Philip Gulley

While many denominations claim to be growing, the largest group in American religious life is the disillusioned—people who have been involved in the church yet see few similarities between the church's life and the person of Jesus. In the midst of elaborate programming, professional worship teams, and political crusades, they ask, "Is this really what Jesus called us to do?" While the church has dismissed these people as uncommitted and lacking in faith, perhaps the opposite is true. Their commitment to authentic spirituality over institutional idolatry might be the very corrective the church needs. These people respect Jesus, but question what Christianity has become. In If the Church Were Christian, Quaker pastor and author Philip Gulley explores how the church has lost its way. This eye-opening examination of the values of Jesus reveals the extent to which the church has drifted from the teachings of the man who inspired its creation. Many Christians might be surprised to discover how little Jesus had to say about the church, and that he might never have intended to start a new religion. But the church is here to stay, and Gulley is determined to help the church find its soul. If the church were Christian, Gulley argues, affirming our potential would be more important than condemning our brokenness. If the church were Christian, inviting questions would be valued more than supplying answers. If the church were Christian, meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions. These simple statements return us to the heart of what Jesus cared about during his ministry. Gulley provides a profound picture of what the church would look like if it refocused on the real priorities of Jesus.

Rediscovering the Values of Jesus

If the Church Were Christian

America's favorite Quaker storyteller explores the terrain of faith and doubt as shaped by family, church, and young love, finding his way to a less convenient but fully formed adult spirituality. Most of us grow up taking in whole belief systems with our mother's milk, only to discover later that what we received as being certain is actually nothing like it. And then we're faced with a choice--retreat to spiritual security and the community that comes with it, or strike out into the unknown. With his trademark humor and down-home wisdom, Philip Gulley serves as just the spiritual director a wayward pilgrim could warm to, inviting readers into his own sometimes rollicking, sometimes daunting journey of spiritual discovery. He writes about being raised by a Catholic mother and a Baptist father across the street from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses--all three camps convinced the others are doomed. To nearly everyone's consternation, Philip grows up to be a Quaker and a pastor. In Unlearning God, Gulley showcases his well-loved gift as a storyteller and his acute sensibilities as a public theologian in conversations that will charm, provoke, encourage, and inspire.

How Unbelieving Helped Me Believe

Unlearning God

Provides a starting point for those looking to explore what they truly believe, rather than what they have always been taught, and encourages the development of a belief system that is open to evolution.

how God is creating a better Christianity

The evolution of faith

James Mulholland

Why God Will Save Every Person

If Grace is True

Why Everyone Will Be in Heaven Two pastors present their controversial belief in eternal salvation for all through God's perfect grace. Long disturbed by the church's struggle between offering both love and rejection, they discover what God wants from us and for us: grace for everyone.

If Grace Is True

Sam Gardner becomes the pastor of his hometown church and tackles some sticky situations.

Home to Harmony

A stocking-stuffer sized holiday novel from the bestselling Quaker novelist, offering fresh insight into the true meaning of Christmas Philip Gulley takes us back to Harmony, Indiana, at Christmastime as inspiration strikes the inimitable Dale Hinshaw. Undaunted by the failure of his Scripture Eggs ministry and always looking for a way to increase the church’s profit margins, Hinshaw brainstorms a progressive nativity scene that will involve the whole town, complete with a map like those for the Hollywood stars. Neither Pastor Sam Gardner nor the other members of the Harmony Friends meeting express any enthusiasm for this idea, but Dale is unstoppable. Amidst the bustle of the season, the citizens of Harmony experience the simple joys and sometime loneliness that often go unseen. In the end, Sam comes to the realization that Dale, in his own misguided way, is only trying to draw meaning from the eternal story of Christmas. A touching holiday read Perfect for fans of uplifting winter romances A delightful Christmas gift

Christmas in Harmony

In his latest book Philip Gulley, known as the voice of small-town America, lyrically and powerfully explains why spirituality, and not institutional religion, is the true pathway to ultimate meaning and purpose.

If Religion Were Spiritual

"Just Shy of Harmony" whisks readers back to Harmony, Indiana, where pastor Sam Gardner suffers a crisis of faith.

Just Shy of Harmony

In the vein of Bill Bryson’s The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, with a dash of some of the homegrown nostalgia of The Dangerous Book for Boys and A Prairie Home Companion, humorist Philip Gulley (Front Porch Tales, Home to Harmony) tells of his coming of age in small-town Indiana.

