Little Richard W. Penniman Memorial Service

oh no they're here so I'm already yeah we're doing we're doing that thing they're coming towards you in a minute yeah they're coming towards you guys you [Music] it's a lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters he restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me now prepare [Music] they come the table before me in the presence of my head my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be when the wicked even my enemies and foes came upon me to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fail though a host should encamp but all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple for in the time of trouble he shall hide me he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret of his tabernacle about me therefore when I offer in his Tabernacle sacrifices nor sorrow nor crying there shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away then he who sat on the throne said behold I make all things new and he said to me write for these words are true and faithful behalf of this beautiful family we want to welcome friends and viewers to this service for Richard Wayne gentlemen we thank you for your calls for your cards for your texts most importantly for your prayers and we ask that you will continue to pray that this family will be comforted and that they will hold on to God's unchanging hand until we along with our loved one see him in peace at this time we will invite Pastor James Owens the pastor of the Shelbyville seventh-day Adventist Church where Richard Wayne pin a moment had his membership to give our scripture as well as our opening prayer after which we will receive remarks from our university president dr. Leslie Pollard good afternoon everyone Little Richard was known for his rock-and-roll but he was also known for meeting the rock that don't roll then that's Jesus Christ and as a result of that he became a living testimony of how God can you turn a man's life brother Richard was a member of the first step of de venise Church in Shelbyville Tennessee I had the privilege of pastoring him for over a year and also read baptizing him a year ago as well with Richard I remember where the Penniman I remember that baptism because the water was hot that day but brother Richard soldier dome and he went on and we hope now that he will make it to the God's kingdom family we want you to know that my wife and I our prayers are with you the Shelbyville church prayers are with you Oakland Park Church of Murfreesboro prayers or with you at this time we want to read the scripture that we believe touched brother Richard part taken from first Corinthians the fifteenth chapter verses 50 through 55 now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption behold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment and the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal should have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory Oh death where is thy sting o grave where is thy victory at this time we will have a word of Prayer new Lord our Heavenly Father we thank you for the life of Richard Penniman we thank you Lord that he gave his life to you we are so thankful that now he is buried being laid to rest on these hallowed grounds of the Stork campus of Oakwood University where so much of technical african-american talent has come out of including his own and we thank you Lord for his desire to share the word to use his fame to spread the name of Jesus Christ now will God we actual lessons on this family we pray that you will give them as they embark on the journey that you will give them strength and we pray Lord as they await that great day we pray that we will all be able to hear you say well done thou good and faithful servant none of us will be worthy to hear those words but our prayer is today that we will hear those words and that when you come that you will wake up us all if we die before you come and that we will be in that first resurrection and then we were joined by the Penniman is our hope as well this is an hour of grief but we're thankful Lord that another hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves will hear his voice and we pray we alone to be ready for that next hour bless this program we pray in Jesus name Amon thank you very much for the prayer pastor when the young pastor with the freshly minted Oakwood degree started his ministry in Los Angeles California little did he know that he was to meet one of the most unforgettable personalities that he would ever encounter on the corner of Western and Imperial in Los Angeles under the big gospel tent orchestrated by evangelists George and Martha Rainey the young oakwood minister meets the associate evangelist little Richard it was a summer that I will never forget June of 1978 listening to Richards testimony about loving God and calling men and women to repentance singing gospel songs passing out food picking up persons who didn't have transportation we all had a delightful time working with the Raney's and I just want to acknowledge that while Richard did that work he never forgot about the people that he worked with those who stood with him he was especially burdened for many of his band members and it's amazing today after all of these years to see their love for him and his love for them I wish to acknowledge the members of his band who are here today would you all just raise your hands please god bless you could we give them a hand everyone Richard also has a dis crowd classmates who attended Oakwood when he attended Oakwood and I'm sure that elder McCoy will acknowledge many of them across the last two weeks I've done interviews with reporters who are 1/4 the