Rev. Dr. Peter M. Wherry
Pastor
The Reverend Dr. Peter M. Wherry is a native of Buffalo, New York. He received his early education in the schools of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, graduating with honors from the St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute. He earned with honors, the Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work and Gerontology from Virginia Union University and also the Master of Divinity degree from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union both in Richmond, VA. He earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He traveled to El Salvador, Central America to study Christianity in Martyrial Perspective. He engaged in El Salvador with political leaders and theologians including father of Liberation Theology, Dr. Jon Sobrino. Dr. Wherry also holds a Certificate in Church Management awarded jointly by ITC (Interdenominational Theological Center) in Atlanta, GA and The Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology in Richmond, VA.
Dr. Wherry has a wide variety of experiences as scholar, as pastor and as artist. As scholar, he has been Guest Lecturer in the Doctor of Ministry Program at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology in Richmond, VA where he is an Adjunct Faculty Member specializing in Baptist History. He has been a workshop facilitator and curriculum author for numerous conventions and churches. Dr. Wherry has also served as Academic Dean at the Mount Lebanon School of Ministry in Norfolk, VA where he taught Biblical Research Methods. He is author of numerous published works including a groundbreaking devotional book in the year 2000, co-authored with his wife, Dr. Wanda H. Wherry entitled, A Door of Hope which includes a CD of music produced by Pastor Wherry and sung by Dr. Wanda.
As pastor, he has led several churches in both rural and urban settings including sixteen years as pastor of the historic Queen Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, VA. He was appointed by two VA Governors to the State Board of Juvenile Justice, and has also served as a counselor for the VA Department of Corrections and member of the Department’s Central Classification Board. Dr. Wherry is in demand as a preacher and evangelist in numerous American cities, having preached from coast to coast in the U.S., and preaching and teaching internationally in Haiti, Zambia and South Africa. On the first Sunday in March, 2007, he became pastor of the Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist Church of Charlotte, NC. Since coming to Mayfield, a new Young Adult Choir has been formed, a Children’s Church has been implemented, a Discipleship Teaching Series has been initiated, a Church Administrator and Executive Director of Music have been hired, a fifth Sunday Music Series has been instituted, A Youth Minister has been appointed, Wednesday Midweek activities have been expanded and the membership has begun to increase. In 2009, Dr. Wherry marked 30 years in the Gospel Ministry.
As artist, Dr. Wherry has been singing all his life, having given his first solo concert at age 9 performing works by composers from Schubert to spirituals and songs made famous by the legendary Wings Over Jordan. He has since been a singer and actor in touring productions of Broadway shows including “The Wiz” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and scores of professional regional theatrical productions of works by Shakespeare to Broadway shows such as The Fantastiks; Oliver; The Apple Tree; he starred in Irish playwrite Brendan Behan’s Comic Masterpiece, The Hostage; Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope; West Side Story and many others. He has sung under the baton of Robert Shaw in the Berlioz Requiem, and was privileged to study voice with famous baritone Eugene Bayless at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. He has appeared on recordings with Rick Powell and the Rick Powell Singers and Orchestra (“Something Beautiful, II” on the SingChord label) as well as with opera legend Eileen Farrell entitled, “American Popular Song and ‘All That Jazz.’” He has been a choir director and church musician for various denominations, and led choirs numbering from 20 to over 100 voices.
Dr. Wherry has been happily married for 30 years (June 2010) to the beautiful and brilliant Dr. Wanda H. Wherry. The Wherrys are the grateful parents of two adult children, Justin Michael and Bethany Elise. Renowned homiletics professor and preacher Dr. Miles Jerome Jones has described Drs. Peter and Wanda Wherry as a “team of gifted ministers.” Their only desire is to use their gifts to serve God’s people and bring glory to God.
|
