Pastor Emily Schwenker
Parish Associate
Rev. Emily Schwenker is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to the Validated Specialized Ministry of Spiritual Direction. Emily’s primary ministry is offering one-on-one and group spiritual guidance to clergy, seminarians and lay persons throughout the country. In addition, she is part of the adjunct faculty of the Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance Program, from which she earned a Certificate in Spiritual Direction. Pastor Emily currently serves as Parish Associate at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE. For many years, Emily served as part of the adjunct faculty at Lancaster Theological Seminary, from which she graduated with the Thomas W. Rhoads Prize in Old Testament Biblical Interpretation, and where she taught spiritual and ministerial formation to first and second year seminarians. Following her passion for spiritual formation, Emily has led retreats and small groups, as well as consulted with individuals and congregations on matters of spirituality and discernment.
The granddaughter of a Presbyterian minister, Pastor Emily was born and raised in Waukegan, IL to a deeply faithful family. She attended Illinois State University, graduating with a B.S. in Education. Upon graduation, Emily moved to New York City where she met her husband, Ron, who worked as a Research Physicist for The DuPont Company in Wilmington. Following their marriage, Emily worked in the area of Human Resources for many years before the birth of their beloved daughter, Danielle.
When Danielle was 15, Ron died suddenly and their lives took a dramatic turn. As her journey through grief progressed, Emily felt called to something more, something deeper, and so started a local chapter of Bread for the Journey, a non-profit organization that honors and supports the innate goodness, generosity and vision of local community leaders, and was founded by author and speaker, Wayne Muller. Attending retreats with Wayne, Richard Rohr and others, Emily’s spiritual life deepened as did her hunger to learn more and grow in her faith and her relationship with God. So, Emily enrolled in the Certificate in Spiritual Formation curriculum through Pittsburgh, Austin and Columbia Seminaries where she attended various classes taught by seminary professors and adjunct faculty. Throughout this time, Emily continued to actively participate in congregational life at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE as a Deacon, teacher and leader of the Healing Prayer Team.
In the fall of 2004, Emily experienced a powerful and undeniable call to enter the ordination process, and so began her journey through Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, PA. It was during her senior seminary year that a fellow student asked Emily to be her spiritual director, soon to be followed by several others. This prompted her to pursue spiritual direction as her ministerial vocation.
With all the twists and turns of Pastor Emily’s very rich and full life, she is grateful for God’s constant companionship and the gift of being called to companion others on their own journeys.