Rev. Dr. Eric G. Phillips, Pastor

Eric Phillips was born in New Jersey in 1972.  He grew up there and in Pennsylvania with his younger brother Gareth and younger sister, Susan.  His father is the Rev. D. Thomas Phillips, and his mother, Marje, is with the Lord.  He attended Cedarville College in Ohio, majoring in History and English, and then went on to where he earned an MA in Medieval Studies and an MA and PhD (2006) in Early Christian Studies.  The title of his dissertation was “Theodore of Mopsuestia on Man and Salvation.”

The original goal of all this schooling was to be a college professor.  For a few years during his long graduate career and for a year afterwards, he worked as an adjunct professor, teaching English Composition and History of Western Civilization at Washington Bible College (Lanham, MD), and Western Civilization and Historiography at Patrick Henry College (Purcellville, VA).  In 2010 he began classes at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, where he taught an Intensive Latin class in the summer of 2011.  He has also had the opportunity to translate some Latin prefaces and disputations for the new volumes of Luther’s Works being put out by Concordia Publishing House.  He served his vicarage at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Greensboro, NC, and graduated seminary in May, 2013.

He has been married to the lovely and talented Kristina Rutledge Phillips since the end of 2003, and has three children:  Caedmon (12), Iona (10), and Helena (8).  He is a convert to Lutheranism (it started with 1 Peter 3:21: “Baptism now saves you”), a board game enthusiast, and an Eagles fan – but he might be willing to cultivate a secondary interest in the Titans.  He doesn’t dislike country music nearly as much as he used to.

 

Melvin Potts – Organist