The funeral service for Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon known as the "conscience of the U.S. Congress," began at 11 a.m. Thursday, wrapping up six days of memorials paying tribute to his life and his legacy.

Lewis, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, played an instrumental role in the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965 and went on to serve more than three decades in Congress representing the 5th Congressional District of Georgia.

Former President Barack Obama will eulogize Lewis, while George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will also attend the private funeral at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once led. Lewis will be buried in South View Cemetery in Atlanta on Thursday afternoon.

Lewis died on July 17 at 80 after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

In some of his final words, Lewis wrote about the current climate of America and the need to keep fighting for justice in an op-ed for The New York Times, which was to be published on the day of his funeral.

"Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe," Lewis wrote. "In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring."

Here is how the service is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.

11:20 a.m.: Funeral service is underway, Lewis remembered as 'true American patriot'

Funeral services have begun for Rep. John Lewis. Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, started with the welcoming remarks, remembering Lewis for his lifelong fight as a civil rights icon and saying he is an emblem of a true hero.

"When there is so much political cynicism and narcissism that masquerades as patriotism, here lies a true American patriot who risked his life for the hope and promise of democracy," Warnock said.

Warnock added that although the news cycle happens at a "dizzying pace" between the pandemic and protests for racial justice, "time stood still. The nation takes it time to remember him."

"He became a living, walking sermon about truth-telling and justice-making, and he loved America until America learned how to love him back," he said.

9:38 a.m.: Speakers include Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bernice King, Pelosi

Tributes for Rep. John Lewis will be delivered by former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, according to a copy of the funeral program.

Obama, as reported Wednesday, will deliver the eulogy.

Rev. Dr. Bernice King, the CEO of the King Center and youngest child of civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, will lead the funeral in a prayer, the funeral program showed.

Other speakers paying tribute include Bill Campbell, former mayor of Atlanta; Jamila Thompson, deputy chief of staff for Lewis; Xernona Clayton, founder of the Trumpet Foundation; and James M. Lawson, an activist.

Funeral ceremonies began last Saturday in Lewis' hometown of Troy, Alabama. On Sunday in Selma, 55 years after he and other demonstrators were beaten on "Bloody Sunday," Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a final time. Where he was once met with batons, Lewis' casket saw salutes from state troopers.