age of Richards but they knew him they knew of his legacy they asked questions seeking personal insight they were mystified that they were talking to someone who knew him personally I was speaking with one young reporter and she asked me a question she said what do you remember about him these decades later I said what I really remember about Richard was not his stage performances which were certainly formidable but what I remember most about brother Richard not Little Richard but brother Richard was his incredible kindness and his generosity to people I remember those of us riding around with him in Los Angeles and he'd have money in the trunk of his car why he had money in the trunk of his car only he knew but he would take money out and give it to homeless people and he was a very generous and giving person and today 40 years later we have come full circle in listening to the interviews with his bandmates just a moment ago each one of them mentioned in some way his loyalty and his sensitivity to their families once Richard met you and he knew you he never forgot you he remembered your family your mother your father your sisters your brothers whose birthday was it what time were they doing what they were doing how they get out of the hospital how did that turn out he had a genuine interest in people and so today we bring Richard to his final resting place and in many ways he has come full circle he completes his journey a journey that he began at oakwood in 1958 under then president dr. garland Mallette and his daughter Debbie is here Debbie is somewhere working the funeral today where there she is in the back back there it was Debbie mullets father who received a request from Richard because it was a freshman asking could he keep his Cadillac on campus it's them amazing so Debbie is working and thank you so much Debbie as Richard studied here for one year before going out on the evangelistic trail we saluted him and now he has circled and come all the way back to Oakwood to the entire Penniman family on behalf of Oakwood University we thank you for entrusting his remains to the Oakwood University Memorial Gardens where not far from here sits our historic slave cemetery and I find it highly symbolic that Richard now rests besides the remains of ancestors who like him are awaiting the reset that we called the resurrection a reset when our battered bodies will be restored a reset when broken bones will never be broken again a reset when after skin worms destroy these bodies in our flesh we will see God a reset when these minds of ours will never be tortured or tempted again a reset when these old bodies broken and beaten and battered will be made like unto his glorious body and if you think that Richard was a star in this life you just wait until the resurrection with a shining body radiant with the glory of God and music boozing from every pore awaits him and it awaits us if we are faithful in his last interview with the 3abn network on YouTube Richard says something that took me back 40 years I had heard him say it many many times under elder Rainey's 10 he said it again as he did the interview he said I just want to be saved and I heard in that plea the same earnestness the same yearning with which he sang unto elder a nice tent and that he brought to his concerts I heard it again and Richard had come full circle I encourage everyone to listen to Rich's three interview because I believe that like Sampson more will be done in his death that even was done in his life and so on this may 20-20-20 we say goodbye to not only an iconic figure not only an alumnus of Oakwood University but we say goodbye to a brother a soldier a father an uncle we say goodbye to someone who loved God and who loved people and to the Penniman family and mimmo in memorial of this event today we at Oakwood University wish to present to you a collage a picture that you can hang somewhere in some favored spot of Little Richard when he was a student at Oakwood University when he was studying for the ministry and may this bring you fond memories of both him and the journey that he consummates today family Penniman family may God bless you and today our city councilman councilman will Culver is here who represents in fact the Oakwood district he has taken the lead in initiating a City Council resolution that will be presented to brother Richard Penniman Thank You dr. Pollard I'd like to begin by saying good evening to everyone good evening maybe I should say afternoon good afternoon again my name is will Culver your council representative here in Huntsville Alabama it is such let me just say this on behalf of the mayor Tommy battle the hospital City Council we want to take this opportunity to extend our deepest condolences to the Penniman family during this your time of loss I do have a resolution that I'd like to share just in part for the sake of time and even if I were to read it in its entirety it still is not inclusive of all of the things that Richard Penniman did I'm going to ask Peyton Pittman to come up Peyton if you will please to accept this resolution and for the sake of time I'll go ahead and start reading whereas the City Council in the mayor of the city of Huntsville Alabama are deeply saddened by the passing of the extraordinary musical legend an influential figure in pop culture Richard Wayne Penniman more compassionately referred to as Little Richard mr. Penniman transition peacefully on may 9 2020 surrounded by family and loved ones and whereas after years of struggle Richards luck changed in 1951 when he signed a record deal with RCA at the time when Rachel racial tensions were at a peak Little Richard officially emerged on the scene the next few years