Meet Pastor Emma!

I was born and raised in North Carolina, and grew up attending First Presbyterian Church, Gastonia NC. It was there that I first experienced what it means to be part of a church, finding community in the choir and hand bell groups and, later, youth group. I wrestled with scripture at camps, conferences, and in worship. After high school, I attended Mars Hill College, earning my Bachelor of Arts in Religion. I graduated with a strong faith…and also a strong call to ministry. I attended Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, graduating with my Master of Divinity in 2011. While finishing the ordination process, I worked at churches in the Washington, DC and Arlington, VA area for five years, serving the people in those communities. In 2016, I took my first call at First Presbyterian Church, Newark, DE, working as their Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, and Families.

I have found that my theology can be summed up in one word: Hope. When I look at the church of the future, I see hope. I believe that the church is called to bring a sense of hope to the world, and to embody this hope not just in words, but also in actions. A hope that is brought to life by the helpers, as Mr. Rogers described them, that God has put in our collective lives. The PCUSA Brief Statement of Faith puts it this way: “In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God….with believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

On the personal side, my husband, Jeff, works in the tech industry, and he moves around for his job, currently in Boston. I am also a big fan of sci-fi classics such as Godzilla, Supernatural, Dr. Who, Star Wars, and Star Trek (The Original Series being my favorite, although Next Generation is a close second). I am a big enough fan that I like attending conventions and dressing up as characters from my favorite shows and trying to meet celebrities! I love to read and watch Netflix and play board games with friends. I am also an occasional knitter, runner, and baker. And I’m proudly a crazy cat lady to my two cats, Daenerys and Lucky.

If you need to contact me, please email me at: emma.m.horn@gmail.com