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The Rev. Peter Gomes RIP

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Kendall Harmon

Peter John Gomes (rhymes with homes) was born in Boston on May 22, 1942, the only child of Peter Lobo and Orissa White Gomes. His father, born in the Cape Verde Islands off Africa’s west coast, was a cranberry bog worker. His mother was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. Peter grew up in Plymouth with literature, piano lessons and expectations that he would become a minister. He was active in the Baptist Church and preached his first sermon at 12.

He worked as a houseman to help pay for his education. After graduation from Plymouth High School in 1961, he attended Bates College in Lewiston, Me., a co-educational liberal arts school founded by abolitionists in 1855. He majored in history and received a bachelor’s degree in 1965, then earned a bachelor of divinity degree at Harvard in 1968 and was ordained a Baptist minister….

In clerical collar and vestments, he was a figure of homiletic power in the pulpit, hammering out the cadences in a rich baritone that The New Yorker called a blend of James Earl Jones and John Houseman. In class, he was a New England patrician: the broad shoulders, the high forehead and spectacles that tilted up when he held his head high, the watch-chain at the vest and a handkerchief fluffed at the breast pocket.

Read it all.

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to at KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Religion News & Commentary, Baptists, Death / Burial / Funerals, Ministry of the Ordained, Other Churches, Parish Ministry

3 comments on “The Rev. Peter Gomes RIP”

  1. Kendall Harmon says:
    March 3, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    From EB:

    I had the privilege of being an undergrad at Harvard, and Professor Gomes was always a character and a real presence on campus. But I was also delighted to discover that he was a truly hospitable person who actively and passionately supported all students who sought to lead a life of faith at Harvard. This included those students (such as myself) who disagreed with him–about theology, scripture, sexuality. He practiced tolerance in the truest, best sense of the word.

    Professor Gomes was also a thoughtful, powerful voice proclaiming the value of faith in the midst of a university deeply committed to rational humanism. My time at Harvard was richer for his having been there, and though our differences were great, I join with those who mourn his death.

  2. Kendall Harmon says:
    March 3, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    From DWVW:

    I am so sorry to hear the The Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes has died. One of the great preachers of our time, wonderful writer, great presence, but an even better “old style Episcopalian” — though he was not Episcopalian. People often asked me (a traditionalist) how I withstood EDS in the late 1990’s through 2000 while working on my D.Min. . He was an important avenue of escape, or perhaps “running home to,” I just am not sure. The “Morning Prayers,” and Sunday Services so comfortably 1928, the favorite hymns (often Hymnal 1940), he was more Anglican in his little finger than many cradle folks (Like me) in their whole body. I shall always be grateful to Harvard for giving me, and the world, the gift of his ministry–even though I was a visitor from EDS they gave me a huge gift. God made Peter Gomes, and fashioned him, but Harvard put him in a frame for us all to see and rejoice in him. It was really through him I learned that really to be Anglican was very little to do with authority of persons and everything to do with spirituality and expression. I am deeply saddened I was not afforded the chance of more than a passing acquaintance, and I hope and pray that in the world to come I am given the opportunity to know him better. The world really is less for his leaving of it. (Read: Deep sigh here)…May he rest in peace.

  3. Kendall Harmon says:
    March 3, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    From RNDABU:

    Thank you for posting the New York Times obituary for the Revd Peter Gomes. Professor Gomes will be sorely missed as a voice for the Christian faith in the midst of higher education and the places of power in this country.

    I came to know Dr. Gomes when I was a student at Duke and he visited yearly at Duke Chapel. His writings had a great influence on me, and I am thankful to have known him at Duke and later in Boston.

    It was good of you to post his obituary on your blog. I enjoy reading
    your collection of Anglican and Anglican-related articles almost every
    day. Professor Gomes would have been glad to be in the company of
    Anglicans, as I’m sure he’s enjoying an even larger company at this
    very moment.