Peter M. Wherry

Rev. Dr. Peter M. Wherry, is a 37 year veteran pastor, community leader, social activist and scholar. Since January of 2007, he has been Senior Pastor of the Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. Through his work as Founding Moderator of the United Missionary Baptist Association, Dr. Wherry provides leadership to 70 mostly Baptist churches in Charlotte and its surrounding counties, having a constituency of over 40,000 persons. He is one of the pioneer footsoldiers of the Forward Together Moral Movement, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William Barber, having been among the first two groups of people who submitted themselves for arrest while petitioning the North Carolina General Assembly for economic, and social justice, including the fight against voter suppression. He has served as guest lecturer in several seminaries including Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA; the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, VA where he also serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching Baptist History; and the Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, NC where he has served as a doctoral advisor. Dr. Wherry has preached from cost-to-cost in the U.S, and internationally in Haiti, El Salvador, South Africa and Zambia. Dr. Wherry is the author of a number of published works as well as other articles and scholarly papers. Along with his wife, Dr. Wanda H. Wherry, he co-wrote a unique devotional book, A Door of Hope: A Devotional with Sermons and Songs of Hope. This first-of-its-kind book included a CD of music, produced by Dr. Wherry and sung by Dr. Wanda. He collaborated with Dr. Rodney S. Sadler, Jr. (Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte) and Dr. William Turner (Duke University) in writing The Forward Together Lectionary (Attribution, p.3) for the NCNAACP. It is a unique resource to assist preachers in the task of incorporating Social Justice into the pulpit ministries of churches, synagogues and faith communities. 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). Dr. Wherry has been happily married for 36 years to Dr. Wanda H. Wherry. The Wherrys are the grateful parents of two adult children (Justin and Bethany) and the excited grandparents of three (Amari, Amaya and Michael).