Dr. Phil Schroeder came to Dunwoody UMC in July of 2020. Previously, Phil spent seven years on the Bishop’s Cabinet, where he served as the Director of the Center for Congregational Excellence.
Phil taught Religious Leadership and Church Administration, as well as Evangelism, Preaching, and New Church Development as adjunct faculty at the Candler School of Theology. He has preached or taught in over 250 churches in North Georgia and in the Southeast while on conference staff.
Phil graduated from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in marketing and healthcare administration. Feeling a call to ordained ministry, he moved to Atlanta in 1986 to attend Emory University where he met his wife, Elizabeth. They married in the chapel at Glenn Memorial UMC in 1987 and have three adult children. Phil completed a dual-degree Masters program in business and theology at Emory while Elizabeth finished a Masters in the Art of Teaching in addition to her undergraduate degree in Art History. Currently, Elizabeth is a Certified Financial Planner and works for a small financial services company in Carroll County. She is also an active member of the Atlanta Knitting Guild that meets in Dunwoody.
During his Doctor of Ministry work at the United Theological Seminary, Phil completed a three-book series with Abingdon Press entitled Using the Five Senses to Tell God’s Story: Children’s Sermons for the New Common Lectionary. He also authored The Stewardship Journey, The Capacity for More, More than Just One Neighbor based on the parable of the Good Samaritan, and Small Church Check-Up with co-author Kay Kotan. His most recent book with Kotan, Launching Leader, was published in August 2019.
For fun, Phil and Elizabeth can be found traveling to new places or catching the occasional fish off the Florida coast near Carrabelle. Phil enjoys discovering restaurants worth recommending, burning those calories off at OrangeTheory Fitness, playing a challenging game of Scrabble or Kubb, watching baseball or football and analyzing a thoughtful film.
The Schroeders (pronounced “Shray-ders”) feel immensely blessed by the opportunity to serve with the people of Dunwoody UMC to make new disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the Dunwoody community and the world.