Phil’s final act as dean will be to host the international conference for the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality on Tabor campus, July 5-7, see here
Phil will be remembered for his creativity, spirituality, leadership, drive, and capacity to facilitate safe and innovative spaces for learning and formation. He leaves a legacy of accomplishments, including the development of the highly successful Year in the Son program, the establishment of the Youth Work Degree, the flourishing of the Humanities and Social Sciences faculty which added the Bachelor of Music and a reimagined Creative Writing and Communication program during his tenure.
Phil has run several successful conferences, has published locally and internationally, completed academic fellowships in England and contributed to academic and professional conferences in Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, and New Zealand. In 2018 and 2019, Phil led the project to revitalise Tabor’s marketing department. In 2020, he led a revitalisation project of the Tabor Perth campus, residing in that city with his wife Claire for nine months.
At the heart of Phil’s practice is a love for teaching and student engagement and during the years when he became increasingly busy with management responsibilities, he always fought to maintain space for curriculum writing and teaching.
Following his retirement from his current role, Phil will take a 6-month complete break from work before launching his private practice in spiritual direction, retreat leadership, contemplative group work and professional mentoring from January 2024.
If you would like to send a message to Phil and/or ask him to be included in his list of contacts, you can reach him at his new business address: fruitfulmind@outlook.com