And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood

I Love You, Miss Huddleston

Discover the honesty, humor, depth, and wisdom of the front porch in this inspirational masterpiece of soulful small-town stories, which has garnered widespread acclaim for Quaker writer Philip Gulley. Reminiscent of the stories of Jan Karon and Garrison Keillor, this collection of real-life tales grew outof essays Gulley wrote for the newsletter of the Quaker church he pastored inIndiana. Graced with a gentle style and deft simplicity, these stories powerfully conjure the little truths of everyday life. Philip Gulley is gifted with the rare ability to convey the extraordinary moments and insights of ordinary people. Join thousands of satisfied readers on the front porch of this consummate American storyteller.

Warm Hearted Stories of Family, Faith, Laughter and Love

Front Porch Tales

"In a league with Jan Karon's Mitford series . . . readers who seek pleasant, witty and occasionally poignant fiction will delight in this book." — Publishers Weekly It's another bustling year in the lives of this quirky Quaker community. Dale Hinshaw is back and floating another of his crackpot ministry schemes—this time, quite literally, with his Salvation Balloons project. Pastor Sam Gardner's wife, Barbara, the 1977 Tenderloin Queen, wins a trip to the Caribbean and thinks she might just go without her workaholic husband. Deena Morrison struggles with being single and alone, while the Friendly Women's Circle strategizes on how they can "help" her. Jimmy Muldock has a secret only his mother knows, though the ever-curious Furnace Committee is bent on discovering it. Throughout it all, three things are certain: the Friendly Women's Circle will make more noodles, Dale Hinshaw will push Sam Gardner to the end of his pastoral rope, and the good in human nature will just nudge out the bad. Filled with master storyteller Philip Gulley's trademark humor and depth of insight, this wise, joyous novel will delight and satisfy both those who know and love Harmony and those who are just discovering it. "Welcome back to a place where the stories are rich and the folks are familiar. Welcome back to the signs and wonders uncovered in small-town life. Welcome back to Gulley's great writing. Welcome back to Harmony!" —Lynne Hinton, national bestselling author of Pie Town "Evokes a convincing sense that there is at least a spark of goodness in almost everyone . . . [a] wise and gentle book." — Arkansas Democrat Gazette "A celebration of small-town life." —Woman's Day

Signs and Wonders

Readers everywhere have fallen in love with Philip Gulley’s Home to Harmony, a charming novel of a small, friendly town whose endearing and eccentric residents are just like old friends. In his warm, down-home style, Gulley chronicles the humorous and occasionally moving world of Sam Gardner, a Quaker pastor who has just moved back to his hometown. Laugh and cry with Sam as he reflects on the quirks of human nature in such memorable vignettes as “The Aluminum Years,” in which Sam tries to come up with the perfect gift to give his wife for their tenth anniversary, or “Shroud of Harmony,” which features a church quilt that mysteriously displays the image of Jesus. From Billy Bundle, the “World’s Shortest Evangelist” to narrow-minded church elder Dale Hinshaw, the town of Harmony and its residents are worth visiting time and time again. Philip Gulley is a Quaker minister, writer, husband, and father. He is the bestselling author of Front Porch Tales, For Everything a Season, Home to Harmony, Just Shy of Harmony, Signs and Wonders and If Grace is True. He and his wife, Joan, live in Indiana with their sons, Spencer and Sam. “Occasionally, a simple book feels like home, and its characters become cherished friends ... this book is pure joy.”—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

"Noone raises provocative questions about Christianity more kindly than PhilipGulley. " —Diana Butler Bass,author of Christianity for the Rest of Us “Everyserious Christian ought to read this book, ponder it,wrestlewith it, but above all, be grateful for its presence in today's urgentconversation about what we are and are becoming as a people of God.” —Phyllis Tickle, author of The GreatEmergence RenownedQuaker minister Philip Gulley, bestselling author of If the Church WereChristian, delivers a practical, insightful guide to developing aliving, flexible, personal Christianity—a faith that allows you to confront theprofound challenges facing every believer in today’s difficult world.

