FAREWELL TO THE REVEREND:COMMUNITY BAPTIST OVERFLOWS WITH LOVE AND PRAISE FOR ITS LONGTIME LEADER

Storm clouds broke Monday long enough for sunbeams to stream through stained-glass windows and into Community Baptist Church as an overflow crowd, alternately weeping and rattling the rafters with grateful gospel song, bid farewell to the Rev. James E. Coffee.

"One thing he always said is it's OK not to be OK, and this is not OK," Associate Minister Lee Turner said from the pulpit, just feet from his mentor and uncle's open casket.

He likened Coffee's death last Tuesday at age 76 to "an earthquake, a disaster in the community."

"Though we grieve his loss, we praise Heaven's gain," Turner boomed to shouts of "Amen" and "Thank you, Jesus!" from an audience that filled the Sonoma Avenue church sanctuary, the adjacent fellowship hall and several classrooms. Nobody counted noses but there seemed to be agreement that the crowd far exceeded 1,000 people.

"We knew going in the place is too small," Turner said early on in the nearly four-hour funeral for Coffee, one of Sonoma County's most visible and beloved community leaders. "But he wouldn't have it any other way."

A number of elected officials and others from outside the congregation attended the service, which was followed by burial at Santa Rosa Memorial Park. "James Coffee never stopped," congresswoman and longtime friend Lynn Woolsey told the crowd. "He has shown all of us how important love is."

Nearly all the other speakers were members of Coffee's congregation -- deacons and deaconesses, trustees and members of the "Singing for Jesus" choir and Bible studies group.

This was his church's farewell. Coffee's wife of 56 years, Vivian, is planning a community celebration of the pastor's life within a few weeks.

On Monday, the mostly African-American assembly cheered and consoled speakers frequently choked by grief amid their tributes to the beaming, good-humored and accessible pastor.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but Reverend Coffee was my buddy," said longtime church member Alice Sanford. "He loved everyone. He made everyone feel special."

Sanford challenged those present to continue Coffee's work and legacy through daily action on behalf of humanity. "Do one more thing every day," she urged. "Love somebody a little bit more. Help someone a little bit more."

Laughter shook the church several times Monday. Speakers recalled how Coffee's inability to sing didn't keep him from trying, and that congregation members honored to step into leadership roles at his request weren't above ducking him sometimes lest he ask them to do even more.

More than one presenter harkened to how Coffee loved to beckon to his congregation prior to a service, "Let's have church!"

The late pastor's animated son, James Coffee Jr., scanned the great crowd and said, "Daddy was a people-person, as you can see."

He thanked Kaiser Permanente doctors for the time they gave tending to his father's heart and other ailments, and also the staff of Sebastopol's Apple Valley Rehabilitation, where he died one week ago. Opening his arms to the assembly, Coffee Jr. said, "Thank you for giving so much honor and respect to my father."

Shirley Gordon, co-creator of the church-sponsored Rites of Passage leadership academy for teens, was one of several speakers who thanked Vivian Coffee for the care she gave her husband and for sharing him with the church and the community.

Senior Deacon Robert Banks acknowledged the great sense of loss present in the house of worship that Coffee guided like a loving and wise father. Heads nodded and affirmations rang out as Banks declared that God somehow will fix the sorrow.

"You know that, church?" the deacon said. "You know that, family? I think it's going to be all right."

You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 521-5211 or chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.