Getty Images

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It wasn’t supposed to be a Sunday morning worship service, but it may as well have been.
 
Most of the people who packed New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday knew what was in store. But the millions who tuned in via cable news networks, the Internet and Twitter, were likely unaware that the home going service for music diva Whitney Houston would be a raw and authentic display of culture and faith in the Black experience.

From the opening images: a large choir dressed in all white, swaying and singing the vamp of a gospel standard, “Grateful.” And then: an abundance of moving expressions and custom renditions of heartfelt songs from music’s and Hollywood’s most revered performers.
 
And not soon to be forgotten: the sound of Houston’s voice in “I Will Always Love You,” during a solemn procession of the singer’s golden casket, followed closely by her weeping mother.
 
Whitney Houston went home in this way, thanks to her mother Cissy. In the words of Bishop Marvin Winans, who gave the beloved singer’s eulogy, “(Cissy) brought the world to church today.”
 
It was unclear, just hours after the service had concluded, how widely watched Whitney’s home going was. What was most evident to viewers, as they took to Twitter for live reaction, was how unfamiliar some cable news anchors were with customs in the Black church.

Thousands of Twitter users noted CNN anchor Piers Morgan’s amazement at the raucous singing, clapping, shouting and swaying exhibited throughout the service. Black viewers were quickly reminded just how foreign the African American community and its customs can be, even for the media’s most highly experienced and elevated journalists. Morgan was covering one of music’s most celebrated voices who, at times in her career, transcended race and ethnicity.
 
Black America experienced a more unpleasant reminder of its “other” status when President Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was criticized for his gutsy critique of the government’s conduct around the world.
 
Many in the Black community felt that journalists covering the controversy did not understand the Black church, and therefore could not put Wright’s words and the congregation’s reaction into their proper context.

In that vein, Twitter users also noticed how CNN weekend anchor Don Lemon peppered his commentary with reminders that viewers would see customs and expressions that were not unusual in the Black Baptist church experience.

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Most remarkable was the networks’ decision not to cut into the ceremony with commercials, likely bringing the Black church, African American culture and faith generally to viewers who may have only heard about it.
 
Tweets of “SAAANNG!” and “CHURCH!” and “PREEEACH!” were confirmation that Houston’s home going struck a cord with viewers, who long felt a connection to the singer and were reminded of where she really came from.