Coretta Scott King was honored, celebrated and mourned on Sunday as hundreds came to the church where her late husband, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., had once preached. On Saturday, thousands paid their last respects under the Geogia Capitol Dome where her body lay in state.
King, who kept alive the civil rights legacy of her husband after he was assassinated in 1968, was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta throughout her life.
“Praise God for Coretta Scott King,” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at the church on Sunday. He also thanked King for her intelligence, beauty, courage and wisdom, according to the Associated Press.
"Let the heavens rejoice for the witness of our sister."
King, died on Jan. 30 at the age of 78. In August of last year she had suffered a major stroke and heart attack. According to her daughter, King was recovering when she was diagnosed with cancer.
"We're missing her like crazy, but we're just so thankful that we had her as long as we did," Yolanda King said of her mother, according to AP. "She's been released and we feel so strongly that she has reconnected with our father.”
Nearly 42,000 came out on Saturday, waiting for hours to see King, filing past her open casket, according to officials. The presence of King under the Capitol Dome was in stark contrast to the way her late husband was treated by officials at the time of his death. After the death of the Rev. King in April 1968, former Gov. Lester Maddox, a segregationist, refused to lower the state flag to half staff in King’s honor.
The service on Sunday took place across the street from the Old Ebenezer Baptist Church. Those gathered sang “Lift Up Every Voice” which refers to the hope after a dark past, and acknowledgment of God who has "led us into the light."
On Saturday, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the first black woman to lead the city, said she would not be mayor if it not had been for the work of the Kings and others like them stating that “as mayor of Atlanta I am standing on very broad shoulders,” the Washington Post reported.
"Aunt Coretta exemplified the strength and beauty of Queen Esther as a devoted wife, loving mother, and cherished servant-leader,” said Dr. Alveda King, niece of Scott King in a released statement. “One of her favorite songs, ‘Ain't Got Time to Die’ gave true expression to her zeal for life. She will live forever in the memory of her beloved community."
King encountered some controversy for her stance on gay and lesbian rights. She supported same-sex marriage and thought of a constitutional amendment to ban it as a form of gay bashing.
Despite this, Christians from the liberal corners to the conservative recognized the indelible mark she helped make in the history of the nation together with her late husband.
“The nation as a whole—red, yellow, black, and white—owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to Mrs. Coretta Scott King and her husband, Dr. King,” stated Dr. Richard Land, president of The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
In a statement released on Jan. 31, the prominent evangelical said, “Their collective courage, bravery and Christian dignity helped to guide America through one of the more difficult and heartbreaking periods of our history. Together, Dr. and Mrs. King did more for racial reconciliation in this nation than any couple in our history. As anyone in ministry knows, it would have been impossible for Dr. King to carry out his ministry to the nation and the world without the invaluable support and counsel of his wife.”
“I join my fellow Americans in extending our prayers and heartfelt sympathies to the King children in the loss of their mother,” Land concluded.
King is survived by her four children – Dexter Scott King, the Rev. Bernice King, Yolanda King, and Martin Luther King III.
On Tuesday, President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are expected to attend her funeral in Lithonia, Ga.
Jason Davis
Christian Today Correspondent