Whitney Houston service: The Highlights

Members of Whitney Houston's family and some of her closest friends gathered at New Hope Baptist Church in Neward, NJ for a memorable service to honor the passing of a superstar. Pastor Joe A. Carter of the New Hope Baptist Church opened Saturday's service by telling the congregation that "we gonna have church today." The service offered a mixture of humorous memories and deep sorrow. According to insiders, as Houston's casket was carried out and her hit "I Will Always Love You" was played, her daughter Bobbi Kristina began crying, and the sobs of Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, rang throughout the church. "My baby!" she wailed. Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick presided over the funeral, introducing speakers and singers and offering short comments about Houston between them. Actor-director-writer Tyler Perry was among the first speakers at the service, and he reflected what he called the one constant in Houston's life -- her grace. Her described it as a "grace that kept on carrying her all the way through, the same grace led her all the way to the top of the charts. She sang for presidents." He told the congregation that no matter the trouble that she encountered in her life, Houston's faith remained constant.

In my favorite moment of the event, Kevin Costner, her co-star in The Bodyguard that spawned her greatest hit, remembered a movie star who was uncertain of her own fame, who "still wondered, 'am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?' "It was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her to stumble in the end," Costner said.
He also reflected on the decision to cast her in The Bodyguard. "A lot of leading man could have played my part," Costner said. "A lot of guys. A lot of guys could have filled that role. But you, Whitney, I truly believe were the only one who could have played Rachel Marron at the time." The stirring eulogy can be seen below.



Houston will be buried next to her father, John Houston, in Westfield, N.J., on Sunday.