4/25/25 Marquand Chapel Service Bios:

Lisa Page Brooks is an American urban contemporary gospel music recording artist. She is an  international staple in the gospel music world her travel includes varies parts of Europe.  She started her music career, in 1986, when her late husband Bishop Michael A. Brooks, a founding member of the legendary Christian band known as ‘Commissioned’, formed the chart- topping gospel quartet, Witness.  During her tenure with Witness, Lisa contributed to 11 projects with billboard charting singles such as “Standard” “A Song in the Night” which landed number 2 on the Billboard charts.

In 1997 Lisa Page Brooks recorded her first solo studio album ‘More Than You’ll Ever Know’. She has since mastered five solo endeavors and is currently in the studio working on her sixth musical assignment.

Lisa has been nominated for the Grammy award twice, as well as a Soul Train Music Award, the Dove Award and a Stellar Award Winner.

In 2024 she became a Tic-Tok viral sensation with the release of “The Grateful Chant” which rings loud and clear throughout the earth “The Devil is a liar, Yea, Yea, Yea, Yea.” and her social media video has over 9 million views and counting.

As Lisa Page Brooks fulfills her life’s purpose with passion, great joy and determination, she often shares this Declaration “I was placed on earth to sing, and I will do this for the rest of my life!”

Rev. Dr. Peter M. Wherry is a 45-year veteran preacher, pastor, community leader, social activist, and scholar. He holds degrees from Virginia Union University (BA and M.Div.) Wesley Theological Seminary (D.Min.), and the Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership (Columbia International University). Since January 2007, he has been Senior Pastor of the Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. Through his former work as Founding Moderator of the United Missionary Baptist Association, Dr. Wherry led 70 mostly Baptist churches in Charlotte and its surrounding counties, having a constituency of over 40,000 persons. He is one of the pioneer foot soldiers 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 is currently a Guest Instructor in Homiletics in the Ph.D. program in African American Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN and serves as Director of the Ministry Doctoral program at Howard University. He has served as guest lecturer and featured preacher in several seminaries, including Gordon Conwell in Charlotte, NC; Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, NC; Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA; the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, VA where he also served as an adjunct faculty member teaching Baptist History and Ethics; and the Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, NC where he has served as a doctoral advisor. Most recently, he has been a guest instructor in homiletics at Wake Forest School of Divinity, also in the Ph.D. program in homiletics at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN, a doctoral advisor at Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, and he has been invited to serve as an Exemplar Preacher in Cohort 1 of the Compelling Preaching program at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN, under the direction of Dr. Frank Thomas. In 2014, Dr. Wherry was a Main Stage preacher for the centennial session of the Hampton University Ministers Conference, the largest gathering of African American clergy in the world. Dr. Wherry has preached and taught from coast to coast in the U.S. and internationally in Greece, Haiti, El Salvador, South Africa, Burundi, and Zambia. Dr. Wherry is the author of several 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 (emeritus, Duke University) in writing The Forward Together Lectionary (Attribution, p.3) for the NC NAACP. It is a unique resource that assists preachers in incorporating social justice into the pulpit ministries of houses of faith.  His latest book, published by Judson Press, is entitled Preaching Funerals in the Black Church: Bringing Perspective to Pain (Available through Judson Press, Amazon, Amazon UK, and other online outlets). Dr. Wherry has been happily married for 44 years (June 2024) to Dr. Wanda H. Wherry. The Wherrys are the grateful parents of two adult children, Justin (Amy) and Bethany. They are the excited grandparents of five (Amari, Amaya, Michael, Marco, III, and Saniyah).