Mandisa laid to rest

Christian singer Mandisa was laid to rest on Saturday after her premature death last week on the age of 47. 

The former American Idol contestant was found dead in her home in Franklin, Tennessee on April 18. The official reason for death has not been made public but police said there have been no suspicious circumstances.

Friends and family gathered to recollect her at her funeral held at Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday morning. 

Speaking at her funeral, worship pastor Travis Cottrell called her a “sweet” and “special human”.

“We were beneficiaries of her expressions of gratitude and give up to [God], and we thank [God] for that,” he said. 

Her cousin, Dennie Marshall, remembered her as a “pleased person” who “possessed a spirit of joy deep down in her soul”.

“She could laugh, she could cry and he or she could sing,” Marshall said.

Mandisa rose to fame after appearing on American Idol in 2006 and went on to release five albums, collaborating closely with a bunch of Christian artists including TobyMac and Michael W Smith.

Paying tribute last week, TobyMac said he was “honoured” to call her a friend.

“I actually have never met an artist who’s more encouraging and supportive to other artists than Mandisa,” he said. 

“She was honest and authentic but I at all times left her side feeling higher. She watched every act, every night on every tour singing together with a smile that made you are feeling alive.

“She was honest about her struggles and viewed her breakthroughs as a possibility to let others know that they’ll experience victories similar to her. She saw us as a family. God’s family. In all our diversity. All flawed. And all in need of the love of a Good Father, a Heavenly Father.

“I do know her battle is over but I’ll at all times treasure her memory and that smile and infectious laugh that I had the pleasure of experiencing.”