encompass many many ups and several downs it was not until the owner of specialty records in Chicago heard him seeing it the break that he had been waiting for finally arrived as the country our gird over civil rights and desegregation and the acclaimed song tutti-frutti was released he crossed all social barriers with his talent hit and followed it up with one hit after another defending his achievement he became known as the innovator the originator and the architect of rock and roll he was a consummate showman dedicated to giving his all to the audience and leaving them warning despite Richards undeniable success he felt pulled to return to his original call to minister to this domain of many he left his Hollywood lifestyle in 1957 and enroll in seminary school at Oakland University a place he fondly referred to as home throughout the rest of his days many believe that Oakwood University his soul had found the place of the peace and the joy he had been seeking all of his life although he left before graduating Richard became an ordained minister and never led the teaching that he had received far from his heart Richard calmly gave out his favorite Adventist publication at each of his performances and was known for handing them out to random citizens on the streets and whereas after returning to the rock and roll scene he enjoyed great success touring in England with the Beatles and The Rolling Stones he made countless TV appearances and was featured in several films in 1986 he was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1893 was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammys a biography about graphical TV film was released in 2000 titled Little Richard it was highly acclaimed for capturing the struggles Richard endured beginning in his early years of poverty to rise to the fame during the civil rights movement eventually he retired to a quiet life in Tennessee he maintained as he got older that his most significant achievement was not as a rock legend but that of a faithful Christian with each encounter and interview he earnestly compelled all to turn to God his humble and inspiring testimony marks that of a man with incomparable talent fueled by truth faith and conviction now therefore be resolved that the City Council in the mayor of the city of hostile Alabama salute the extraordinary legacy and memory of mr. Richard Penniman more compassionately referred to as Little Richard for his unmatched talents and achievements as a musician and his amiable virtue as a man he presented this the 20th day of May in the year of our Lord 2020 Thank You councilman Colburn in addition to hearing from the city of Huntsville and Oakwood University we are honored to have the pastor of the Oakwood University Church dr. Carlton Byrd and we'd love for him to come to give brief remarks to the family at this time thank you Pastor for to my stand in solidarity with my colleagues past afford him pastor Owens who had the privilege of serving Richard Penniman in the Penniman family and membership there the Shelbyville Church in the Greater Nashville area I said on the shoulders of many great giants who have served as a pastor over university church one of them being our president dr. Leslie Pollard who currently now serves as president our institution performed Lee as the pastor of our church a gentleman that the Penniman family and mr. Penniman greatly loved in that of elder Aaron Calvin Ward who was a great influence in the life of brother Richard Penniman and so I counted a joy I kind of a privilege to be able to stand on their shoulders and currently serve as the pastor of this church the last I saw brother pétomane was in Riverside Chapel self David instruction Nashville now the privilege of preaching there and he was there in his wheelchair in the middle aisle and after I finished preaching he simply waved and I waved back at him I thought about that wave today because the reality is he may have waved goodbye to us but the reality is it's not goodbye forever but just see you later because the Bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning time as the pastor the church we have a lot of services like these on these hallowed grounds I'm always reminded that one day very soon there's gonna be some popcorn going on not necessarily popcorn in the microwave but those who have died and fallen asleep in the Lord Jesus Christ are going to be popping up if you will I believe that award is gonna pop up and elder Cleveland is gonna pop it I believe is gonna pop up because we're promising the word for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel the Trump of God to the dead in Christ they're going to pop up they're going to rise up then we which are alive will aim should be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord to the Penniman family may God bless you may God keep you and we'll see you again Thank You dr. bird we're going to be blessed with a musical selection from dr. Janice Johnson Browne it was requested that I staying one of Richard's summer and winter and spring time and harness Sarna balloon installers in their course there is a bar chart with harmonies are many father witness so if I great variableness mercy great is fulness all right if I pick for this morning by morning new mercies I see I made by hand flat fraud I did all right it is my faithfulness Lord unto foresee and aa piece that oh right hope police ha great is thy faithfulness great my fate I hand hot oh great he's - bonus great great a man thank God for His faithfulness and thank you dr. Janice Johnson Brown for that selection on the family's behest request they have asked for our own former South Central Conference president Benjamin brown elder