"He is an inspiration to me as a Christian because he is not at all apologetic in the way he professes Christian faith and preaches," says Kirkland House Senior Tutor Mark P. Risinger. "He also does not subscribe to a kind of religion where you're supposed to check your brain at the door."

Tending to the spiritual needs of the College is in his job title.

Caroline Plummer endowed the Plummer professorship in 1854 in order to support "a Professor of the Philosophy of the heart, and of the moral, physical and christian life in Harvard University."

But if "Christian life" and campus culture have changed quite a bit since Mrs. Plummer's days, Gomes says his services are more necessary than ever.

The Flock Grows Tense

Gomes has witnessed the changing face of Harvard from his time as a Divinity School student to his appointment at the Memorial Church in 1974.

In the post-Vietnam social protest era--as students have turned inward in these quieter times-- Gomes has observed the spiritual needs of the campus become increasingly intense.

"They haven't changed in any appreciable way, but they're more acute," he says. "Ironically as the world has gotten more stable, people have more chances to contemplate whether they are screwed up."