New and old members of San Francisco's Glide Memorial Church are getting ready for the first Sunday service without their longtime leader, Rev. Cecil Williams.
There was a special rehearsal Wednesday night for what some are calling Williams' "pride and joy," which is the historic church’s ensemble.
“We all know why we’re here because he made this space available for all of us and I could not be more thankful,” said former ensemble member Dorian Leslie.
Williams, 94, was known as a champion of racial equality, LGBTQ rights and the poor. He died on Monday.
Leslie knew him well as a once 15-year member of the congregation.
“Cecil chose myself and my friend Don to help co-chair the choir,” she said. “Being able to meet with Cecil on Wednesdays, see him Sunday mornings and he’s like, ‘Hey, how you doing?’”
There was more than 60 former and current ensemble members at the rehearsal, some never singing together before. The music department opened up the rehearsal Wednesday night to learn four songs.
“Because Cecil started this, what are we looking at 61 years ago now and everybody has some ownership in that legacy,” said Zoe Ellis, assistant director of the Glide Ensemble.
“What’s happening is what Cecil taught us that when there’s trouble, when there is strife, when someone is hurting or in pain, we come to this sanctuary,” said Marvin K. White, Glide's minister of celebration.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Many like Leslie will be at the church on the Sunday after Williams’ death, honoring the pastor and what he built in song.
“I will have memories of many times of him sitting in his seat over on the side, staring across at the musicians,” she said.
