PITTSBURGH, PA — July 3, 2026 – The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh is pleased to announce the appointment of the Rev. Eric Phillips as canon for church planting. Eric, who was the recipient of the Bishop’s Kingdom Minded Award in 2025, has demonstrated his heart for planting and his leadership gifts over the past year as he served as program director and planting cohort leader for the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s church planting project, which partners with Grove City College’s Center for Rural Ministry and the ACNA’s church planting ministry, Always Forward.
“I’m incredibly honored to be able to serve the Diocese in this manner and want to be available to anyone considering planting, in the process of planting, or looking into church plant assessment and training,” said Eric. God willing, he will be formally accepted as canon by the Diocese of Pittsburgh at our 161st Diocesan Convention on November 6, 2026.
If you have a heart for church planting in our diocese, please reach out to Eric at Eric@franklinredeemer.org.
About the Rev. Eric Phillips
Eric is a native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He studied theology as an undergraduate at Grove City College and, following graduation, entered pastoral ministry at a Baptist church in northern Virginia. He spent five years there serving as a young adult pastor, then moved back to Pittsburgh with his family to plant an inner-city church in the East End.
After another five years serving in inner-city Pittsburgh, Eric pursued further study at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary before moving to a rural community in northwestern Pennsylvania, where he and his family still reside. There, he worked at Grove City College as director of leadership development, helping lead a virtue formation initiative at the college. He later stepped down from that role to attend Trinity Anglican Seminary and serve as a curate at Grace Anglican Church in Grove City. Eric was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2020, and in 2022 he planted Redeemer Anglican Church in Franklin, Pennsylvania.
He continues to serve as rector of Redeemer and lives in Franklin with his wife, Coleen, who is a math teacher at the local high school, and their two sons, Judah and Malachi.