Harvard does not insult the devout as much as it assaults religion itself, and Gomes takes "the life of the mind" seriously. But by his own definition, a good preacher "is not apologetic about his role as a Christian in what is easily called a post-Christian age." Harvard offers an additional insidious pitfall: "You must deal with power," Gomes says. "Harvard is full of powerful people, but you must not be seduced or corrupted by power. You walk a very tight rope."

GOMES HAS kept his balance through his live-and-let-live style, which he describes as evangelical only in substance. "Stylistically, I have problems with the kind of aggressive evangelism which tends to be fairly indiscriminate and tends not to be supported by the religious community--I have great problems with Billy Graham.

"At the same time, I respect these people for preaching the Gospel as they see it...Different strokes for different folks, you might say."

At Harvard, that might as well be Gospel. The Stendahl Committee, formed at the suggestion of Reverend Price upon his retirement in 1972, has advised President Bok in a controversial report to dismantle the current one-minister church and replace it with a three-denominational system.

"The Stendahl Committee happened upon a model of ministry which was questionable when it was fashionable ten years ago," Gomes says. "Rather than ensuring recognition of true pluralism, it seems to freeze it at a certain point."

Critics of the report have echoed Gomes, citing all the religious groups excluded by the Stendahl system, and calling for a church with one minister--Gomes--and several other clergymen with non-paying, University appointments.

Currently, most denominations and interests are represented through speakers at Morning Prayers, a short daily service at 8:45 a.m. that dates back to the first years of the University. The music is refreshing and the speakers range from an Indian swami garbed in safron, who returns every year, to F. Skiddy von Stade Jr. '38, dean of Freshmen, who doesn't.

"There is a mind to constituencies in the University," Gomes says in explaining the haphazard selection process. "But it is not constituencies in the HEW sense of the word, with X number of agnostics and so on. I think when it does get to that point, we will have reached a very sad state."

THE LOW KEY renaissance Gomes has brought into the Church through the speakers and his own services has attracted a wider audience. "Our attendance is growing," he says proudly, "but more interesting is the fact that the congregation is changing. We are getting more undergraduates and young families."

Though Gomes attributes his success to the changing times, many of the new Memorial Church regulars oppose the Stendahl report only because of Gomes himself--they want Harvard to appoint him the official minister. They seem to be part of congregation attracted to a church more by the preacher than the God inside.