Rev. Philip Price was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada.  Originally ordained in the United Church of Canada, he emigrated to the States and became a minister in the United Church of Christ and in the Disciples of Christ.  He has served churches in California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Illinois, and now in Georgia again.  He has served in the capacity of Senior minister and as an Intentional Interim minister.  In 2022 he became a US citizen! 

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Phil received his undergrad degree from the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto and received a Master of Divinity from Emmanuel College, University of Toronto.

 

Married to Vicki Price, they have six children and five  grandchildren.

 

When speaking of ministry this is what he had to say.

 

I am in love with life.  I am amazed to be here at all.  Being itself is an amazing miracle, and to be given the gift of consciousness as well, is miracle upon miracle.  These gifts are of inestimable value and I hope to live fully into the possibilities that they offer.  The challenge of life is to resist the broad highway of earthbound living with its obsessions on material wealth and social prestige.  The broad road leads to pride or shame and both cause the human spirit to shrivel.  The much narrower path of spiritual growth is a journey into trust, generosity and compassion.  The narrow path leads to humility, joy and awe.  

 

I am in love with the possibility of change.  Of course, change is happening all around us all the time and we can’t stop it, but, in human terms, a changed heart, a changed mind, changed attitudes, those are “amazing grace” kinds of changes.  The journey from racial bigotry to appreciation of diversity, from identity prejudices to honoring the differences, from self-obsession to compassion, from fear to generosity are journeys into the very heart of God.  We are born with divine capacity and life gives us the opportunity to explore that capacity.  Change represents the journey from here to there.   

 

I love the church.  Yes, I’m very aware of the many problems that the church has had and the many times that the church has been a roadblock in the development of the human spirit rather than a bridge.  Yes, many times the church has acted in ways that are the antithesis to our core message of “and on earth, peace.”   Many times the church has acted as if the great carol announces, “Joy to You and Me” rather than, “Joy to the World!”  The church has often become just another human institution defending and propping up itself rather than being the vehicle that takes us into what Moses called the Promised Land and what Jesus called the Realm of God. 

 

Yes, there are, and have been, problems but as a vehicle, there is nothing else that can get us as far down the road to our spiritual capacity than the church.  It brings us TOGETHER.  There is no spiritual growth that does not include being together.  We are called to travel from aloneness into oneness.  The journey into the oneness of God begins by becoming one with self, family, neighbor, stranger, foreigner and finally with “enemy” and then we will find that we are ONE with God.  Church gives us a story and brings us into a story.  The bible is not something to just know or study, it gives the possibility of entering a story that changes hearts and changes the world.  The church is a safe place for us to be healed of that which torments us and a place to be fed so that we have the strength and courage to serve. 

 

What is happening here: I am the Intentional Interim Minister.  I am here to help the congregation articulate who you are so they know what to look for in your next called minister.  We look at our history and we dream of a future and ask for God’s guidance as we prepare to welcome in the next called minister.  Right now, the congregation has decided to not be in a hurry searching for the next minister, but to do work rebuilding and becoming stronger.  

 

Let’s be partners.  I would be honored to be a partner with you on our journey into the oneness.  I can’t wait to meet you!

 

Blessings,

Pastor Phil