On Saturday (Feb. 18), Whitney Houston was celebrated in a homegoing ceremony filled with fond memories and moving songs and expressions as family, friends and fans said goodbye to the 48-year-old superstar at New Hope Baptist Church in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
With a stirring sermon/eulogy by Pastor Marvin Winans about prioritizing your faith in God above all else (“The gifts that we have is God’s gift to us. But the life that we live is our gift to God.”), the ceremony centered upon Whitney’s unwavering faith and served as inspiration to all as Donnie McClurkin, Kim Burrell (View Video), Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly (View Video) and The Winans Family shared musical tributes with Tyler Perry (View Video), Bishop T.D. Jakes, Kevin Costner (View Video), Clive Davis, 
Whitney’s bodyguard Ray Watson, Rickey Minor, sister-in-law and manager Patricia Houston and cousin Dionne Warwick offering words to express their love and remembrance for her. Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Angela Bassett and Chaka Khan, among others, were also in attendance.
The Houston Family allowed the ceremony to be streamed online and televised, permitting the whole world to join them in saying goodbye to the one and only Whitney Houston. While the nearly four hour ceremony, which was presided over by Dionne, was filled with lots of laughs, of course a sense of sadness abound, particularly at the end (View Video) as Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” played as her coffin was carried out with the sound of her mother and daughter crying as they walked behind it. Ray J also broke down after touching the casket and was comforted by his sister Brandy. In a letter published in the ceremony’s program, Cissy wrote that “I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long. And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years.”
Whitney will be buried Sunday in a private ceremony next to her father, John Russell Houston Jr., at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey.
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I love you Whitney. This hurts my heart. My prayers to your family and ESPECIALLY your daughter. May the grace of God cover her.
That was such a beautiful going home service and I hope pastor winans word touched many of hearts across the world and especially these famous people! They need to keep jesus with them at ALL times cuz it seems like the devil tries to work overtime in their lives!
The services wss very good. The end of it was so sadd.
touching service, made me cry when the coffin was leaving the church, twas just beautiful. thank u Whitney’s family for bringing everyone together to listen to God’s word. without him, we are nothing we need to remember that. may God continue to comfort the Houston family at this time so they may find peace at such a sad time. Rest in peace Whitney, we love u always
In the end God has the last say so! We ALL went to church today and hopefully Whitneys funeral help touch some souls here on earth today! I thank God for me being able to witness her funeral my spirit needed it! I am so happy to share a moment on how WE praise God with the world! Whitney may your soul Rest In Peace I love you. Hopefully everyone can take something from this today and change what their heart is uneasy about because I did! And remember Whitneys passing was way deeper than just a death it was a wake up call NOONE is excluded no matter how big you are
I totally agree with all you’ve said.
Thank you T
I agree I needed to hear the word of God and it was a beautiful home going service. RIP Whitney.
I’m upset at the fact that I did not watch the first hour or so, I didn’t want to deal with the sadness but it was a great homegoing. Only teared up a few times – hearing Whitney sing at the end while the casket was being carried out got to me. Loved the fact that they took everyone to church today and I enjoyed hearing the personal stories about Whitney. Great service.
I still can’t believe she is gone. I just can’t… Im happy she can rest peacefully now, but I still feel the loss. In my mind’s eye, all I can see is that fantastic, radiant smile of her’s. My heart aches for her beloved mother and daughter. May God lift their spirits in only the way that He can.
great homegoing. Only 1 Whitney….rip
I was holding on until the coffin was raised at the end. And seeing Ray J made me loose it again as her death went from surreal to real.
After watching the service I felt like I lost my friend. I felt like it was Sunday service!!! It was an emotional, spirit filled beautiful homegoing service!!! I won’t remember Whitney for her darker days, but for the ones where she shown brightly!!!
It was a moving & touching service that had me crying through parts throughout. Yesterday i found a whole new respect for Tyler Perry, who knew he could preach! Yesterday reinforced for me that god is love, and i found words of inspiration in the sermons.
God is love.
