Peter J. Gomes

Rev. Peter John Gomes (May 22, 1942 – February 28, 2011) was an American preacher and theologian, and a professor at Harvard University's Divinity School.

Gomes, an American Baptist minister, served in the Memorial Church since 1970. He was a member of both the Divinity School faculty and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. Gomes authored many books, including the best-sellers “The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart” and “Sermons: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living,” as well as numerous articles and papers.

He was the son of a cranberry bog worker who went on to pray at the inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And he was a devoted minister who urged Christians to look beyond a literal interpretation of the Bible to capture its spirit.

The cause was complications of a stroke, Harvard said. His death, which was first reported by The Harvard Crimson, was confirmed by Emily Lemiska, a spokeswoman at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mr. Gomes had recently been treated. He lived in Cambridge and Plymouth, Mass.

At Harvard, Mr. Gomes was the Plummer professor of Christian morals at the School of Divinity and the Pusey minister of Memorial Church, a nondenominational center of Christian life on campus. For decades, he was among the first and the last to address undergraduates, greeting arriving freshmen with a sermon on hallowed traditions and advising graduating seniors about the world beyond the sheltering Harvard Yard.

He taught the popular course Religion 1513: “History of Harvard and Its Presidents” and delivered prayers at the inaugurations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

“He’s been a brilliant preacher and has carried the Memorial Church and the heart of the College for decades now,” Memorial Church Associate Minister and longtime friend Dorothy A. Austin said of Gomes in January.

Gomes also served as an advocate for gay rights since he came out in 1991.

He was a prolific author, writing New York Times bestsellers such as “The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart” and “Sermons: The Book of Wisdom for Daily Living”.

He said that he planned to retire in 2012 after more than 40 years at Harvard.

The Massachusetts native was almost impossible to categorize. He was baptized a Catholic but grew up in the Baptist church before graduating from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and Harvard Divinity School. He was an African-American man raised in a Republican family who ministered at Harvard University and who came out as gay in 1991.

“No one epitomizes all that is good about Harvard more than Peter J. Gomes,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard’s Alphonse Fletcher University Professor. The pair met in 1991 when Gomes was part of a recruiting committee that helped to bring Gates to the University. Gates quipped it was “love at first sight,” and said Gomes had been a loyal friend and adviser for 20 years.

In January 2010, Rev. Gomes announced he was planning to retire from Harvard in 2012. He suffered a stroke on December 10, 2010 and was hospitalized. He hoped to return to the pulpit of Harvard's Memorial Church, possibly even in time to give the Easter 2011 sermon.[18] He died from a brain aneurysm and heart attack on February 28, 2011 at the age of 68. Speakers at his memorial service, at the Memorial Church on April 6, 2011, included Derek C. Bok, a former president of Harvard University, Drew Gilpin Faust, president of the University, and Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts.

Harvard University announced on its website that it had named Wendel W. Meyer, who had originally served as associate minister for administration in December 2010, as the acting Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, while the University searches for a qualified minister and academic to succeed Reverend Gomes.