All Titles | Find YOUR way to GRACE.

You’ve found your way to the online library for author and pastor Philip Gulley’s official PlainSpeech website. We hope that you enjoy the voice of small-town American life while exploring matters of faith filling volumes of progressive Christian libraries.

Living the Quaker Way

The long-held priorities of Quakerism–simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality–are so universally attractive and so urgently needed in today’s world, it begs the question, Is there a little bit of Quaker in all of us? As an antidote to the complexities and challenges of modern life, award-winning author Philip Gulley offers the opportunity to participate in a world where the values of the Quaker way bring equity, peace, healing, and hope.

Full Synopsis

The Quaker Way invites readers to encounter the defining commitments of the Religious Society of Friends, and shows how those ideals can be incorporated in personal and public life to bring renewal and eliminate the clutter that is keeping us from deeper spirituality. His audience is a new generation of seekers who may be disillusioned with religious institutions and strictures but yet are deeply interested in spiritual matters. In the end, Gulley’s invitation isn’t to a centuries old church, but to an honest, peaceful, and promising way of life.

 

The Evolution of Faith

If Grace Is True describes Gulley and Mulholland’s conviction that God will save every person.

Full Synopsis

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.

 

I Love You, Miss Huddleston

I Love You, Miss Huddleston: And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood is the uproarious story of Philip’s coming-of-age years in Danville, Indiana. Huddleston placed as a semi-finalist in the 2010 Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Thurber Prize is the only recognition of the art of humor writing in the United States.

If Grace is True

If Grace Is True describes Gulley and Mulholland’s conviction that God will save every person.

If God is Love

If God Is Love further explores the implications of this belief in eternal salvation and how it can impact every aspect of our lives.

 

Porch Talk

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.

Full Synopsis

 

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.

 

Front Porch Tales

 

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.

Full Synopsis

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.

 

For Everything a Season

 

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. 

Full Synopsis

 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.

Home 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.

Just Shy of 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.

Signs & Wonders

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.

Christmas in Harmony

 

Philip Gulley takes us to Harmony, Indiana, at Christmastime as inspiration strikes the inimitable Dale Hinshaw. 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.

Full Synopsis

Neither Pastor Sam Gardner nor the other members of the Harmony Friends meeting express any enthusiasm for this idea, but Dale is unstoppable. Meanwhile, Pastor Sam has his own concerns: he’s having his annual argument with his wife, and he’s worried that the four-slotted toaster he bought for her may be too lavish a gift.

Amidst the bustle of the season, the citizens of Harmony experience the simple joys and sometime loneliness that often go unseen. Sam comes to the realization that Dale, in his own misguided way, is only trying to draw meaning from the eternal story of Christmas. “In this unsettled world, it is good to have this steadiness — the Christmas Eve service, the peal of the bell. . . .There is a holiness to memory, a sense of God’s presence in these mangers of the mind. Which might explain why it is that the occasions that change the least are often the very occasions that change us the most.”

Life Goes On

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

Full Synopsis

 

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 Change of Heart

 

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

 

 

Almost Friends

 

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.

Full Synopsis

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.

 

If the Church Were Christian

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.

A Place Called Hope

A Place Called Hope is AVAILABLE NOW! Fans of the critically acclaimed Harmony series will delight in the return of it’s central character, Sam Gardner, in this new series by Gulley.

Full Synopsis

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 realizes they’re two women. In the tempest of strong opinions and misunderstandings 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 receives a call from a woman in the suburban town of Hope, Indiana. It seems Hope Friends Meeting is in desperate need of a pastor. Though they only have twelve members, they also have a beautiful meetinghouse and a pie committee (Sam is fond of pie). But can he really leave his beloved hometown of Harmony?

A Lesson in Hope

Sam Gardner has been pastor of Hope Friends Meeting for just 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.

Full Synopsis

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, Olives’ 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.

A Gathering in Hope

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.

Full Synopsis

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.

Unlearning God

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.

Full Synopsis

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.