He completed his graduation from Watertown, WI, in the college Northwestern with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI, with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. He has served most of his life in the public ministry, for almost 44 years, at congregations in Nebraska and Kansas, and for the last 24 years at Mt. Olive Ev Lutheran Church in Overland Park, KS. He took his retirement from the public ministry in 2014, and now he resides in Shawnee, KS. He wrote several theological and practical papers during his ministry years at conferences and served in various positions in the larger church body of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Most important among those years were the years of service as a member of the Committee on Interchurch Relations of the WELS.

He proudly became the first Vice President of the Nebraska District and the chairman of the Board of Nebraska Evangelical Lutheran High School in Waco, NE. Emphasizing the theological environment in which Philip Zarling was raised, his two grandfathers, three uncles, three brothers, four cousins, and one nephew are also pastors in the WELS, and his mother and several cousins, nieces, and nephews are also teachers in WELS schools. Philip married Edna Lorene Richert in Seward, NE, in 1972, and the couple welcomed three children: Stacey, Joel, and Tiffany.  Three of them are married and live with their spouses, Darby, Janet, and Dustin, respectively, in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City. As a sports fan, Philip’s other interests are golf, travel, and running.

He has competed in several road races, including twelve marathons. In his free time, he spends time with his grandchildren, doing yard work, caring for flowers, filling bird feeders, and chasing away squirrels in the backyard.