R.I.P Whitney
Many people deaths come as a surprise, particularly celebrities, but Whitney passing really shook the world. Damn, Whitney! Feel like I lost a family member. I really wish she could have got it together. Only God knew how much she could bare…
It was still so unreal up until they took her casket out with her singing I will Always love you then it got real. That is when the tears really came HARD! The reality sank in @ that moment. I am praying for Bobbi Kristina. I can only imagine what she is feeling right now.
Whitney Houston was demonstration of God’s love.
Wow, the casket exiting to her singing was emotional, so sad. This is what I cant stand about todays ministers. They dont heal and raise folk from the dead like they are suppose to and people follow popularity and car give aways than the signs and wonders that they are suppose to. That is how folk get brainwashed like the Eddie Long members. He manipulated them with so called generousity which is expected from any church with the donations/tithe, but that is not proof of authenticity. The proof is signs and wonders that should follow them and not enough are stepping out and doing what they were told to do. I feel alot people are dead because this is not happening. I dont believe in “if its your time its your time” crap, if that is the case, then why did God raise people from the dead if it was their time…its just an excuse so pastors could lay dormant. I know there are some that do have these signs in foreign countries like Africa but someone needs to make an effort to get on a plane and try to perform a miracle in private, some minister that has performed miracles before need to step up more, especially in Hollywood. At least have the guts to try, instead of going with the flow of death as the final say.
What you say may sound crazy too some people but it doesn’t to me. This old lady dropped dead in my grandmothers church. They called 911. The paramedics declared her dead. The church gathered around her, prayed And laid hands on her for about 10 minutes and she woke up. She lived many years after that. The paramedics said they had never seen anything like it. They were baffled. Miracles are real.
Yes but religiousity folk keep it dormant and folk are staying dead instead of being risen and granted more time and giving testimony to turn others toward God. This is why other relgions thrive because they see nothing different being offered by Christians, but when they see a miracle, they cant deny their own eyes and experiences and you have those rag headed relgious folk that keep that power under chains because of unbelief and ill rationalization to excuse it away. Get away from me with that. None of the disciples believed as these clowns because they went about doing as the example given by Jesus and performed signs and wonders too. Alot of these ministers today are sitting on standby not using any real power other than lectures, all other religions have lecture and doctrine. They laughed at Moses until they were drowning, religious idiots.
God healing and raising people from the dead is with a purpose. The Holy Spirit showed Cissie that she wouldn’t have Whitney long so why would He then raise her from the dead? What would be the witness in that? The witness is in God taking her home just as she showed Cissie on the day of her birth. Anything that we do is only as good as the God we do it for and His perfect plan in which only He knows. Do you know how Paul, Peter and other called out men of God died for the gospel? God told Paul of his hard death prior to him dying vs I will raise you from the dead. People are being persecuted all over this world for their faith and God gladly calls them home and tells them well done my good and faithful servant. Signs and wonders when God utilizes them has a purpose and it’s specific to what God chooses to utilize them for.
If you read the story of Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead he waited and when he waited he said that he did it for their sake, as a means of not only giving them ability to believe, but to show that He would be raised on the 3rd day.
We are all going to die and yes God knows exactly the time and reason. I do believe people can die before their time, but that isn’t always the case for someone that dies young. We can die young because of choices we make as well OR as I feel in Whitney’s case and Kim Burrell pretty much testified to it in her song, her change came and she got her ultimate peace and deliverance from the things that only she and God know about 100%.
Lastly as the word says in Matthew 16:4 it’s an evil and adulterous generation that looks for a sign. Also in Matthew 24:24 it says For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Again I say study your word people, all who claim to be a Christian so that you are equipped to properly lead people to the truth rather than cause division and unfruitful arguments field with un or partial truths.
@Stop the madness, whatever, that is your religiousity opinion. Keep on being a mediocre, humming in he pews religious person, knock yourself out. There is power over death much more than people are utilizing dont care what Cissy was told or what you believe.
@ stop the madness I agree. And I looking for those scriptures lol
In a letter published in the ceremony’s program, Cissy wrote that “I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long. And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years.”
