Sunday, 10/18/09

by musicclipoftheday

Here—at the funeral service for Bishop David L. Ellis, pastor of Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple of the Apostolic Faith—Aretha testifies.

Aretha Franklin, “Never Grow Old,” live, Detroit, 1996

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lagniappe

[A] lengthy service was perceived to be an honor to the deceased—a testimony to the great impact of his or her life. Consider the 1996 funeral of Bishop David Ellis Sr., pastor of Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple of the Apostolic Faith, whose services stretched over three days. His body was laid to rest in a $30,000 gold-plated casket that was ‘propped at an angle in the church aisle so mourners could see his body resting on red velvet cushions.’—Karla FC Holloway (in Passed On: African American Mourning Stories [2002])