Almost Friends: A Harmony Novel

The only disappointment readers will have with Philip Gulley's ALMOST FRIENDS is that it completes the Harmony series. Say it isn't so! This last installment stays true to the previous books --- chock full of dry wit and the small-town foibles of churchgoers, and permeated throughout with Gulley's own theology, which he co-writes about in his nonfiction books (IF GRACE IS TRUE and IF GOD IS LOVE). Reader caveat: If you haven't read the Harmony series before, stop here and begin with book one, HOME TO HARMONY. This sixth full-length novel in the series (there are also some short novellas, including THE CHRISTMAS SCRAPBOOK) will be much more enjoyable if you've read the first. Quaker pastor Sam Gardner is entering his sixth year at Harmony Friends Meeting in the small town of Harmony, Indiana, and he's ready for a sabbatical. "Sam was genuinely fond of the lost. It was the folks who were found who taxed his patience." The irrepressible Dale Hinshaw is a perennial burr in the saddle for Sam, this time as Chief Evangelist at Harmony Friends Meeting, "unleashing a series of events not even the most clairvoyant among them could have anticipated, trials that would test Sam to the core and find him sadly lacking." Dale, Gulley reminds us, once erected signs throughout Harmony in the Burma Shave tradition: "Go to church and learn to pray, Or when you die, there's hell to pay." Now, Dale's new "scripture greetings" recorded telephone messages are programmed to wake up townfolks in the middle of the night, inciting a near-riot in Harmony that Sam has to negotiate. When Sam's father has a heart attack, Sam petitions for three months off to care for him. A new female pastor, Krista Riley, takes the church while he's gone and works her way into the hearts of the congregation. This provides Gulley an opening to look at the issues of gender and ordination. Through flashback chapters, we learn that Krista has grown up in the Catholic Church and once longed to be a priest. (Her parents had encouraged her that she could be anything she wanted to be when she grew up, but as Gulley says, they hadn't counted on this). Krista discovers that she might fit in with the Quakers, who have a shorter and quicker list of requirements than the Presbyterians and the Methodists for ordination. Or, as Gulley notes, the Quakers are "fewer in number and desperate for new members." As Krista's no-nonsense approach and genuine love for her congregation earns her plenty of respectful and enthusiastic supporters, Sam finds himself battling jealousy. Krista has even laid hands on Fern Hampton and seemingly cured her warts! Old parishioners who had left the congregation (including the Harry Darnell family, after losing a "scorching debate over the proper color for pew cushions") are coming back. Even Sam's kids, Levi and Addison, like the new pastor. But rumors begin swirling around Krista after she's spotted --- gasp! --- holding another woman's hand. Is she gay? After all, she isn'

While I may not agree with Mr. Gulley's personal opinions, there is no one who can write a book about "Small Town America" like he can. I have tangled with everyone of his characters, through the years, only they have different names. Keep up the good work. I have read every one of his books.

Any of the Harmony books by Phillip Gulley are good. They kind of remind you of Jan Karon's Mitford series books but are funnier. I recommend it highly.

Philip Gulley has a way of writing about church and small town life that is inclusive to those of us who don't usually feel like we fit into those places. From the moment I started reading the first Harmony book, to the end of this latest one, I felt welcome in his world and inspired to be a nicer person than usual. That says a lot coming from someone who doesn't go to church or live in a small town. His characters are charming and easy to relate to, and his talk about church life, morals, and God are inclusive. If you find Jan Karon's Mitford a little heavy-handed with the evangelizing, this series may be more your speed. In this book, we are shown more of Sam and see him struggling with some very human failings. Sam takes some time off to care for his father, and while he is gone a student minister named Krista takes his place. Between Dale Hinshaw's rantings that a woman is leading the church, Fern's ire over Krista's involvement in the big Chicken Noodle Dinner event, and Sam's jealousy over the welcome that people give to Krista, we get to be along for the ride as Harmony's residents struggle with change in the church and try to triumph over their personal failings. This is a light and easy series to read and is very uplifting. I read it in a day - I just didn't want to put it down - and finished it feeling inspired and refreshed. This latest is highly recommended.

"Almost Friends: A Harmony Novel" captured my attention from the first page to the last. I laughed out loud, I contemplated the deep truths presented by Gulley's familiar cast of characters, I met a new friend in "Krista," and I finished this book a better person than when I began. Gulley's gifted writing inspires me to reconsider many long held beliefs in light of a growing faith and realization of God's unconditional love. I've only owned this book for a week and I've already lent it out twice...much the to delight of those to whom I've lent it!