No spirit would have just told me that and that be the end. what about asking for a reprieve? What about asking and receiving and saying I dont want that and ask for it to not be true and declare that it wont instead of okay, whatever you say and be waiting on it to happen. Not everything is the Holy Spirit either, it could be another spirit disguised and thats why you need to question it and declare otherwise, dont just accept a death sentence for your child at face value. If that is the case, then the way her death happened was demonic in that her death occurred by drugs and not a natural death which means it was more of a premonition that could have been struck down and declared otherwise. Because if she did not have the ability to declare otherwise, then that would be unfair and showing respect of persons if one can and another cant. So its not always the Holy Spirit, and if it was then it could have been to empower her to strike that down and declare the opposite.
To carmelapple, I agree that many of the modern Christian followers have lost there faith from the first followers of Christ and I do believe that more Christians in general, not just pastors, should exercise their full faith n power in Jesus than this half believing that we have grown comfortable with in modern times because there is truly healing yet to be healed. However, if u or anybody else need signs and miracles to have faith and believe in God then your not being a true christian in the first place. Faith IS the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen(Heb 11:1). God didn’t want ppl to depend on signs n miracles to believe in him. Those miracles He did was to fulfill what was already written in early texts so the ppl could believe he was the Messiah and had come and because He knew that healing needed to be done. He gave us the same power to heal in His name but that by no means is it for the full purpose getting ppl to believe in Him or some parlor trick to raise ppl from the dead just cause u want them too be alive. Those ppl who were/are giving those types of miracles are predestined to have them for reasons God has chosen them to have them but not everyone are destined to have them. I think it is wrong for u to mislead ppl into believing signs and miracles are the way to salvation because believe me, that’s all the devil will be using including false prophets to mislead ppl and only faith without seeing will save us in end. Also, although u make some good points about spirits not always being the holy spirit but that does not give u the right to judge what she felt and who she believes told her about her child and n u definitely don’t have the right to tell her what should have done with that message, especially since u dont know what she did and that it very well may have come from the Lord. To me, it sounds like you’re hurt n you want to Whitney back, but we do not know the plans or the ways of the Lord even if we think we do so we all need to stop trying to play God and worry about want He’s doing in our lives and do our best to live according to His word.
If Cissy says it was the holy spirit is was indeed. This mother did fight to save her daughter many times with prayer and interventions. Life is not promised to us. God said that this is only temporary. When you are close to God, as so many, the holy spirit reveals thing all the time. The holy spirit dwells in all of us, but it is up to the person to hear and receive. So please, never say she didn’t question it because I’m sure she did. When you are that close to God you talk to him all the time and you can hear his reply. Ms. Cissy did everything that a mother could have done for her daughter.
By the way, the Holy Spirit is not just a spirit. It is God inside us, smh. The devil can’t stop what God has already planned.
@ CaramelApple
You are such an idiot. Asking for a reprieve from the holy ghost? Lol smh.
Obviously you all are full of religion and little else. Just because she said it was the Holy Spirit, it dont mean it was the Holy Spirit. Alot people claim to hear from God or the Holy Spirit and its not. Religiosity. I didnt say rely on signs and wonders. I said they are dormant and at least try so go head with your relgious mumbo jumbo crap. If signs and wonders were not important, why did Jesus do them and tell folk they would do greater works than what he did. This is why so called Christians are living mediocre lives and dying early. If you cant ask for a reprieve, then explain Hezekiah’s being told to get his house in order and praying for life and being granted 15years more to live. Cissy may have thought she did everything but ask for longer for her child to live instead of being all relgious. The pastors and you brainwashed up holy rollers are the reason signs and wonders are dormant and live a mediocre life underusing the power you have been granted. So @Circ1984 you the idiot with that homo avatar. Regiliousity sublife.
Anna Nicole Smith
MJ
Heavy D
Whitney Houston
all these missed opportunities for a real disciple to raise from the dead to win hundreds of thousands of people to Christ but all these ministers do is pray and deliver the eulogy. Need to take the ministry from the pulpit to the morgue and stop this crap. These ministers need to grow some big balls and do some real work beside running off at the mouth spitting on the microphone.
