Bok Installs Gomes as New Minister

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes officially became the first Minister in Memorial Church yesterday afternoon in induction ceremonies that President Bok said "mark a new chapter in the religious life of this University."

Bok said Gomes's appointment and the deliberate process of his selection underscore two principles underlying the University's relations with Memorial Church: the pluralistic religious commitment of the University and the ongoing assessment of that relation.

The care taken in selecting Gomes marks the importance of Memorial Church in the University, Bok said.

"But in reality," Bok said, "there was never any serious doubt of the outcome."

A search committee composed of Richard M. Hunt, associate dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Don K. Price, chairman of the Kennedy School of Government, and the Rev. Preston N. Williams, acting dean of the Divinity School, named Gomes minister in Memorial Church as well as Plummer Professor of Christian Morals.

The new minister had served as acting minister since the Rev. Charles P. Price left in 1972. He came to Memorial Church in 1970 as assistant minister.

Bok and a Faculty committee will soon name a Board of Ministry including representatives of several faiths.