Coretta Scott King
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"Praise God for Coretta Scott King; let the heavens rejoice for the witness of our sister," the Rev. Raphael Warnock said after a rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" stirred the Atlanta, Georgia, congregation.
Later, in the church's Heritage Sanctuary, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference/WOMEN also honored Mrs. King for her quiet and courageous strength as a leader, wife and mother.
Atlanta's Mayor Shirley Franklin thanked Mrs. King and others who gave their time and efforts "so that someone who was African-American and female could lead this great city."
In Detroit, Michigan, the Rev. Al Sharpton remembered King at the Historic Little Rock Baptist Church's Sunday service.
"Mrs. King is not history because she is dignified," Sharpton said. "Yes, she was dignified. Yes, she had grace. Yes, she was regal, but that doesn't make her history. She is history because her husband and her stood up for what was right."
On Monday, Mrs. King's body will lie in honor in Ebenezer's Heritage Sanctuary in the historically African American Atlanta neighborhood where her late husband was born, the Associated Press reports.
Before her death, Mrs. King had been at an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico, where doctors said she was battling advanced ovarian cancer. She also had been recovering from a serious stroke and heart attack suffered last summer.
