Sermons by the Gay, Baptist, chaplain of Harvard - one of Susan's favorite preachers of this age!

Strength for the Journey: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living: A New Collection of Sermons. Library section: 3 B: Christianity: General Christianity. The Reverend Dr. Peter J. Gomes was a graduate of Bates College and Harvard Divinity School, and was an American Baptist minister. He was the Pusey Minister of The Memorial Church at Harvard since 1974, and was appointed Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard. This is a collection of sermons given at Harvard’s Memorial Church on campus. Part One consists of sermons on the themes of daily life, such as holiness, goodness, innocence, life, respectability and so on. Part Two consists of sermons for the liturgical seasons, such as Advent, Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter, Eastertide, and Pentecost.
You might think that a book of sermons would be boring. WRONG! Remember his “audience” was largely Harvard students, fellow professors, university staff, and visiting parents. His sermons are therefore highly relevant, extremely knowledgeable without being too scholarly, and let me tell you, they are hilarious too. This man could deliver a sermon!! I enjoy rereading his books from time to time because they are so relevant to life in general.
Being a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Dr. Gomes was also an authority on the
Pilgrims and Harvard history (it was founded in 1636). I first saw him speak on C-SPAN when they were going around the country interviewing people about famous authors. He was speaking about the early Pilgrim writers and was so interesting his name stuck with me. When I found out he was a Harvard professor I urged my son to attend church to hear him speak (I don’t know if he did), and also take a course from him if possible. Finally in his senior year, Ben had an elective opening so he took Dr. Gomes for his popular History of Harvard course. Ben enjoyed it. Years later in Washington, DC, we decided to visit the National Cathedral on a Sunday. Who should be preaching that day but Dr. Gomes, whom Ben immediately recognized. By that time I’d read most of Dr. Gomes’ books. I was too shy to go up in the line to shake his hand afterwards. I wish I had because Dr. Gomes died just a few months ago.
But we can still enjoy his writings. You will see more of his books in the library soon, as they become available for swapping. They are marvelous and authoritative. I don’t know how someone learns to give sermons of this quality but he could. That was his gift to God and to us. How lucky we are to have his sort of knowledge available and so accessible. Enjoy! ( )