20:45 (15:45 EST) Houston's coffin is now being carried out to a recording of her number one hit "I Will Always Love you" as her mother Sissy walks behind out of the church.
The most powerful moment seemed to have been reserved for the end. As Houston's silver casket was carried out, Bobbi Kristina began crying, and the sobs of Houston's mother rang throughout the church. "My baby!" she wailed.
The coffin will be taken to Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, where she will be laid to rest with her father John Russell Houston.
20:40 (15:40 EST) Many of the guests are now making their way out during the recessional, to the sounds of the New Jersey Mass Choir. Each one is shaking the hand of Houston's family memebers sitting on the front pew.
20:32 (15:32 EST) Houston's producer Narada Michael Walden, who worked with her on such hits as So Emotional and Where Will Lonely Hearts Go? stopped for a chat with the Telegraph's Rosa Prince and press gathered on his way out of the funeral:
"The mood was beautiful. We were celebrating her life. She's with God now," he said.
20:18 (15:18 EST) It was noted earlier by one pundit, that African American funerals can often go on for many hours, with sometimes dozens of readings. As it enters its third hour, It has taken its toll on some mourners it seems.
20:03 (15:03 EST) Celebrity gossip website TMZ seems to have got hold of a service proogramme, which looks like this:
19:52 (14:45 EST) CeCe Winans, whose brother performed earlier, is now performing "Don't Cry For Me" with the New Jersey Mass Gospel Choir. CeCe was godmother to Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina, releasing a duet with her "Count on Me".
19:45 (14:45 EST) A highly charged performance of Houston's "I Look to You" by R.Kelly, who at moments looked like he was going to break down in tears. The song was one he wrote specifically for Houston, it is also the title track of Houston's seventh and final album, released in 2009.
19:30 (14:30 EST) Houston's sister Patricia says today is a day for celebration, not sadness, saying: "Today the world is celebrating the magnificnet times of this woman. Today, as a family, we celebrate the life of a sister, daughter, mother and friend. Her life was sometimes misunderstood, sometimes even by her. While life may not always be understood, we can still give to others. When she was successful she lost some friends and gained some enemies. She just kept on giving anyway."
"My last time with her was at the Beverley Hilton. She said she was happy, living for Whitney finally after spending her 30s and 40s gave her life to her daughter and husband."
(L) Houston's sister Patricia, (R) Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina
19:10 (14:10 EST) Stevie Wonder, a close friend of Houston's, tells mourners: "I want to thank God for allowing me to be in this world at the same time as Whitney. In my fantasy world I had a little crush on her, I think everyone did."
He's performing "Ribbon in the Sky" - a song which she is said to have been one of her favourites.
19:04 (14:04 EST) Houston's bodyguard and brother-in-law Ray Watson or "Uncle Ray" is sharing memories of her with the congregation.
"I felt so lost when she died. But then her spirit came to me and said you are free. In the last few years I was by her side, thick and thin. I was with her every day, I know her like no one else, and she was an incredibly special person"
19:02 (14:02 EST)
19:00 (14:00 EST) Clive Davis says she told him she was going to clean up, stop smoking, do the vocal exercise, but then time ran out for her.
18:45 (13:45 EST) Record producer Clive Davis, a man whom Houston called dad, is speaking now:
We talked non-stop music. And when she spoke I would silently think about all we had shared over the years. Every hit we had, neither of us could believe it. When she broke the record of seven consecutive number ones. I'd say "are you pinching myself", and she said "yes, I'm pinching myself". She was always so graceful and down to earth.
Personally, all I can say is that I loved her very much. Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind. Yes she admitted to crazies in her life. Yes she admitted to Oprah about her battles. But when I needed her, she was there. She was there for me, and eternally loyal friend...
And Bobby Kristina, you too, always, always be proud of your mother. She loved you so very much. She defined not only pure talent, but true heart and soul as well. She'll forever be looking after you, and will never let go of your hand."
18:42 (13:42 EST) More on the mystery of why Aretha Franklin pulled out of performing at her goddaughter's service from Today show presenter, Al Roker:
18:40 (13:40 EST) Alicia Keys, R'n'B singer and Houston's protege is now singing, wearing a stunning black dress and deep red lipstick. After expressing her close relationship with Houston -- "she called me Mima" -- Keys performs "Prelude to a Kiss."