All she is saying that the holy spirit,told her that her child would not be with her that long. Maybe you need to your older relatives about the holy spirit.
And all I am saying is she should have said no, grant her long life whatever spirit
i personally thought the service would be overflowing with black celebrities, but glad the important ones made it.
i love the message from Ray her body guard. these artists entertain us, yet we repay them with no much love
and damn that EXIT! for making me shed a tear.
This is so sad. I was able to maintain myself throughout the entire funeral until they played “I Will Always Love You.” Watching her mother walking out behind the casket, barely making it, just took the wind out of me. Just so pitiful. It’s almost like I knew her…I couldn’t sleep a lick all night. R.I.P. Whitney Houston.
Thank you for the post CL. She truly touched alot of people. Her music will live on and on…. my heart goes out to her family. I pray that the good Lord will give her Moma & daughter the strength to go on. Haters shut up because we all have some type of demon that we deal with…. I am just saying….. Thank you J Dakar for the post.
And would someone PLEASE tell Alicia Keys to stop yelling that damn song Angel!! URGH, she was just terrible!!!!!
STAY IN YOUR VOICE RANGE MS.KEYS!!!!
I didn’t wanna say anything but you said it for me. That was the absolute WORST part of the program. Not wanting to critique a funeral or nothing but OMG, was she trying to scream to the top of her lungs or what? I think my dogs started howling!
Alicia has been screaming her whole career. People just let her get away with it for some reason.
LOL about the howling dogs!!! I think my cats were howling along with your dogs !!!!
“ghetto sanging” you aint “sanging” until you are screaming and hollering.
@ REAL 96…you ain’t never lie…I like Alicia but girlfriend that ANGEEEEEEEEEEL part you was screaming was making my ears hurt….ugggggh
She was an incredible singer.
Nice homegoing service and it educated alot of people about the black church. I cried when they played I will always love. Whiteny your free now and sing in the heavenly choir. Rest In Peace Whitney. Thank you, for the music,film and your legacy lives on.
@ carmelapple First of all, I am not going off of ” full religion” as you call it. I’m coming straight from the bible. Second off, how do you know what Cissy did or did not do? You think just because you ask for reprieve for God’s decisions you are going to always get what you want? You’re judging her based off one statement she made and the fact that her child is dead that she just said “ok, God, whatever you say”. Quit making assumptions about what you don’t know. And as far as your “holly rollers”, you are the one who brought up the whole “Christians are not doing what their suppose to” comment in the first place. If you didn’t want to be critique about what you said you shouldn’t have said what you said in the first place. But since you want to throw in what Christians should do, recognize that its up to EVERYBODY to heal ppl through the power of Jesus through faith and prayer. What are YOU doing? Are you doing YOUR part? If not, “he that have not sin, let him throw the first stone..”(John 8:7) Third off, you did mention that the reason ppl are not believing in Christianity is because no signs and wonders have been done as openly as they were in the past. So tell me this, if God wanted us to solely believe in Him through signs and miracles why did he God get mad at the Pharisees constant nagging for Jesus to show that he is the true Messiah and gave them none? Why did he get aggravated at the multitudes for not believing in him unless he brought a sign or fed them? Heck, why didn’t he save himself when he die on that cross for you and me? Its because Jesus worked by the Holy Spirit and ONLY did what God told him to do and you can’t do ANY of those signs unless God is speaking through you to do it. So should every pastor every time someone dies try to raise them from the dead? You think when the first apostles where out and about healing and raising ppl from the dead that everybody was healed or that everybody was destined to receive those miracles? Not likely. And for you to believe that the sole reason why ppl are not saved is because these pastors are not doing their job is ridiculous. The real responsibility lies in ppl depending on other ppl to find God for them instead of looking and finding God for themselves, not having that personal relationship with Him for themselves. It also lies in ppl not trusting in the unseen, always wanting huge signs and miracles, and living their lives by the flesh and not by the one true Spirit that comes from Jesus Christ. And like I said, if signs and wonders are the only way to get ppl to believe in Jesus Christ than we have more problems than you worrying about what others are not doing. Again, I understand where you are coming from and I agree with you to a certain degree. I just think getting ppl to Christ is most certainly going to take more of the unseen than the seen because in the end of days depending on miracles from others is seriously going to lead ppl astray.
