| What | 2024 Phillips Reader Gathering |
| When | Friday afternoon, April 5, through Monday afternoon, April 8, 2024 |
| Where | Central Texas Hill Country |
| Cost | $500 per person, including meals and housing $175 per person for in-town guests |
For over thirty years, on and off, Michael and Judy Phillips have hosted “open house” type gatherings for friends and readers. This year we will depart from what has been the pattern for several years. Instead of Northern California, Wise Path Books will be hosting the gathering in Central Texas.
In this year's gathering, Michael and Judy Phillips will be sharing some thoughts on the church and what Michael calls the “common life.” The term originates with the monastic order of which Thomas Kempis was associated in the 15th century. Kempis is one of Michael’s two foremost spiritual mentors, along with George MacDonald. Though his work expanding awareness of Kempis is not so widely known as his work with MacDonald, Michael has published several books of edited and compiled selections from Kempis, and is currently at work on a full-year’s daily devotional based on Kempis’s writings.
Michael’s perspectives on the future of the church and “the common life” form one of the thematic threads of his fiction series, Tribulation Cult, his first new fiction release in nine years, published by Fidelis Publishing. The first book of the series should be available for the gathering.
Michael will also speak on new editions of several MacDonald books of special interest by virtue of their unique 19th century publication history. (At least he hopes they will be ready in time—he and son Robin are at work on them as we speak!)
Also, several new editions of The Commands of Jesus, two of them requested and initiated (and lightly edited) by Judy will also be discussed. These two “brain children” of Judy’s will highlight some additional new Phillips editions Wise Path Books is excited to be publishing this Thanksgiving, in conjunction with Michael and Judy and Sunrise Books.
Judy is not the only one working on new Phillips projects. Aaress Lawless—whom Michael and Judy have dubbed their “Legacy Administrator”—has for some time been gathering the prayers from her favorite books into a collection she calls simply The Prayers of Michael Phillips. In her brief introductions, Aaress explains the impact these prayers have had on her own walk with God. Aaress will also use the occasion of the gathering to launch the new website she has been planning, designing, and working on for a year—Books of Michael Phillips, or michaelphillipsbooks.com.
And finally, along with this I will be sharing about my progress in the continuation of the Sunrise Centenary Works of George MacDonald, which Michael and Judy inaugurated in the 1980s, with the release of Paul Faber, Surgeon, as the first of several new leather bound editions.
And yes, for those of you who are wondering, we will be right in the epicenter of the total eclipse predicted for Monday, April 8th. And NASA-approved eclipse glasses will be provided for attendees. See more information on the eclipse here.
Purchase the ticket now, and more information will be sent to you as it becomes available.