Stories from a Place That Feels Like Home

Master storyteller Philip Gulley envelops readers in an almost forgotten world of plainspoken and honest small-town values, evoking a simpler time when people knew each other by name, folks looked out for their neighbors, and people were willing to do what was right--no matter the cost.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

Filled with a cast of lovable, quirky characters, punctuated with simple wonders, the everyday truths found in this book offer much needed clarity to our own befuddled world. No matter where you live, no matter what your season, come along for the journey.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

The largest group in American religious life may be the disillusioned--people who have been involved in the church, respect Jesus, but question what Christianity has become. In "If the Church Were Christian" Philip Gulley provides a profound picture of what the church could look like if it refocused on the priorities of Jesus.

Evoking a time when life revolved around the front porch, where friends gathered, stories were told, and small moments took on large meaning, in today's hurry-up world, Philip Gulley's essays remind us of the world we once shared--and can share again.

"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 GreatEmergenceRenownedQuaker 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.

Wisdom and Humor from the Front Porch

Master storyteller Philip Gulley shares tender and hilarious real-life moments that capture the important truths of everyday life.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

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.

It's summer in Harmony, but not everything is as sunny as the weather. The good citizens of Harmony are back and stirring up trouble as usual, sometimes with disastrous results.

Pastor Sam Gardner must take a leave of absence from his post at Harmony Friends Meeting to take care of his ailing father.

But when spunky pastor Krista Riley comes to fill his position, the quirky Quakers seem to fall in love with her, and it begins to look like Sam's sabbatical may be permanent. Krista's resilience is put to the test when Dale Hinshaw and Fern Hampton begin to question whether a woman can faithfully lead their flock, and it looks like the resulting tiff might just be the undoing of Harmony Friends Meeting. Will Sam come to the rescue? Finding the answer to this question makes the trip back to Harmony worth turning every page.

A Year of Laughter and Grace in harmony

Master storyteller Philip Gulley returns to the winsome ways of Harmony, Indiana, in the third installment of the beloved Harmony series.

Welcome to Harmony ...

In this acclaimed inaugural volume in the Harmony series, master American storyteller Philip Gulley draws us into the charming world of minister Sam Gardner in his first year back in his hometown, capturing the essence of small-town life with humor and wisdom.

America's favourite 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 humour 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.

Why Christianity must change

What if God wanted us to grow and change, both our theology and our beliefs? In "The Evolution of Faith," Philip Gulley invites us to discard slavish obedience to antiquated faith claims and worldviews and discover our true beliefs, re-examining and re-interpreting Christianity for today's complex world. Gulley encourages us to seek answers within and develop our own apologetics, a belief system that evolves as new ideas and realities are introduced. As we un-tether ourselves from those tenets that no longer further the faith, we can open ourselves to a Christianity we can believe in--one that brings out the best in us; a Christianity comfortable with people of other faiths; a Christianity grateful for scientific knowledge; a Christianity rooted in God's grace and informed by Jesus's example. This book is Gulley's ongoing effort to build a Christianity many of us long for, but haven't yet found.

Beloved American storyteller Philip Gulley evokes a time when life revolved around the front porch, where friends gathered, stories were told, and small moments took on large meaning. In today's hurry-up world, Gulley's observations are frank and funny, reminding us of the world we once shared, and can again.

With poignancy and humor, Gulley writes about small-town life, things he thinks about while sitting in his Quaker meeting, and why Donald Trump should pay more taxes. "Porch Talk" is a tribute to common folk, including Charlie the hardware priest, the Bettys at the newspaper, and other paragons of decency not many people know, but should.

Squarely in the crosshairs of the Church's heresy hunters, can Pastor Sam survive?

It's a madcap year in Harmony, Indiana, as Sam Gardner struggles through his fourth year as pastor of the Harmony Friends Meeting. Join the thousands of readers who have fallen in love with the charming small town that hosts what BookPage calls "the biggest collection of crusty, lovable characters since James Herriot settled in Yorkshire."

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.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Pastor Sam Gardner's congregation has voted 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 for at least four months. Even worse, the meetinghouse itself must be locked down for as long. 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, the congregation is left without a gathering place. And when an over-zealous Leonard Fink takes matters into his own hands, he may land Sam in jail.

Pastor Sam Gardner's congregation has voted 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 for at least four months. Even worse, the meetinghouse itself must be locked down for as long. 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, the congregation is left without a gathering place. And when an over-zealous Leonard Fink takes matters into his own hands, he may land Sam in jail.

When Quaker Pastor Sam Gardner is asked by the ill Unitarian minister to oversee a wedding in his place, Sam naturally agrees. It's not until the couple stands before him that he realises they're two women. In the tempest of strong opinions and misunderstanding that follows the incident, Sam faces potential unemployment. Deeply discouraged, he wonders if his pastoral usefulness has come to an end. Perhaps it's time for a change. After all, his wife has found a new job at the library, his elder son is off to college, and the younger has decided to join the military once he graduates high school. Sam is contemplating a future selling used cars when he recieves a call from a woman in the suburban town of Hope, Indianan. It seems Hope Friends Meeting is in desperate need of a pastor. Though they only have twelve members, they also have a beautiful meeting house and a pie committee (Sam is fond of pie). But can he really leave his beloved hometown of Harmony?

If God is love . . . Why are so many Christians fearful? Why do so many Church leaders sound hateful? Why does religion often create more pain than healing? What would it take for our world to become more gracious? InIf Grace Is True, pastors Philip Gulley and James Mulholland revealed their belief that God will save every person.

They now explore the implications of this belief and its power to change every area of our lives. They attempt to answer one question: If we took God's love seriously, what would our world look like? Gulley and Mulholland argue that what we believe is crucial and dramatically affects the way we live and interact in the world.

Beliefs have power. The belief in a literal hell, where people suffer eternally, has often been used by the Church to justify hate and violence,which contradict what Jesus taught about love and grace. The authors present a new vision for our personal, religious, and corporate lives, exploring what our world would be like if we based our existence on the foundational truth that God loves every person. Gulley and Mulholland boldly address many controversial issues people in the pews have wondered about but churches have been unwilling to tackle. For too long, the , the Christian tradition has been steeped in negativity, exclusion, and judgment. Gulley and Mulholland usher us into a new era -- an age where grace and love are allowed to reign.

Now in paperback, in the fifth full-length novel in the beloved Harmony series Philip Gulley reunites us with the quirky cast of Quakers in Harmony, Indiana.

Come Home to Harmony ...

Thousands of readers have fallen in love with Harmony, the small town with the kindly spirit whose endearing and eccentric residents are like old friends. Join them for Sam Gardner's second year as pastor of his quirky flock.

"Gulley and Mulholland have extended and deepened the meaning of God's grace in decidedly thoughtful and lovely ways." -- Arkansas Democrat Gazette In this controversial bestseller, authors and Quaker ministers Philip Gulley and James Mulholland expand upon their belief in eternal salvation for all through God's perfect grace. For seekers, for thoughtful Christians, and for the simply curious, Gulley and Mulholland offer a beautiful, timeless message of hope.

Sam has been pastor of Hope Friends Meeting for four months when a ninety-eight-year-old member, Olive Charles, passes away and leaves her entire estate--worth almost one million dollars--to the meeting. It's not long before this unexpected windfall creates a storm of conflicting opinions amongst members of Sam's church as to how the money should be used. And to make matters worse, Olive's niece Regina threatens the church with a lawsuit over what she deems her rightful share. Sam soon finds himself in over his head, trying to successfully deal with Regina's negotiations and lead his congregation to a decision.