Msgr. Emery was born in Hoboken and was raised in Ocean Township. He attended public schools and graduated from Kean College in 1983 with a degree in Elementary Education. He completed his studies for the Priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary and was ordained on November 21, 1987. His first assignment was to St. Catharine’s in Glen Rock, where he served from January of 1988 to June of 1990.
 
In June of 1990 he was appointed Secretary to the Archbishop and in September of 1992 he was sent to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. to study Canon Law. Msgr. Emery received his Licentiate in Canon Law in June of 1994. He was then assigned as a parochial vicar at St. Peter’s Parish in Belleville until June of 1998. During his years at St. Peter’s he also served for one year as the Campus Minister at Kean University and received an M.A. in Counseling from there in June of 2000. In June of 1998, the Archbishop appointed Msgr. Emery as his Secretary for one year and then was named Pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in Weehawken where he served until June of 2004. While at St. Lawrence, from 2002-2004, he also was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Archdiocese on a part-time basis.  
 
In June of 2004, Monsignor was named Vicar General and Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Newark. Pope John Paul II conferred Papal Honors on him in May of 2005 with the title “Prelate of Honor”. In February of 2007, Monsignor was appointed Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, South Orange. In September of 2011 he was appointed Assistant Judicial Vicar in the Marriage Tribunal on a part-time basis, where he served for two years and on July 1, 2013 was named Regional/Episcopal Vicar for Essex County. In March of 2016, he was also appointed as the Archbishop’s Representative to the Archdiocesan Review Board. In February of 2019, Msgr. Emery was appointed Pastor of Saint Aloysius Parish in Caldwell, while remaining as Regional/Episcopal Vicar. His service as Episcopal Vicar ended in April of 2020. In October 0f 2021, Msgr. Emery was appointed the Caldwell Police Chaplain.