18:33 (13:33 EST) Kevin Costner speaking at the funeral:
Whitney, you were as beautiful as a woman could be. You leave us with memories of the little girl who stepped bravely in front of this stage, in front of the people that loved you the most. To Bobbi Kristina and all the other young girls who think they're not good enough to sing her songs, she'd say guard your bodies and guard the precious miracle of your life and make God wonder how he created something so perfect. Off you go, Whitney, off you go.
And when you sing before Him, don't you worry, you'll be good enough.
18:30 (13:30 EST) More on Bobby Brown's mysterious comings and goings. According to NY Daily News, Brown and his son Landon left the New Hope Baptist Church about 20 minutes after the service began at noon.
He entered the church about 15 minutes before the service, and reportedly drove off in a black Escalade as Houston?s family and friends celebrated her life at the emotional funeral.
18:18 (13:18 EST) Wearing a black suit and tie, Kevin Costner, Hollywood actor, says: "Whitney returns home today, I urge us all to dry our tears, suspend our sorrow and stop our anger. We had a lot in common, and know many of you will be thinking "Really?". Well, Whitney and I both grew up in the Baptist church, we loved choir, we'd look forward to it every week. The chuch was the centre of our social life, and we would laugh, knowing it was the place where you could get into trouble, sitting with your friends. The church was our private bond"
Costner and Houston in the film they starred in together The Bodyguard
18:13 (13:13 EST) Reverend Kim Burrell, one of the gospel community's most respected singers and pastors, performs a special song that she wrote in tribute to Houston. Among the lyrics:
"Sometimes at the top I know it feels sometimes it's too hard living, But she wasn't afraid to die, Because Whitney knew somebody was waiting, Beyond the sky."
Mourners seem very moved, taking to their feet at the end.
18:10 (13:10 EST) In case you were wondering, Piers Morgan interviewed Bebe Winians yesterday, and is very moved by today's service.
17:58 (12:58 EST) Bebe Winians, a gospel singer, holding back tears, is now performing song "I Really Miss You" in tribute to his late friend.
17:55 (12:55 EST) Tyler Perry, producer, director and a friend of the Houston family, is now speaking to the congregation: "Two things I know; there is a grace that carried her, and secondly, and more importantly, Whitney Houston loved the Lord. In every conversation we had over the years she told me how much she loved the Lord. No matter how high she went up in the stratosphere, nothing could separate her from the love of God."
17:50 (12:50 EST) Bobby Brown has reportedly left the service after becoming overwhelmed with emotion.
17:43 (12:42 EST) Our correspondent Jacqui Goddard has the latest on Houston's daughter, who is at the funeral wearing dark glasses:
Whitney's family are said to be waiting until after today to work on persuading her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, to seek professional help for her own substance abuse problems. The 18-year-old - widely reported to have struggled with alcohol and cocaine addictions for several years - will be given space to grieve before relatives attempt to intervene, TMZ reports.
They want her to enter a 60-day residential rehab programme. Bobbi - who was taken to hospital twice in the hours after her mother's death, after suffering a breakdown, frequently appeared on stage with the artist as a little girl, hugging her mother's legs and sometimes singing with her. The pair were said by family to have always been "inseparable."
17:22 (12:22 EST) Ex-husband Bobby Brown has just arrived at the service, driven in a limo and wearing dark glasses. Apparently he raised one finger in acknowledgment of fans as he drove past. A New York Times reporter managed to grab this snap of him:
17:20 (12:20 EST) Corey Booker, Major of Newark, is now addressing mourners: "The heavens reveberate with the arrival of our angel Whitney Houston. We may be wept now and through the night, but joy cometh in the morning," he says quoting Psalm 30:5.
17:15 (12:15 EST) Chat show queen Oprah Winfey has arrived, as has the singer Mariah Carey. Ms Carey described herself following Whitney's death last week as "heartbroken and in tears."
Houston on Oprah's couch three years ago.
17:08 (12:08 EST) It's anything but a sombre affair as mourners rise to their feet is rapturous applause when the gospel choir finishes singing "Hallelujah".
