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Cheryl Pero, Ph.D.

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From the Office of the Seminary Pastor

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Dear Luther Community, 

Grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus.

We join with the community of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and the ELCA in mourning the death of Cheryl Pero, Ph.D., child of God.

Beverly Wallace, Ph.D., shares that “Cheryl was one of only two African American Lutheran teaching theologians in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She was the third African American Lutheran woman to receive her Ph.D. and was instrumental with her late husband Albert ‘Pete’ Pero, Ph.D., in developing the Conference of International Black Lutherans, the African and African American teaching theologians of this church.”

Pero was an important woman and part of the history of the ELCA. This year we recognize the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Lutheran women. We also note that she was the second African American Lutheran woman ordained in the Lutheran Church in America, a predecessor body to the ELCA. 

The details of her memorial service are not yet known. As we grieve, let us also rejoice in the life of Pero now offered and let us keep her family in our prayer as we recognize her transition to the Church Triumphant remembering: “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10).

O God, you promise to wipe every tear from our eyes. We grieve the losses that surround our days and steal our nights. Send your Holy Spirit, the comforter, to attend to the grief of the church. Bless all who mourn the death of Cheryl Pero, Ph.D.: her children and grandchildren, her family and friends, her students colleagues and community at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and beyond. Root us in the hope of your resurrection and encourage us by the witness of the saints, whose labors have come to a rest and whose baptism is now complete. May we hear the echoes of their alleluia chorus as we continue the race that is set before us. In the name of Jesus, our peace. Amen.