UPPER MARLBORO, Maryland (RNS) — Thousands of fans of gospel music giant Richard Smallwood bid him farewell in a music-filled funeral on Saturday (Jan. 24), as family and friends of the composer remembered him for his creativity, his theology and his humility.
Smallwood’s black closed casket, covered with white flowers, stood at the front of the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, just east of Washington, at the 2 1/2-hour service dominated by the songs he wrote.
Pastor Maurice Watson, the former pastor of Smallwood’s Washington-area home congregation, preached on the Bible’s Psalm 121, on which Smallwood based one of his most widely sung works, “Total Praise,” which begins with the words “Lord I will lift mine eyes to the hills, knowing my help is coming from You.”
“His music had a depth to it that spoke to our souls and to our hearts,” said Watson, who led Metropolitan Baptist Church, where Smallwood was a member and was ordained himself. “His music was high enough to make the erudite sit up and listen, but it was low enough to inspire and give hope to the common person.”
Smallwood, an eight-time Grammy Award nominee, died Dec. 30, 2025, at age 77 of complications from kidney failure, in Sandy Spring …