The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, who was known internationally as Harvard’s pastor and was just as pleased to call himself a son of Plymouth, died Monday night at Massachusetts General Hospital. He had suffered a stroke in early December and his death was confirmed by a hospital spokeswoman.
He was 68 and had divided his time and identity between a 1799 house in his hometown and Sparks House, the 19th-century residence reserved for the leader of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard.
Collecting a bevy of titles during 42 years of ministry, the Rev. Gomes cut an imposing figure at Harvard and was unusual in the world of religion, as memorable for his groundbreaking roles as he was for his aristocratic presence and a preaching style that set him apart from contemporaries.
He was the first black minister of Memorial Church and the first pastor of that church to participate in a US president’s inauguration. The Rev. Gomes also was the only gay, black, Republican, Baptist preacher most people would ever meet. Descended from slaves, he nonetheless delighted in serving as trustee emeritus of the Pilgrim Society and celebrating his hometown’s Mayflower history, a distinctly white Anglo-Saxon Protestant tradition.
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