How God Is Creating a Better Christianity

The Evolution of Faith

A Philip Gulley Reader

A Publishers Weekly “Top 10 in Religion” selection. “This is nothing less than the gospel itself…a much-needed book.” —FR. RICHARD ROHR, OFM, Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico “Living the Quaker Way is a treasure trove of practical wisdom about what it means to bear witness to our hope for a better world.” —Parker J. Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak Philip Gulley invites us into a bracing encounter with the rich truths of Quakerism—a centuries-old spiritual tradition that provides not only a foundation of faith but also vision for making the world more just, loving, and peaceable by our presence. In Living the Quaker Way, Gulley shows how Quaker values provide real solutions to many of our most pressing contemporary challenges. We not only come to a deeper appreciation of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality, we see how embracing these virtues will radically transform us and our world. Living the Quaker Way includes a 30-day spiritual practice that applies the Quaker tradition of Queries.

Discover the Hidden Happiness in the Simple Life

Living the Quaker Way

A bestselling author offers a humorous novel about a small town pastor who confronts the forces of nature in his quest to renovate the town meetinghouse. Thanks to an unexpected windfall, Sam Gardner's congregation (with the exception of a few malcontents) is eager to expand their meetinghouse. But before building can commence, the County Environmental Board and the Department of Natural Resources put the quietus on the plan. A colony of endangered Indiana bats have made the tree beside the meetinghouse, and the meetinghouse attic, their place of hanging, mating, and living, which poses a big problem for the congregation. Aside from the fact that their fanged visitors are engaging in sinful acts on church property, until these bats leave for hibernation, Hope Friends Meeting is left without a gathering place. And when an over-zealous Leonard Fink takes matters into his own hands, he may even land himself—and Sam—in jail. Praise for Philip Gulley "Philip Gulley is a Quaker pastor from Indiana with a charming sense of small-town life-and a shrewd sense of life in general . . . A self-deprecating narrator . . . he knows how to exaggerate in a witty way." ― The Wall Street Journal "Gulley's work is comparable to Gail Godwin's fiction, Garrison Keillor's storytelling, and Christopher Guest's filmmaking . . . in a league with Jan Karon's Mitford series." — Publishers Weekly "Philip Gulley is a beautiful writer." ―Charles Osgood, CBS Sunday Morning "Gulley's stories get at the heart of the simple joys, stranger-than-fiction humor, and day-to-day drama of small-town life." ―A merican Profile Magazine

A Novel

A Gathering in Hope

Hometown Tales epitomizes the affable, humorous storytelling style of Philip Gulley. Gulley, a Quaker pastor, demonstrates the virtuous life as he sees it in the actions of those close to him. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control can all be found in abundance, simply by looking that the world around us. Readers will discover a simpler way of life, where things are less complicated and people know each other by name. A place where folks care for one another and are willing to do what is right – no matter the cost. Philip Gulley is a Quaker minister, writer, husband, and father. He is the bestselling author of the acclaimed Harmony series, Front Porch Tales, and For Everything a Season. He and his wife, Joan, live in Indiana with their sons, Spencer and Sam. “The tales Philip Gulley unveils are tender and humorous ... filled with sudden, unexpected, lump-in-the-throat poignancy.” – Paul Harvey, Jr.

Recollections of Kindness, Peace, and Joy

Hometown Tales

With his ear for the small town and his knack for finding the needle of humor in life's haystack, Philip Gulley might well be Indiana's answer to Missouri's Mark Twain. In I Love You, Miss Huddleston we are transported to 1970's Danville, Indiana, the everyone-knows-your-business town where Gulley still lives today, to witness the uproarious story of Gulley's young life, including his infatuation with his comely sixth-grade teacher, his dalliance with sin—eating meat on Friday and inappropriate activities with a mannequin named Ginger—and his checkered start with organized religion. Sister Mary John had shown us a flannelgraph of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They looked quite happy, except that their hair was on fire. . . . I was suspicious of a religion whose highpoint was the igniting of one's head, and my enthusiasm for church, which had never been great, began to fade. Even as Kennedy was facing down Khrushchev, Danny Millardo and his band of youthful thugs conducted a reign of terror still unmatched in the annals of Indiana history. With Gulley's sharp wit and keen observation, I Love You, Miss Huddleston captures these dramas and more, revisiting a childhood of unrelieved and happy chaos. From beginning to end, Gulley recalls the hilarity (and heightened dangers) of those wonder years and the easy charm of midwestern life.

Philip Gulley

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