Tom Morgan Phillips kneels before Bishop Brewer during his ordination to the priesthood on Sunday, March 25, at the Canterbury Retreat & Conference Center in Oviedo.

OVIEDO – In many ways, the ordination of Tom Morgan Phillips to the priesthood felt more like a homecoming than an official introduction into the priesthood. After all, it was just three years ago that Phillips’ school of biblical studies, Emmaus Ministries, was in danger of losing its home in North Carolina.

“We moved here in June 2015, surprisingly,” recalled Phillips after being ordained by Bishop Greg Brewer before an estimated crowd of 200 on a gorgeous Palm Sunday at Canterbury Retreat & Conference Center. “We had intended to rent the facility in North Carolina. We had a verbal contract on the place in April of 2015 and it fell through in May and so our students were arriving in August. It took three months to find a spot.”

Much to his relief, Phillips found a spot at Canterbury, whose mission and ministry of fostering spiritual growth through its sanctuary, retreats and conferences have made it a welcome destination for many. A previous meeting with Canterbury executive director, the Rev. Dr. Jon Davis, helped set the wheels in motion.

“We met Jon a few months before when (he) had opened his conference room to us,” said Phillips, one of the founders of Emmaus Ministries, which established its first school in 2006. “We decided to come. When we came here, it became pretty clear to me that God had given us an opportunity for me to be me as a leader of Emmaus and for me as an Episcopalian to bring those two things together; it was pretty special.”

Tom Morgan Phillips, right, prepares to celebrate the Holy Eucharist during his ordination. Deacon Becky Chapman, far left, and Bishop Greg Brewer stand near him.

It was a special moment for many of the folks in attendance. Some cried, some shouted with glee after the ordination. Many stood in a line to thank him and receive a blessing.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” said Caleb Ives, a fifth-year Emmaus staff member who will become the ministry’s new director. “I remember Emmaus from years ago … I came in as a student and then when I came in on staff soon after that, Tom was talking about his heart. He grew up in the Episcopal Church.

“He had this passion for scripture and discipleship, and seeing people grow in relationship with Christ,” Ives said. “And he said, ‘Man, I’d love to see how God can bring these things together.’ When we were in North Carolina, it seemed impossible. So, now, five years later, God moves us to Florida, sends me to Canterbury.”

Ives was of one of multiple Emmaus staff members to witness Phillips’ step into the priesthood. Many lingered around after the ordination to snap photos with and congratulate their former director.

For Phillips, it seemed like an easy decision to become a priest. After all, it’s in his blood.

“I grew up in the Episcopal Church,” said Phillips, 38. “My dad was a priest, my grandfather was a priest; so, it’s the third generation. Having grown up in the Episcopal Church, I have a deep love for it.”

Phillips said his grandfather was a priest in New York for nearly 40 years. His father was ordained in the 1970s in New York, but moved the family to Oregon, Montana, and then to Charlotte, North Carolina.

A huge crowd of 200 attended Tom Morgan Phillips’ ordination to the priesthood.

But Phillips didn’t immediately feel the calling to be an Episcopal priest. He spent eight years in a non-denominational church in North Carolina while toiling to make Emmaus Ministries a success.

Fate then intervened in 2015 when Emmaus needed a new home and Phillips and company trekked to Oviedo. “When I actually got down here, and began to see people in this Diocese, I began to love the leadership,” Ives said. “I got to know Canon (Tim) Nunez, Bishop Brewer.

“We saw these hearts, these leader hearts, that had a passion for the Gospel,” Ives said. “I think then that Tom started to have this awakening of desire to serve the church in the way that we at Emmaus do (because) we work at a lot of different parishes where you start to have a growing for the priesthood. It’s been really great walking alongside him.”

It was indeed the leadership of the Diocese of Central Florida that sparked something in Phillips’ heart for the priesthood. Coming to Canterbury and then meeting the diocesan leadership was the watershed moment for him.

“It was the theological climate of the Diocese and the leadership of Bishop Brewer,” Phillips said. “Bishop Brewer’s character and his love for the Gospel and his love for the Lord was really astounding to me. Quite honestly, it changed how I felt about leadership in the Episcopal Church; it really did.”

After spending some time as a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lake Mary, Phillips now will become priest-in-charge at Church of the Incarnation in Oviedo. He starts officially on Easter Day, April 1.

“I want to see that Church grow as the Lord leads it,” Phillips said. “I want to see people come to know Jesus. I’d love to see new people come to church who are non-churched.”

Phillips takes over a congregation of 40, with many being as young as he is. “One of the things that’s really neat about Incarnation is it’s a lot younger than the average Episcopal church,” he said. “Quite a few young people. Even the parishioners are largely working moms and dads. So, we absolutely want to reach out to the new, young demographic we have here in Oviedo. So, we want to see the church grow. I’d love to see it outgrow the chapel there as quick as possible.”

Fellow clergy like Davis are more than happy to see Phillips finally become a priest. “With someone like Tom Phillips, whose journey has Episcopal roots and has this experienced ministry mission outside of the Episcopal Church, and then he came home, and he found a home in the Diocese of Central Florida, I don’t know if he would have found that Episcopal home somewhere else,” Davis said. “He has a heart for the gospel. He is the right kind of people that we need here in ministry.”

Phillips and his wife, Julia, and children, Anna and Luke, reside in Chuluota.