About Me

Rick Phillips is senior Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Greenville, SC.

Rick served in the Army for 13 years, holding command and staff positions in a number of combat units. While gaining his M.B.A. at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, he was converted to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel in a nearby church. A few years later, while serving as assistant professor of leadership at West Point and holding the rank of major, he and his wife were persuaded of God’s call into the ministry. Resigning from the Army, they moved back to Philadelphia to attend Westminster Theological Seminary.

While still in seminary, Rick became minister to a large inner-city outreach to singles and within a few years was preaching weekly at Tenth Presbyterian Church in downtown Philadelphia, the very church in which he was earlier converted and where he had met Sharon. During that time he also served on the staff of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, a radio and publishing ministry led by Rick’s mentor and senior pastor, James Montgomery Boice. Rick remains on the board of directors of that organization. He also chairs the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, founded by Dr. Boice in 1974 and passed on to Rick’s leadership after Dr. Boice’s death in 2000.

In addition to providing overall leadership of the church along with the board of elders, Rick focuses his ministry on what he refers to as the “3 P’s”: preaching, praying and pastoring. One of his main outside interests is writing books and articles, and occasionally speaking at conferences on the Bible and theology. In the time left over from his ministry duties, Rick likes to spend time with his wife and children.