Whitney Houston and the Power of the Black Church

Last Saturday I sat with my family, the nation and the world. Glued to the TV, watching Whitney Houston's funeral on CNN. Whitney's mother Sissy wisely and obediently rejected the pull to turn the occasion into another showbiz spectacle. She brought her baby girl home to the New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, NJ, where it all began.

A global audience got a taste of the divine genius of African American worship at its best. And in the process, was introduced to concepts like 'Homegoing', 'REpast', and white clad nurses, standing in the aisle, at the ready to give a hand of comfort and assistance to the bereaved. A style of worship that is at once so distinct, yet so universal. A way of praising G-d that doesn't have to water itself down to be inclusive. Entertainment luminaries like Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Kevin Costner and Clive Davis were totally comfortable sharing the dais with gospel greats Kim Burrell, Donnie McClurkin, and the Winans. More important than any of that, someone was introduced to Jesus. It was a worldwide revival meeting.

At a time when we're posting Facebook pages disavowing the term African-American and culturally ambiguous praise and worship music is holding sway, we stopped to celebrate one of our own in the fulness of our tradition, as only we can. A tradition born of the unique experience of a people, still pressing, still overcoming. So many of our young people are lost because we haven't taught them who they are and whose they are. So many young musicians are lost if you ask them to play a song that's not on the Billboard charts. There's still power and efficacy in the history and the heritage which spawned a unique manner of worship that got us through slavery, Jim Crow, segregation. We turn our back on that heritage at our peril.

British born CNN commentator Piers Morgan was clearly amazed as he got his first glimpse into a whole different world. Amazed that in the midst of such sorrow, there could be such joy. That's the Power of the Black church. A church that doesn't deny the difficulty of life, even as it attempts to rise above it. A church that, (in this case, at least), has held fast, and remained a beacon of light in a troubled community. A church where the pastor owns neither Rolls Royce or private jet. A church with hymnals in the pews. Here we saw the underpinnings of Whitney's greatness as an artist, and why she was so loved: Despite her success, despite her brokenness, she never stopped being that little girl in the choir stand.