17:05 (12:05 EST) As our New York correspondent Rosa Prince confirms, security is incredibly tight today around the church as police ward off fans gathering in their thousands, pushing to catch a glimpse.
16:54 (11:54 EST) Actor Forrest Whittaker and singer/actress Queen Latifah are among the latest arrivals. The ceremony was scheuled to start in five minutes.
There will be 19 stages to the service, starting with the processional and a reading from the Scriptures. There will be spoken tributes from actor Tyler Perry, Kevin Costner, Clive Davis and Ray Watson, Houston's longtime bodyguard who was there when her body was discovered in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles last Saturday.
16:52 (11:52 EST) There are truly amazing sounds coming from the New Jersey Mass Gospel Choir. It has also been noted that they are wearing white, raterh than black, to symbolise Houston's "entrance into paradise".
16:45 (11:45 EST) Outside the cordoned area, which covers six blocks, fans are singing their favourite Houston songs in tribute. Rosa Prince has taken a picture:
16:40 (11:40 EST) Houston's body arrives at the church, while onlookers pay their respects.
16:33 (11:33 EST) Rapper Ray J (William Ray Norwood Jr.), Houston's on-off boyfriend, 31, has just arrived at the church with his sister, the singer Brandy. Referring to Houston by her pet family name, he issued a statement on Friday speaking of the "emptiness" of his lover's loss, adding: "What my heart feels cannot be expressed in words.
"The world lost an icon but I lost my close friend. Nippy, I miss you so much! You were so happy and full of love. Your smile will live in my heart forever.
16:30 (11:30 EST) Jacqui Goddard in the US, says that despite being unable to perform at the service as planned due to sickness, Aretha Franklin is reported to be at the church. Guests have been arriving in a fleet of vehicles and are trickling into the church's front entrance at a steady pace now.
Many attended a private viewing at the funeral home last night, where Whitney's body was displayed in an open casket that is said to be "platinum from top to bottom, with gold handles."
16:27 (11:27 EST) Friends and family have begun arriving at the church. Here's a picture of the DIva golden hearse arriving a littel earlier.
A golden hearse transfers Houston's body to the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark where she performed as a child
16:17 (11:17 EST) One fan speaking outside the church had some very thoughtful things to say about Houston. While most wanted a public funeral to pay their respects. Laura, who has been waiting outside for an hour, said:
At first I was upset that everyone wouldn't get to say goodbye to her. But then I realised, all that really counts is family and she's come back her childhood neighbourhood to be back with them. She's at peace here in Newark, away from the madness that followed her around everywhere else.
16:12 (11:12 EST) This is the cake which will be served to mourners after the service. It's on display inside the church. Meanwhile, outside, Rosa Prince says fans are arriving in serious numbers now. "Shame they're being kept so far back. They can barely see a thing."
15:55 (10:55 EST) Houston's funeral is taking place in her home town of Newark ? a city and a state with a history which in many ways mirrors that of the troubled singer, writes Rosa Prince.
It is an apt reflection of the life of the pop golden girl who had it all, only to throw it all away on a physically abusive marriage, substance abuse and ultimately death in a Los Angeles hotel room at the age of only 48.
But for Houston's family, there was nowhere the self-proclaimed "Jersey girl" could be laid to rest other than the place where she began her love affair with music.
The hearse carrying the body of Houston leaves the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark
A memorial outside the church
15:49 (10:49 EST) Pastor Donnie McClurkin, a close family friend who will lead the final song at today's ceremony, tells CNN:
I'm going to try and get through that...trying to sing on top of loss is going to be one of the most harrowing experiences but, faith in God, we'll get through it. Her loss is something that's really deep and something that's really really powerfully impacting us.
