Philip Gulley Books in Order

Part spiritual memoir, part theology, Unlearning God traces Gulley’s journey from rigid childhood religion to a more spacious Quaker faith, inviting readers to question inherited ideas about God and keep only the ones that foster compassion and honesty.

Pastor Sam Gardner’s small congregation in Hope, Indiana finally has the funds to expand its meetinghouse—until a colony of endangered bats claims the property. As tempers flare and one member takes drastic action, Sam must balance compassion, law, and common sense.

Four months into his new pastorate at Hope Friends Meeting, Sam Gardner learns that a cranky ninety‑eight‑year‑old member has left the tiny church nearly a million dollars. The unexpected windfall sparks lawsuits, power struggles, and hard lessons about community and generosity.

When Quaker pastor Sam Gardner unknowingly agrees to officiate a same‑sex wedding, the uproar threatens his job and sense of calling. Discouraged yet restless, he considers selling used cars—until a struggling meeting in Hope, Indiana offers him a risky new start.

Living the Quaker Way introduces the core Quaker commitments of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality, weaving history, personal stories, and practical queries. Gulley shows how these quiet convictions can reshape daily decisions, relationships, and public life.

The Evolution of Faith argues that Christianity is changing—and must keep changing—to remain truthful and life‑giving. Gulley questions inherited doctrines about sin, hell, and exclusivity, sketching a more open, justice‑minded, experience‑based way of following Jesus.

If the Church Were Christian imagines what congregations might look like if they took Jesus’ values as their starting point. Gulley contrasts shame‑based religion with a church that welcomes questions, practices reconciliation, serves the vulnerable, and cares more about love than dogma.

In this humorous memoir of 1960s and 1970s Indiana, Gulley looks back on first crushes, church camp misadventures, and small‑town oddballs. I Love You, Miss Huddleston captures the awkward longings and mishaps that shaped his boyhood in Danville.

Christians Awake! is a frank appeal to believers who feel the church has drifted from biblical convictions. Gulley addresses cultural compromise, fashionable “tolerance,” and spiritual apathy, urging readers to reclaim Scripture, moral clarity, and the courage to live their faith in public.

Porch Talk gathers short essays on small‑town life, faith, and everyday decency, many first written for Gulley’s Quaker meeting. With gentle humor he introduces hardware clerks, newspaper staffers, and neighbors whose ordinary choices reveal grace, stubbornness, and common sense.

In Almost Friends, Pastor Sam Gardner takes a leave of absence to care for his ill father, and energetic interim pastor Krista Riley steps into the pulpit. As the congregation falls for her and a few detractors stir trouble, Sam must decide where he truly belongs.

Determined at last to give his wife a thoughtful present, Sam Gardner secretly joins a scrapbooking class to create a Christmas gift. His mysterious Wednesday‑night absences spark rumors, while mishaps in the classroom and at church threaten to upend Harmony’s holiday.

A Change of Heart finds Harmony buzzing with news: a prodigal couple wants back into their daughter’s life, Dale Hinshaw faces a heart transplant, and Deena Morrison plans a fairy‑tale wedding. Sam Gardner tries to shepherd his flock through loyalty tests, forgiveness, and second chances.

Life Goes On chronicles another year in Harmony as Sam Gardner juggles church politics, off‑kilter funerals, home‑repair disasters, and Dale Hinshaw’s latest schemes. The more the town’s narrow‑minded characters test his patience, the more Sam wonders whether he’s still called to stay.

In If God Is Love, Gulley and coauthor James Mulholland explore what everyday life might look like if we truly believed God loves everyone. They wrestle with hell, forgiveness, generosity, politics, and justice, calling Christians toward a more gracious, less fearful faith.

Signs and Wonders returns to Harmony for a year of quirky crises: ill‑fated evangelism stunts, harebrained home‑improvement projects, and a single schoolteacher’s awkward search for love. Through it all, Sam Gardner traces where grace and real change quietly break in.

If Grace Is True presents Gulley and James Mulholland’s bold conviction that God’s love will ultimately save every person. Drawing on stories from ministry and Scripture, they question traditional views of hell and invite readers to reconsider what divine grace might really mean.

Christmas in Harmony follows Quaker pastor Sam Gardner through a tumultuous holiday season as church elder Dale Hinshaw masterminds a progressive town‑wide nativity scene. Between gift‑giving worries and unexpected moments of loneliness and joy, Sam searches for the heart of Christmas in his quirky community.

In Just Shy of Harmony, Sam Gardner realizes he shows most of the warning signs of depression—and he’s the pastor everyone else is supposed to visit. As church conflicts, illnesses, and oddball ministries pile up, Sam has to rediscover why his faith still matters.

A Grandmother’s Touch gathers short, faith‑tinged stories that celebrate the bond between grandmothers and grandchildren. Gulley highlights quiet acts of wisdom, patience, and love, offering gentle encouragement to women who pass their stories and values on to younger generations.

Home to Harmony introduces Sam Gardner as he returns to his Indiana hometown to pastor the Friends meeting. In linked stories full of potlucks, church squabbles, and unexpected grace, he learns how messy, funny, and holy small‑town life can be.

A Philip Gulley Reader brings together a selection of his stories and essays in one volume, offering an easy way to sample his small‑town humor, gentle spirituality, and early work from the porch‑talk and Harmony years.

For Everything a Season offers brief stories and reflections arranged around the turning of the year. Drawing on family life, holidays, and town traditions, Gulley shows how ordinary moments—planting gardens, moving children out, saying goodbye—carry quiet spiritual weight.

Hometown Tales continues Gulley’s front‑porch storytelling with vignettes about neighbors, teachers, and church folks who embody kindness, peace, and joy. These recollections from his Midwestern hometown invite readers to notice small acts of courage and grace in their own communities.

Front Porch Tales collects Gulley’s early newsletter essays about family, neighbors, and church life in rural Indiana. With humor and quiet insight, he turns everyday mishaps and porch‑side conversations into stories about forgiveness, hope, and learning to pay attention.