The Sounding Board - Memorial Church - Harvard University

10
Fall 2010
Wednesday Tea
It’s a crisp New England afternoon, the sunlight slanting low,
a chill wind beginning to pick up. No one is strolling leisurely
along Kirkland Street; travelers are walking quickly, coats and
jackets pulled ever more closely around them. For some, though,
their steps lighten and shoulders begin to relax as they approach
the bright yellow clapboard structure across the street from
Memorial Hall. Their destination is Sparks House, home of The
Reverend Professor Peter Gomes and the much-loved tradition
he instituted, now many years ago: the Wednesday afternoon
Sparks House Tea.
The guests — Harvard faculty and staff, graduate students
and undergrads, alumni, and other friends — stream down
the driveway path, through the open door, and into warmth
and light, made warmer still by a personal welcome from the
Professor. Then on into the double parlor for a trip around the
tea table, laden with both sweet and savory delights and presided
over by a smiling, gracious friend of the Professor’s, who pours
the countless cups of tea consumed by a roomful of reinvigorated
conversationalists.
More than one alum has returned to the Church relating
memories of meeting those who went on to become cherished
friends or mentors over a cup of Sparks House tea. And some
recall graduate school days when the Wednesday afternoon
platters of bite-sized sandwiches were the only reliably good food
of the week. But whether a tea-goer of the past or of the present,
all agree that this wonderfully old-fashioned custom never ceases
to hit the spot.
Wednesday Tea
On Wednesdays during Term, Professor Gomes welcomes
undergraduates, graduate students, and visiting scholars to
afternoon tea from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at his residence,
Sparks House, located at 21 Kirkland Street, across from
Memorial Hall.