15:42 (10:42 EST) Having arrived first at the church, it seems Rev Jesse Jackson has got a little bored waiting, and tweets this:
15:35 (10:35 EST) As we noted earlier, only a small number of the invited guests will be celebrities Houston knew during her lifetime. Here we have a definitive list of those attending:
Michelle Williams, singer from Destiny's Child
Venisha and Desanna Brown, daughters of late soul star James Brown
Angela Bassett, actress
Donnie McClurkin, singer
Roberta Flack, singer
Kevin Costner, Houston's co-star in The Bodyguard
Stevie Wonder, singer
Tyler Perry, actor
Darlene Love, actress and singer
Chaka Khan, singer
L.A. Reid, music impresario
Ray J, Houston's on-off boyfriend, his sister Brandy, singer, and their parents
Valerie Simpson, singer songwriter
Clive Davis, music mogul
Jesse Jackson, campaigner and civil rights activist
Alicia Keys, singer
R. Kelly, singer
Kim Burrell, singer
15:15 (10:15 EST) The informed Sunday Telegraph Foreign Editor David Wastell brings us a little context:
15:10 (10:10 EST) Our correspondent writing from the US, Jacqui Goddard, says Houston's family isn't referring to today's service as a funeral, but as a "home going ceremony."
Indeed she always saw the New Hope Baptist Church - whose congregation knew her for her singing talents years before the rest of the world did - as home, once stating in an interview: "Growing up I loved church. It was family and it was always happy - you know, 'Praise the Lord,' and 'How are you doing at school?' and 'God bless you child.'
It was a family thing, you know, a sense of belonging." Among the musical tributes forming part of today's ceremony will be a rendition by gospel singer BeBe Winans of his song "Coming Back Home", whose lyrics include: "I'm coming back home, Home where love is waiting for me, Been gone much too long, This is where I want to be."
A fresher-looking Houston with mother Cissy
15:05 (10:05 EST) Aretha Franklin is no longer planning to sing at the funeral, AP are reporting. A source close to the singer says she is sick.
A revised program for the service lists Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and R. Kelly among those still performing.
14:47 (09:57 EST) Houston?s family may not want the late singer?s ex-husband Bobby Brown raising his daughter, Bobbi Kristina, but, a family source has now silenced rumours he is banned from the funeral. According to People, the family aren?t keeping him from paying his respects. A source said:
Bobby will be there at the funeral to support [Bobbi Kristina]. There was some talk ? some people were angry at him, but that?s just grief. He will be there.
The family in happier times
14:35 (09:38 EST) Fans outside the church, who have begun gathering three hours before the ceremony at New Hope Baptist Church, say they wish the family had decided to hold a public ceremony for those who have followed her career and would have liked to say goodbye.
Newark police director Samuel DeMaio had advised fans to stay home to watch the funeral, which will be broadcast on TV and streamed live online.
14:34 (09:34 EST)
14:22 (09:22 EST) Rosa Prince has just spotted the first guest to arrive at the church in Newark, close friend of the family Rev Jesse Jackson, arriving in a big SUV.
14:15 (09:15 EST) The Telegraph's New York correspondent, Rosa Prince, is outside the church, waiting in the 2 degree celsius temperatures, with a growing crowd of journailsts. She has this from the scene:
The police are keeping their word and are corralling the Press behind barriers about a block from the church. Fans, if and when they show up, will be confined even further back.
14:12 (09:15 EST) Writing for the Telegraph from the US, Jacqui Goddard, says funeral guests will each get a glossy printed programme, entitled ?I Will Always Love You? after Whitney?s 1992 signature hit. It contains photographs of the singer and some of those who mattered most in her life including her mother Cissy, daughter Bobby Kristina and mentor Clive Davis.
Pointedly absent from the programme are any pictures of Bobby Brown, to whom she was married for 15 turbulent years until their divorce in 2007.
Fans pay tribute shortly after the news was broken
14:10 (09:09 EST) What we do know about the ceremony is that it is invitation only, at the request of Whitney's mother Cissy, and of the 1,500 guests only a dozen celebrities will be in attendance.
Ms Houston's godmother, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder are expected to sing tributes, and her longtime mentor and producer, Clive Davis, will speak.
14:00 (09:00 EST) Welcome. Good morning and good afternoon to readers around the world. This morning a private ceremony will be held for Whitney Houston, at the late singer's childhood church in Newark, New Jersey.
Ms Houston was found dead in the bath of her hotel room on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the age of 48. Investigations into the cause of her death are still ongoing.
We will be briinging you the latest from the scene as well as reactions around the world.
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