The Baltimore funeral service for U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings will feature dignitaries throughout and a musical tribute from a gospel legend.
Soon after the service starts at 9 a.m. Friday CT, presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge are scheduled to do scripture readings. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will then offer remarks.
Gospel singer BeBe Winans is scheduled to perform a musical selection. The choir will also perform the hymn “The Church is One Foundation.”
A series of other speakers include Cummings’ daughters, brother and wife. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama will also give remarks toward the end of the service.
The funeral Friday is being held at New Psalmist Baptist Church, where Cummings worshipped for nearly four decades. His bishop, Walter S. Thomas Jr., will deliver the eulogy.
Hundreds are lining up outside of a Baltimore church in hopes of getting a seat for the funeral of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings.
Among those waiting to get in was The Rev. Jacqueline Williams of Baltimore The 67-year-old arrived at the church before sunrise in hopes of securing a seat in the church. She never met Cummings but recently attended a banquet in his honor. She said it felt like her civic duty to come honor the man who did so much for Baltimore.
LaGreta Williams of New York City is a friend who met Cummings when they were college students in Baltimore in 1969.
She said they remained friends for 50 years and often had lunch when she visited Baltimore.
She said an important part of his legacy was his belief that people should have equal opportunities so they could better themselves.
Cummings died Oct. 17 at age 68 of complications from longstanding health problems. A son of sharecroppers, he became a lawyer and elected official.
He represented a congressional district that includes his hometown of Baltimore since 1996 and most recently led one of the U.S. House committees conducting an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, he became the first African American lawmaker to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol.
