Bishop Ricardo Pereira of the Cuba Methodist Church traveled to Lakeland specifically to attend the service and honor the late bishop. He told the congregation that all of the Cuban people loved Henderson. When Pereira called a government office to make his travel arrangements, he spoke to a woman who is a member of the Communist party.

"I told her Bishop Henderson had died, and she told me to give her love and greetings to his family," Pereira said. "If the people who don’t have our faith thought of him that way, can you imagine how the people of the church loved him?"

The Rev. Bill Barnes, pastor of Orlando’s St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, remembered Henderson’s tireless efforts to reach people. "He taught me how to visit a theme park," Barnes said.

Each year Barnes invited the Hendersons to spend a day during the Christmas season at one of the Orlando-area theme parks.

"Cornelius Henderson saw it all as a great opportunity to share Christ," Barnes said. "You’d be walking and lose the bishop…and when you found him, he’d be in conversation with a child, a single parent or an elderly person with aching feet…When those people went home, they weren’t talking about the park, they were talking about this wonderful man. He could touch a person in a way they would never forget. Cornelius was Jesus’ touch in the world."

Dr. Kevin James, superintendent of the St. Petersburg District, said his strongest memory of the bishop was his preaching and interacting with the people around him. "I can see him in heaven right now preaching…asking, ‘Can I get a witness?’ and giving Peter and James a high five," he said.

On a lighter note, Dr. Robert Barber, a retired clergyman and conference trustee responsible for maintaining the episcopal residence, shared memories of his friendship with Henderson and his wife, Dorothye.

While helping the newly-elected bishop move into the parsonage, Barber said he realized that nobody had brought a coffee pot and coffee for the couple’s first morning in the house. He told them he would call someone from the church to bring it over, but Mrs. Henderson told him not to.

" ‘I don’t fix his coffee in the morning,’ she said. ‘If he wants coffee, let him go to the Waffle House,’ " Barber said.

When Henderson attended his first Florida School of Ministry, the conference’s clergy asked him about his relationship with his wife. Henderson replied that they were never separate from each other, or if they were apart, a day did not go by that they did not talk on the phone, Barber said.

Joseph Ha, district lay leader of the West Palm Beach District and member of the Korean United Methodist Church of South Florida, spoke to the bishop’s empty robe and stole, which had been laid across the altar rail at the beginning of the service.

"Good afternoon, bishop. Can you hear me, bishop? Where are you, bishop?" Ha said. "Bishop, you have motivated and transformed me through my personal life…I’m not the only one here who learned your lesson in faith action…and servant leadership."

Ha thanked Henderson for helping him get elected a Florida Conference delegate to the 2000 Jurisdictional Conference and motivating him to become more involved in conference and denominational groups, even though it has made "the last eight months the busiest of my life."

Recalling the story of Elijah and Elisha, Ha told the bishop he had one last request. "If you ask me, ‘What can I do for you?’ let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," he said. "I want a double portion of your spirit…your passion for ministry and…your healing heart.

"We miss you. We miss you. We all wish to see you soon in the Father’s kingdom."

Henderson is survived by his wife, Dorothye; daughter, Leah Dor-Lyn Henderson Smith; son-in-law Disraeli Smith Sr.; and two grandsons, Disraeli Smith II and Cornelius Linton Henderson Smith. Smith and her family live in College Park, Ga.

Photo by Michael Wacht Leah Henderson Smith (right), daughter of the late Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson, received condolences at a reception following her father's memorial service Dec. 14 in Lakeland. At his Dec. 12 funeral in Atlanta, Smith said, "I love my Daddy, and I know...he loves me."