Miss Shion, that’s too much. Nobody got time to read all that mess.
@thecocreteloop I know. I just had to get all that stuff. If only one person reads that (which im sure somebody will). I’m good with that.
People also do not come to Jesus because they love sin. There are people knowingly rejecting Jesus, signs and wonders won’t do anything to draw them. AND there are also those that will be drawn only by those signs and wonders and get caught up in them and not by Christ.
Bottom line is the Holy Spirit saves and not one will be lost in the end. There isn’t anything anyone can do to prevent one of God’s elect from knowing Him. However those that are not called to salvation, they will still have to give an account as to why they did not believe, and many will as you mention have an excuse of what they didn’t see or what they didn’t believe due to the examples they saw via Christians when at the end of the day it’s all about their soul and God, nobody will be standing before Him in their place so everyone has to take responsibility for themselves and why they do not believe in the end.
@Shion, you r are such a religious hot mess. Dont need to read all that yang you talking. Preachers read the bible all day everyday and still underusing and not doing what they were told to do. You can buy in to that all you want and stay with the rest of the religiousity church pew warmers and continue to be bamboozeled and walking aimlessly through life without witnessing or seeing real power and accepting the status quo of death and and disease, etc. They just spitting on the mic just like you are in your post and no real power. Most of the ministers of today are not following the true example of Jesus or any of the disciples, they are dormant and just getting by. Need to take off them robes and stop spitting and hollering and heal and raise folk.
@carmelapple Child, please. You are the only spewing the holy mess on here. But you go on ahead and believe what you want to believe and I will do the same.
@ Better say that….Then you need to tell Jesus and the disciples they wasted their time with signs and wonders. You will always have those that will be naysayers as many still thought Jesus was a fraud, but those people are irrelevant to the ones that do pay attention and decide that they have not seen anything like this in their religion, it makes a difference. Christianity is just another religion to people that dont understand it and those signs and wonders have converting power because no other religion has signs and wonders like those of Jesus. Its significant because if it wasnt, why did Jesus spend his time doing them? Why did he grant power to the disciples to do so….
Matthew 10
1And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
9Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Ministers are suppose to being doing BOTH preaching and healing/raising from the dead not just one. If not, then Jesus was beat for our healing for nothing. Like he just wanted to be whipped for nothing. And if raising from the dead was not important, then Jesus conquering death on the third day was irrelevant. People wearing and looking at the cross, but what really happened on the cross and why was every detail done in the way it was done, for a reason …..to use it. So keep on under using and downplaying signs and wonders and stay sick and dying like Whitney. You can say “but God” all day but if you dont use the power you will lose. Saying “But God” and still using drugs and doing the same thing sounds spiritual but its a contradiction.
@ u betta say that Exactly
All I can say is my my God! Help us all! she will be missed
Prime Whitney is The Greatest Female Artist of All Time no one knowledgable can dispute that but “to much is given much is required”. Here’s another gem for you “individuality and self accountability”. Life is about decisions and anyone who knew Whitney knew she made her own decisions. No one but Whitney is responsible for her demise although those in her circle who dranked, smoked and partied with her helped in her demise. The moral of the story is be faithful, humble and always thankful for what your given or it will all be taken away from you. God always get’s the glory at the end of the day. The glory here is the gifts Whitney possessed will be treasured and will live on forever. As for what Momma Cissy said it has stirred up controversy because it was a step backward to say it. Some things should never be said.
I will never get over this..she was a real down to earch cool SISTAH like me and the most beautiful voice..i cant stop listening to whitney right now to where no other music makes sense to me right now…I LOVE YOU WHITNEY AND I WISH YOU WERE STILL HERE GETTING HELP. BUT AT LEAST YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ANYMORE, YOU ARE FREE ANDGEL
R.I.P WHITNEY HOUSTON I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU !!!!!! <3 <3
I still cant beleive she is dead. OH GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!