"Building a Community of Faith through Love and Service"

 Emmaus:  Where the journey of faith begins...Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors. The mission of Emmaus United Methodist Church is to make true disciples of Christ.

Vision Statement

Emmaus United Methodist Church strives to be a house of prayer for all people, a congregation of many races and nationalities worshipping our God and serving the whole person: spirit, mind and body.

Emmaus Values

 The people of Emmaus affirm the following values:

Community:  Participation, belonging, friendship, acceptance, cooperation, respect for differences, commitment, loyalty.

Spiritual Understanding: Faith, spiritual fulfillment.

Compassion:  Love, caring for others.

Honesty:  that promotes understanding.

Hospitality:  Welcoming newcomers, offering table fellowship, graciousness.

Courage:  Will take risks.

Excellence:  Offering our very best.

 Emmaus Covenant

We trust in God's action in our lives and our community;

We must live open to faith, not trapped by worldliness;

We gather as a "Community of Faith through Love and Service"

Believing in the values of integrity, community, compassion, hospitality, spiritual understanding, courage and excellence;

We believe that our character and faith are strengthened by our participation in small groups that   follow the spiritual disciplines of worship and communion, study of the scriptures, prayer, acts of mercy, fasting, and tithing.

We will actively participate in the Spiritual Disciplines and regularly engage in community worship. We will discover and offer our spiritual gifts and talents in service to others.

Neighborhood and Statistics

 Emmaus United Methodist Church is located in the Pine Hills section of Albany.

The location  is one place many of us care about and want to serve. The zip code 12208 has about 21000 residents and is relatively stable in population. While 75% Caucasian, one quarter of the Emmaus UMC’s neighborhood is of other nationalities. Fifteen percent are African American and 5% are Asian. Nearly 5% are Latino. The largest age group is young adult, ages 25-34. The second largest sector of the population is between the ages of 35 and 44.  A surprising 46% of women have never married, although one third are married with a spouse in the home. 22% of the men have never married.

Most adult residents are well educated, with 80% enjoying at least some college education.  Among the college educated, over 22% have their bachelor's degree and almost 15% have earned their Master's Degree. 

Income levels differ widely with 6.5% or 270 families living below the poverty level.  On the other hand, over 27% of households enjoy an upper middle class household income. Average household income is almost $60,000 with an estimated per capita income of $27,511.

 Most households consist of one person.  The second largest group of households consists of two residents. Fifty-seven percent of residents live in rented housing. The housing stock is mostly of the old style, built in the 1930's or earlier. The community is dynamic, mostly residential, and rich with cultural resources.  

History of Emmaus United Methodist Church

Emmaus UMC is a community of faith in the making.  Newly created in 1994, and baptized by waters drawn from varying historic and ethnic wellsprings, we intentionally embrace all persons regardless of their culture, racial, theological or ecclesiastical heritage.  We are committed to being one family in Christ.  We face our future with expectation and hope—an adventure that is taking us beyond where we have been and who we have been.

 Emmaus was created by the unification of two Albany congregations—the Calvary- Pine Hills United Methodist Church and the Calvary- St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

 We, like the early disciples on the road to Emmaus, are discovering the presence of the living Christ as we gather to break bread together and serve Christ in the Capital City of New York State.  We currently own two parsonages and two church buildings.  We are optimistic about our future.  We are more identified with being the church as a community of believers than we are to our physical buildings.  This leaves us wide open to our future with respect to our eventual location, and relatively unencumbered by our possessions and properties—truly a gift of grace!  We are in the process of determining where we will eventually establish our physical church home.  Emmaus is a place and a fellowship where the journey of faith begins and is nurtured. We welcome anyone willing to share our pilgrimage.

 Organizational Structure