In 2008, the band formed when a group of students at the University of Arizona saw the need to lead worship for a weekly worship night at their church on campus, the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center. The worship night, called Emmaus, provided an environment for the band to grow spiritually and musically together.
The band took the name Emmaus, after the worship night that brought them together and as it described their own journey. Emmaus is the town in Luke 24 where two disciples are walking towards when they encounter a stranger on the road. Although they are first feeling downcast that their friend Jesus of Nazareth had been put to death, the stranger reveals scripture in a way that uplifts their hearts. When they reach Emmaus, they invite the stranger to stay with them, and they recognize that it is Jesus in the breaking of the bread. It is then that they say to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) In this same way, the band seeks to reveal God’s word so that others may realize the burning for God’s love within their own hearts.
Emmaus continues to lead worship on Wednesday nights at the Newman Center for the worship night Emmaus, as well as the Newman Center’s monthly Holy Hour (adoration of the Blessed Sacrament) on first Fridays. In addition, Emmaus has been called upon for such events as the Diocese of Tucson’s Youthfest and Diocesan Youth Minister’s Conference. They released their five song EP, titled Never Grow Weary, on May 5, 2010.