Benjamin Brown to come and share words of comfort so we would like to invite elder Brown to share at this time Thank You family for allowing me to participate in in the service today in 1956 in Indianapolis Indiana Little Richard was performing and I was a spectator he was singing and I was dancing sixty years later sixty years later in Shelbyville Tennessee I was the interim pastor and I was presenting I was speaking and Richard Penniman was a spectator in the congregation over a 60-year period our lives intersected again 60 years later I was pastor Brown and he was brother Penniman our lives were changed because of the mercy of God and because of the love of God for the Penniman and I attended a prayer meeting every Wednesday night at the Hillcrest Church in Nashville Tennessee sometimes we would reflect upon how good and merciful God had been to both of us let me share just something with you on a little lighter note those of us that have been in the Hillcrest Church we know that the church has a kind of pronounced incline that goes down toward the pulpit one Wednesday night they didn't put the block under brother Richard's wheelchair and he started rolling down the sanctuary I stepped out and stuck with a wheelchair to stop it from going any further and we used to be used to laugh about my relationship has gone full circle from Indianapolis in 1956 to Shelbyville in 2015 and if the Lord does not return we will be together here at this location in Huntsville and together again we will receive new names no longer a little Richard no longer Benjamin Brown but new names let me leave you with this quotation from the book from the Old Testament book of ecclesiasticus chapter seven verse eight better is the end of a thing at the beginning there are Richard Penniman life ended with a bright future and the glorious expectation of Christ's return it's important how we end to those who end well it's important how we end Richard and Richard Penniman wanted to end well and he did may God be with you amen thank you dr. Brown our eulogy will be given by another former South Central Conference president elder Joseph W McCoy but before we receive his words we will receive the musical blessing from Miss brandy Inez Sutton let's receive her at this time [Applause] try to make me sing in front of anyone to the one day she messed up and tried to do it in front of Uncle Richard and he said don't meet the chills things you know I have to see him running everybody if she wants to she didn't bother me from that day forth but from that day forth he was my favorite and something clicked us it same I wore these shoes for him and he was our ancestors wildest dreams and now I am his wildest dream so because of him I am able to do what I am able to do today so this tribute is for him Steve Steve I ain't God to stay steal away [Music] I [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh just a steal [Music] steal away [Music] I hate God to stay I ain't got to stay [Music] [Music] [Applause] Thank You Randy for that inspiring rendition of such a beautiful song I'm charged with the responsibility of spending the next few minutes in the context of the Christian tradition and say words to the family and to those who have gathered to celebrate the life of Richard Wayne and I want to set up these remarks around Matthew chapter 5 verse 16 which says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven I want to title these remarks let your little light shine let us pray loving father thank you for this privilege thank you for this opportunity thank you for this life in the public eye we pray now your blessings upon these words because we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior amen usually most things have been said by the time the preacher stands up and when the service runs long the preacher gets the blame and since I'm going to be blamed I called him little Rashard Penny man I never called him Penniman little Rashard penny man I've known him for many years is life as a as a performer lit up generations the things that he accomplished with his god-given talent to electrify an audience put him in a very special class I believe one element that propelled him to success was his spiritual core which began in the Baptist tradition progressed through the Pentecostal for tradition and landed in the middle of the seventh-day adventists prophetic tradition almost without exception black American singers got their start and get their start in the nurturing supportive high-energy high-powered enthusiastic affirming environment of the Christian black church work hard yes shine yes but before becoming a star the light that shines before men began in the church the good works that men would see began in the church before they became stars and so it was with Richard Wayne pediment before he was the little Rashad he was a church boy that was at his core and so he let it shine the text says before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven the glory went to God and not to the pork performer that's what you learn in the church environment you are the instrument but something otherworldly something heavenly happens and as it were the face of God is seen you cannot explain that but it happens over and over again and all the worship services throughout the land I got to know Richard and everybody's keep going back further and further when they met him but they are very few people there are very many people in the seventh-day adventists tradition that knew Richard longer than I did does that mean I'm old yes and very thankful to be here he came too awkward in 1958 and everybody else that had a car had to jack it up during the school year we were very interested to see