Peter j gomes biography graphic organizer

Gomes has been an ardent individualist all his life, with a style, however, that has enabled him to fit into the most exalted institutional circles of the Ivy League : he collects antiques, throws exquisite dinner parties, smokes expensive cigars, and dresses like a model of patrician good taste. He grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of a highly intelligent father who was a farm laborer, and a mother who, as a descendant of Boston's black aristocracy, was the first African-American woman to work in the Massachusetts State House as a clerk, as well as being organist and choir director for a predominately white church.

As the only child of late-marrying parents, Gomes grew up in a nurturing environment and was exposed to literature, the arts, and science from an early age. Educated mainly in the company of white children, he was often selected by them as class president and was noted for his activities in school and later, college organizations. Gomes loved to play church as a boy, giving sermons in emulation of the pastor of his family's church.

As he would later tell Boynton, "Church for me was what the basketball court is to most black kids: a place where my imagination was unleashed and I was given free reign on a stage. Upon being ordained, Gomes took a teaching position at traditionally black Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where, by his own admission, "I saw more black people in my first half hour.

The conservatively dressed, New England -accented Gomes became a favorite of Tuskegee's students. Two years later, he successfully embraced the opportunity to become a favorite at Harvard, an institution he regards as having, historically, a civilizing moral obligation toward society. At Harvard, where by virtue of his benedictions and commencement speeches he is, according to Boynton, "the first and last official voice that every Harvard student hears," Gomes gained a reputation as a stirring, memorable orator who combined the mellifluous verbal play of African-American preachers with the rigorous rhetoric of a New England intellectual.

Nobel Prize -winning poet and Harvard professor Seamus Heaneydescribing Gomes's oratory, told Boynton: "He embraces this old-fashioned grandiloquent style in a manner that is always on the edge of carnival His style is full of cadence, roguery, and scampishness, which is itself redemptive. An energetic worker and a much sought-after member of organizations, Gomes—who told Boynton that he has never had a gay partner and expected never to have one—professes himself relatively unexposed to what mainstream America perceives as the gay community.

Nevertheless, his position as a well-placed clergyman who had come out lent special weight to his book, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. In this volume, Gomes attempts to refute the literalism, culturalism, and, in his words "bibliolatry" of right-wing fundamentalists who use selected passages from the Bible to inveigh against homosexuality, abortion, and the science of evolution.

Gomes's work is intended to be a readable introduction to the Bible for general readers who may have regretted their comparative ignorance of that source of moral and spiritual guidance. And that is a problem," Gomes told Boynton. He explained, "They attribute to the Bible a kind of functional credibility that it was never designed to have. They idolize it.

The Good Book is organized into three parts. In the first, Gomes discusses the Bible's background, its composition, and related basic issues. Peter Gomes debates Christopher Hitchens. Tea Time with Rev. Peter Gomes at Harvard. Sign in or register to comment. Complain about this comment Comment number 1. He seems to have undergone a remarkable journey.

I'm interested enough to read one if his books. Thanks William for bringing Peter to our attention.

Peter j gomes biography graphic organizer: Robert A. Gross (elected

Complain about this comment Comment number 2. In fact read the whole of the first paragraph and then ask your question. Complain about this comment Comment number 3. I'm sorry to hear of his passing as there really can't be anyone who could possibly fill his shoes. At least not many as articulate and intelligent as Rev. Christianity in the US needs more people willing to stand against the grain but be part of the system -to make it more malleable and sensitive to a wider range of people.

Complain about this comment Comment number 4. Gomes was a great character and I am genuinely saddened to hear of his passing. I have just finished watching Spotlight tonight and it made depressing viewing. Perhaps a thread could be initiated for discussing the role of religion and religious conviction in the murder itself and the general failure to investigate what appears to be obvious?

Gomes was a long-time and well-loved member of Plymouth's Old Colony Clubwhere his memory is still honored with an annual event.

