of Christ congregation in the metro-Washington D.C. area.  An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ (in the US), he serves in The United Church of Canada under the full communion partnership between our two denominations.

Pastor Matt is committed to excellence in worship leadership and preaching; curiosity, depth, and rootedness in our traditions in the quest for meaning and faith; compassion, authenticity, and care in relationships; and the open inclusivity and courageous witness for justice to which Christ calls us in the world.  He trusts deeply in the power of authentic and caring relationship to change individuals, congregations, and even the world and he’s passionate about faithfully, intentionally, and creatively living into the ‘both-ands’ of our faith and life together as church, lest we miss out on the gifts God offers when we lean into creative tensions.

A native of a small farm town in central lower Michigan, Matt studied computer science as an undergraduate (Michigan State University, 2002), completed theological studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary (M.Div., 2006), and is an avid choral singer, having sung with a variety of classical choral ensembles including currently with the Jubilate Vocal Ensemble in Vancouver and a brief stint during a 2017 sabbatical with the acclaimed Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge.  Pastor Matt is married to The Rev. Adam Yates, a priest in The Episcopal Church now serving as the rector of St. Faith’s Anglican Church in Vancouver.  Matt and Adam reside in Vancouver with Daniel, their beagle.

On a typical week, Matt is around the church offices (or out-and-about around the Cloverdale area for ministry engagements) on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and works from home on Thursdays.  Mondays are his designated day off / "sabbath day".