The Reverend Peter J. Gomes, Memorial Church minister, dies at 68

Memorial Church leader felled by heart ailments, stroke

Reverend Peter J. Gomes

On March 10, the University announced that a memorial service celebrating the life and ministry of Reverend Gomes will be held in Memorial Church on April 6 at 11 a.m. All are welcome to attend. The service will also be broadcast live on WHRB (95.3 FM), which provides live Internet streaming.



 

The service will be broadcast live on Harvard’s radio station, WHRB 95.3 FM. For those outside the Cambridge area, WHRB provides live Internetstreaming.

The Reverend Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals and Pusey minister in the Memorial Church, died Monday evening at age 68. As reported, he had suffered a heart attack and stroke last December 10 (he had had a pacemaker implanted in 2009), and was in a rehabilitation hospital.

Read the  New York Times and the Boston Globe obituaries. The Harvard Crimson report on the death cited an aneurysm and subsequent heart attack as the cause of death.

Gomes was perhaps most widely known to the Harvard community for his role in offering the benediction at Commencement, one of the many ceremonies and traditions of the University that he loved and celebrated. He was the bestselling author of books on the Bible, and bridged the political and cultural spectrum—a black Baptist preacher who gave the benediction at Ronald Reagan’s second presidential inaugural and who attracted much attention by revealing that he was gay in 1991 (see Andrew Tobias’s “Gay Like Me” from the January-February 1998 Harvard Magazine).

 

 

On March 10, the University announced that Wendel W. Meyer, a former Gomes colleague, would become acting Pusey minister in the Memorial Church immediately, and served during the search for a permanent successor.

Related topics

You might also like

Harvard President Alan Garber Helps First-Years Move In

As a potential settlement with the Trump administration looms, Garber gets students settled. 

Harvard’s New Online Orientation Emphasizes Intellectual Paths

A summer course for first-years focuses on academic success, diverse viewpoints.

Harvard in the News

University layoffs, professors in court, and a new Law School dean

Most popular

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Explore More From Current Issue

Man splashing water on his face at outdoor fountain beside woman holding cup near stone building.

Why Heat Waves Make You Miserable

Scientists are studying how much heat and humidity the human body can take.

Man in gray sweater standing in hallway with colorful abstract art on wall.

How Do Single-Celled Organisms Learn and Remember?

A Harvard neuroscientist’s quest to model memory

Julie Riew, wearing a white dress, playing guitar and singing into a microphone on stage.

Bringing Korean Stories to Life

Composer Julia Riew writes the musicals she needed to see.