Peter j gomes biography graphic organizer: This article aims to show a

Hospitalized after a stroke in December,[ 11 ] [ 12 ] Gomes hoped to return to Memorial Church in time for the following Easter. Coit [ 15 ] unveiled his portrait of Gomes standing in the library of the Signet Societywhere it now hangs. Listed by Time Magazine in as one of "seven stars of the pulpit", [ 17 ] Gomes fulfilled preaching and lecturing engagements throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

Inhe represented Harvard University as lecturer at Cambridge University on the occasion of its th anniversary. Gomes published a total of ten volumes of sermons, as well as numerous articles and papers. His last work, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesusincluded extensive commentary and observation on the interrelations of Church and State throughout history and particularly in recent US history.

Peter j gomes biography graphic organizer: This symposium was organized as part

In Gomes identified himself publicly as gaythough adding that he remained celibate[ 19 ] and became an advocate of acceptance of homosexuality in American society and particularly in religion:. I now have an unambiguous vocation — a mission — to address the religious causes and roots of homophobia He maintained that "one can read into the Bible almost any interpretation of morality In Augusthe changed his registration [ citation needed ] to the Democratic Party United Statessupporting [ clarification needed ] the candidacy of Deval Patrickwho was that year elected the first African-American governor of Massachusetts.

Gomes and Patrick had become friends during Patrick's undergraduate days at Harvard. According to a book on Martin Luther King Jr. Lawrence University. Gomes published numerous peters j gomes biography graphic organizer and papers, as well as at least a dozen books some of them best-sellers[ clarification needed ] including: [ 10 ]. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Article Talk. Ordained to ministry of the American Baptist Church, Tuskegee Institute, history instructor and director of Freshman Experimental Program, ; Harvard University, Memorial Church, assistant minister,actingminister, ; Harvard University, Plummer Professor of Morals, ; delivered Benediction, second inaugural, Ronald Reagan, ; delivered inaugural service, George Bush, It examines what the Bible has to say on many controversial subjects.

Peter John Gomes was born May 22,in Boston, an only child. He found work in the cranberry bogs around the area, eventually rising to the position of superintendent at one of them. Fluent in several languages, he now serves as an interpreter for the Spanish and Portuguese immigrants in the area, helping them compose letters to send home. One of nine children, she was the daughter of Jacob Merrit Pedford White, a well-to-do Baptist minister originally from Virginia.

Civil War. Hailing from the Rhode Island and Massachusetts areas, she was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and was the first black woman to work in the Massachusetts State House, where she was a clerk. His mother read classical literature to him on a nightly basis. Gomes was very bright, writing the entry on Plymouth, Massachusetts for the edition of the Americana Encyclopedia when he was in the eleventh grade, and he showed early promise as a man of the cloth.

As a child he routinely reprised the Sunday sermon from a basement pulpit constructed of cranberry boxes. He first preached his own sermon when he was only As a youth, Gomes worked as a page in the Plymouth Public Library, where he had charge of the research and genealogy department. He regularly attended the Baptist Church in Plymouth and was very involved in all its programs.

Gomes graduated as president of his class from Plymouth High School inand enrolled at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, that fall. He paid his way through school with work as the organist and choirmaster of the First Congregational Church in Lewiston, and by working summers at the Pilgrim Hall museum in Plymouth. He also held the Theodore Presser Scholarship in music during all of his four years at Bates.

A history major, Gomes was not yet convinced that the clergy was his calling. Upon graduation inhe was persuaded to spend a trial year at the Harvard Divinity School. One year stretched into three, and Gomes earned his Bachelor of Divinity in While there, he won the Harvard preaching prize, served as proctor of Divinity Hall, and chaired both the Worship and Publications committees.

Following graduation, Gomes was offered a position teaching history at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He taught Western Civilization there from to The embodiment of a Yankee blueblood, Gomes experienced some culture shock in Alabama. Gomes also served as choirmaster at St. Although he expressed to Boynton that he would have been content to spend the rest of his life at Tuskegee, fate intervened.

His rise was rapid. Inhe was acting minister, and, byhe held the dual positions of minister to the Memorial Church and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals. Gomes and other faculty members had been asked to comment at a protest against a student publication devoted to denouncing homosexuality.