The Masculine Mandate

Author Bio: Richard D. Phillips

Richard D. Phillips was raised in an Army family and grew up on posts around America. After graduating from the University of Michigan, he followed his father and grandfather by serving as a tank officer. While in graduate school in Philadelphia, his mother urged him to start attending church again, so he visited the Tenth Presbyterian Church. The message he heard that night changed his life, a sermon from the Old Testament book of Hosea about God’s redeeming love for sinners through the cross of Jesus Christ. He quickly became active in Officer’s Christian Fellowship during the years he was teaching leadership at West Point. He began leading a Bible study for students and was then asked to write a daily devotional before finally starting to preach at Christian meetings. Through these experiences, he concluded that God was calling him into a full-time pulpit ministry, so he left the Army and embarked on fulfilling God’s call to the ordained ministry. He now serves as senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. He frequently speaks at conferences on the Bible and theology and is active in overseas missions, especially in East Africa. He likes to spend time with his wife and children and is a loyal follower of his alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines, as well as an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox.