Rev. Phil is a real minister. He is a third generation minister — like his grandfather and father.

He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL in 1990. He was the pastor of several churches for a number of years. Now, he is a full-time wedding minister. Click to learn about his “religion” — and why that is in quotes.

At the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, he was a political science major. It was there that he met Jesus, met the woman who would become his wife, and first had the desire to be a pastor.

On June 23, 1984, he married the love of his life and his best friend (which is still true) — Pamela. They got married on a hot day in an un-air-conditioned church in Antioch. The reception was at her parents’ huge back yard.

He enjoys reading two newspapers a day (the New York Times and Chicago Tribune), loves movies (with the goal each year to see all the nominees in the top 6 categories of the Oscars — so all ten best picture nominees, all five best support actor nominees, etc.) and watching the Bears.

He and his wife, Pamela, enjoy good food and wine (Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine — at a wedding :>), good conversation (with family, friends or just the two of them), their outdoor fireplace during the spring/summer/fall seasons, TiVo (Mad Men, Survivor, Daily Show/Colbert), and, most of all, Jesus.

Rev. Phil has been told a number of times that he has a voice for radio. He thinks he has the face for it, too

What were his parents thinking? If you combine his names, “Phil” and “Landers” you get “philander” which Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as “to be sexually unfaithful to one's wife” — an adulterer. He has been faithful to his wife all these years. But it is an ironic name for a wedding minister, isn’t it? (He was named after two of his grandfathers — one was Philip and the other was John.) His grandfather, the first-generation minister, was also named Philip Landers.

He takes the things of God seriously but not himself. If you ever get too full of yourself, talk to your spouse. As Garrison Keillor put it, “We not only marry our best friend — but also our best critic.”