if the great president of Oakwood college would put Richard Penniman 's Cadillac on blocks it never happened from time to time Richard would use quartets to sing backup for with him or for him in his concerts and I remember going to I think it was Akron Ohio in a quartet that Richard employed used the word lightly employed to go and sing backup for his concert the the the auditorium was jammed to the ceiling and in the good old seventh-day Adventist tradition we sing the highbrow classical music in the first half of the proof program and then in the second half of the program we sing the Gospels and so forth we never got to the second half when the people realized that rich was not going to rip it up they ran to the booth to get their money back the thing that impressed me was Richards disappointment not that the crowd left but that he didn't get an opportunity to witness to tell his testimony about what Jesus had done for him let your little light shine in 1962 richard was continuing his reconnection with the church through his music I was part of another quartet and that quartet was composed of Walter Artie's brother Harold Wilson Eugene church and and I was a part of that cortex and Richard took us up to Hollywood to sing backup for a song that he was recording and so we went we were impressed to go to Hollywood and all these people moving around with all the fancy titles and all these responsibilities and Richard began to sing his song he got what he wanted but he lost what he had it was a tremendous song the problem was Richard wanted Richard was singing it as a religious song but it went to the top of the charts in two weeks in the United States and in England so I was a part of his backup singing [Laughter] he was down-to-earth and personable as I mentioned earlier I was in the Academy and I had a roommate named Erin Mills who was the son of a preacher and we convinced Richard to let us use his HiFi stereo that thing could blow a building down so when he let us have it the good church boys we were the ones that were concerned about the spiritual atmosphere of the campus our room was on the front of Peterson Hall we opened the windows up high put a record on that would play over and over again turned it up as loud as we could walked out of the room and lock the door the song was gonna rip it up Richard was I can't say he was angry but he certainly was not pleased that we would take advantage of his good graces and we certainly had to apologize to him for having done that very special thing I'm going to begin to bring these remarks to a close but what I want to say is Richard was one of the most humble people that I've known in my entire life with all of his fame and all of his fortune he was always very approachable when the great performers sing we are taking emotionally and imaginatively to a special place I believe it to be a place best described as a place where divinity dwells and we're seeing angels sing along it is far from earth and you cannot stay very long it's too intense for our mortal cells it is the nearly superhuman almost otherworldly commitment to mastering their craft that makes that kind of journey possible that is what happens when the great ones sing Richard was a great singer who also was a great witness for Jesus at his concert she gave away thousands of the little book called steps to Christ even briefly returning to the secular scene he still gave away copies of that book to thousands great singer great witness great artists are transformed by what they are doing they go beyond themselves they are almost unconscious so deeply committed to the perfection of their craft and to the performance at hand so connected to the power and message of the work they are interpreting that they are transformed and the audience is swept right along with them into a swift current of controlled but exploding emotion each one artist and audience are like unconscious of their personal selves at that moment for an audience birth in the Christian tradition the light of Matthew chapter 5 verse 16 comes on and shines before men we see their good works and together audience and art and artists performing and spectator they glorify God it is under worldly it is beyond humanity and you can't stay very long because it's too intense and so today we celebrate the life of Richard Wayne Penniman a Christian turned rock star and a returned recommitted Christian witness a light a star among us whose good works glorified God until the end of his life and in us we keep on glorifying his father and our father who is in heaven and because I am a preacher I must end with these words found in the two passages in the Holy Bible John 14 one two three let not your hearts be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it weren't if it were not so what I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you I want to take a little Liberty here with the text since I'm going I would like to say I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you will be also and where I go you know and the way you know and for you doubters like Thomas Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me then there's 1st Thessalonians 4:16 2:18 words that give light for this difficult period for the Penniman family who was great who was grief closes the book on riches of life and all of us gathered here today the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord comfort one another with these words Ernestine Dan Peyton and the rest of this family all of us we miss Richard already let us pray loving father thank you in the name of Jesus amen you

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Length: 58min 3sec (3483 seconds)

Published: Fri May 22 2020