Dr. Peter M. Wherry
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. As part of his doctoral studies, he traveled to El Salvador, Central America to study Christianity in Martyrial Perspective. He engaged in El Salvador with political leaders and theologians including one of the fathers 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. Most recently, Dr. Wherry currently serves as a doctoral Adviser in the D.Min. program at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, NC. 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. In June of 2013, his latest book, published by Judson Press, Preaching Funerals in the Black Church: Bringing Perspective to Pain, hit shelves in the U.S. and in the U.K. (Amazon UK).
As pastor, he has led with great distinction several churches in both rural and urban settings including the Pleasant Plain Baptist Church in Drewryville, VA, the Fountain Baptist Church in Richmond, VA, and 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 on which he oversaw a budget of over 160 million dollars, served as Chairman of the Non-Secure Services Sub-Committee, and has also served as a counselor for the VA Department of Corrections and member of the Department’s Central Classification Board. Dr. Wherry’s special assignment as counselor for the Virginia Department of Corrections was to co-chair a therapeutic group for violent sex offenders. 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 major renovation of both the Children’s and Youth areas of the church has been completed, renovation of the church’s real properties has begun, 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 to wide acclaim, Wednesday Midweek activities have been expanded with a major increase in attendance, and the church is experiencing steady numerical growth. In 2009, Dr. Wherry marked 30 years in the Gospel Ministry. He currently serves as the first Moderator of the United Missionary Baptist Association of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, encompassing 60 churches and over 40,000 Baptists. He has received numerous awards and honors including the National Arion Award for musical excellence, he has been inducted into the International Who’s Who Among Business Executives and Professionals, and in May of 2010, he was inducted into the ”Fine Arts Wall of Honor” at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in Buffalo. In 2014, Dr. Wherry was the Noon-Day Preacher for the prestigious Hampton University Ministers Conference Centennial Celebration.
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 International and National 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 will be happily married for 37 years (June 2015) to the beautiful and brilliant Dr. Wanda H. Wherry. The Wherry’s are the grateful parents of two adult children, Justin Michael (Amy) and Bethany Elise. They are also the proud grandparents of Amari Makayla and Amaya McKenzie. Renowned homiletic professor and preacher, the late Dr. Miles Jerome Jones has described Dr.’s 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.