About Emmaus

Drawing on the heritages of our denomination, the United Church of Christ, Emmaus seeks to be a place where people can come to be...

• refreshed and strengthened in our daily lives;
• in the company with others who are seeking the presence of the Love of God and wanting to make that Love tangible for themselves and others,
• stimulated into new ways of thinking about the place that the Divine and the Gospel of Jesus Christ have in our lives,
• expanded into new ways of thinking about ourselves,
• comforted, challenged, and empowered in our liberal, progressive, spiritual tradition.

Emmaus United Church of Christ is an open and affirming congregation.

Reverend William T. Federici, Senior Minister

Reverend William T. Federici was born in Brooklyn, New York and as the son of a New York City newspaperman grew up with the world at his dinner table. A graduate of Wagner College, Bill worked in public & community relations and communications for the former Brooklyn Union Gas Company. Bill earned his Masters of Divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained in the UCC in 1991. He has done advanced work at the Yale Divinity School. Bill served as Assistant Pastor at The First Congregational Church of Greenwich in Old Greenwich, Ct. and came to Emmaus as Senior Minister in 1999.

Allison Shelby, Director of Music

Allison Shelby joined Emmaus UCC as the Director of Music in September 2010.  She works closely with the Associate Director of Music, Greg Bloy, to support the worship services on piano or organ, directs the choir and runs rehearsals on Sunday mornings.  Along with her duties as Director of Music at Emmaus UCC, Allison runs “Music Playhouse”, a music school for young children here in Vienna.  She has enjoyed an active solo career singing in the Northern Virginia area.  She graduated from James Madison University with a degree in Music Education.  Allison shares that “It is an honor to have been selected to lead this congregation in worship and praise through the use of our musical talents and I am grateful for the opportunity.”

Greg Bloy, Associate Director of Music

Greg, Emmaus' Associate Director of Music, attended Oberlin Conservatory where he earned a degree in organ and was active as a jazz saxophonist and with various early music ensembles as a singer and instrumentalist.  He also received a degree in Mathematics from Oberlin College, which he followed up with a Ph.D. in math from Penn State.  While at Penn State he continued studying organ and kept extremely busy playing saxophone and keyboards in the local and regional nightclubs.  Following his wife to Michigan State, he earned a M.S. in Computer Science while playing in coffee houses and singing with a small early music group.  After several years working as an algorithm designer in Dallas, he gradually moved to Northern Virginia beginning in 2002 where he develops mathematical algorithms for a variety of applications.  He has been a church organist and/or music director for over 25 years for a variety of denominations in 5 different states. Listen to some of Greg's recordings.

Jayne McLaughlin, Director of Church Administration

The Director of Church Administration combines three office functions -- Office Manager, Building Use Coordinator & Liaison to Renters, and Role Coordinator.

All aspects of Emmaus' administrative and scheduling life, including HUGENS, should be referred to Jayne. She will be working closely with all Board Chairs, other staff members, our renters, and is always available to assist members and friends.