In Plains, Ga., an evangelical politician like no other
| Plains, Ga.
It鈥檚 the morning after his and Rosalynn鈥檚 72nd wedding anniversary, and former President Jimmy Carter is walking slowly into the crowded sanctuary at Maranatha Baptist, his hometown congregation here in rural Plains for the past 40 years.
He stops to peer over the people sitting together closely in the sanctuary鈥檚 pews. 鈥淎re there any visitors here today?鈥� he asks, his lips pursed with just the slightest of grins. The congregation laughs, knowing that when he鈥檚 not teaching his Sunday school class, only 25 to 30 of his neighbors join him at Maranatha鈥檚 Sunday service.
There are more than 10 times that number here today 鈥� self-described pilgrims, long-time admirers, and journalists. At 93, the nation鈥檚 39th president has been giving such lessons here since 1981, about 40 Sundays every year since the time he left office. He鈥檚 slowed down since surviving brain cancer three years ago, and President Carter has only the rest of this year.聽
Why We Wrote This
At a time when 海角大神ity is often politicized, a Sunday school class given by a former president focuses solely on spiritual power. And his fellow congregants welcome that.
As he walks around the room, asking folks where they鈥檙e from, Bertice Berry is grinning, too. She鈥檇 driven down from Savannah this morning, taking extra time to wind through the back roads driving west with her daughter Fatima and 鈥渨hite sister鈥� Brynn Grant. They wanted to see their home state鈥檚 country sights, they say.
鈥淚 just needed it,鈥� says Ms. Berry, a sociologist and member of Savannah鈥檚 Christ Church Episcopal, the first official congregation in Georgia鈥檚 history. 鈥淚 guess I鈥檝e been really down over the political climate in the country, and I needed to feel restored. My heart longed for what this all is.鈥�
Preserved by intention and circumstance, Plains is still in many ways a place that many imagine as a kind of pastoral ideal: small-town rural America, where residents hold to simple but strongly held virtues, commit themselves to local civic engagement, and attend small congregations of neighbors, churches that give 鈥檈m that old-time religion.
The Carters, in fact, have long structured the daily rhythms of their lives together around this small congregation at Maranatha. The night before, they took the half-mile walk over to the home of their close friend Jill Stuckey, a leader at Maranatha. She hosted a dinner in honor of their 72nd anniversary with about 10 old and new friends and some of his family.
鈥淭he Carters didn鈥檛 stay long,鈥� Ms. Stuckey says. 鈥淓ven though it was a special evening, President Carter had to prepare for his Sunday School lesson the next morning.鈥�
In 1976, during a stop at the home of a North Carolina political supporter, then-candidate Carter sparked a wave of raised eyebrows across the United States when he professed to be a 鈥渂orn again 海角大神.鈥� It was before the full blooming of the religious right and the Reagan revolution to come. At this time, just as many had questioned the implications of candidate John Kennedy鈥檚 Catholicism 16 years earlier, many 鈥淲ashington elites鈥� and journalists alleged that Carter鈥檚 conservative evangelical faith might make him the kind of person who would, say, claim to receive messages directly from God.
In fact, it is fair to say that Carter then and now understands the world entirely through the lens of his Southern-rooted Baptist faith 鈥� a faith that indeed infused his politics, he鈥檚 said. 鈥淒espite what I consider to be a constitutional and biblical requirement for the separation of church and state,鈥� he wrote in 2005, 鈥淚 must acknowledge that my own religious beliefs have been inextricably entwined with the political principles I have adopted.鈥�
And his 1980 defeat in many ways marked a moment in which Carter鈥檚 fellow Evangelicals mobilized into one of the most powerful political subgroups in the country, and the core of the Republican Party to this day.
If some 8 out of 10 white Evangelicals express support for President Trump, many enthusiastically, Carter has in many ways remained a voice for the small minority of Evangelicals, those 2 in 10 who see the nation and their faith in different terms.
There are many 鈥渟till searching for harmonious answers to most of the controversial religious and political questions,鈥� Carter wrote in his book 鈥淥ur Endangered 海角大神.鈥� 鈥淚t is in America鈥檚 best interests to understand one another and to find as much common ground as possible.鈥�
Still, politics rarely finds a place in Carter鈥檚 Sunday school class, church members and others say. 鈥淵ou want him to get up and say, Trump is bad, and all that,鈥� says Berry, politically far to the left of the former president. 鈥淏ut spiritually, we don鈥檛 need that. We need, like he says, only you are responsible for your actions. He鈥檚 a great leader by his example, and by his life.鈥�
The Silo
Like a lot of other Maranatha members, Mary Jo Dodson, Carol Anderson, and Mildred, a resident of Plains since 1958 (who asked that her last name not be used), head over to The Silo Restaurant and Bakery after Sunday services most weeks.
The three took their usual table in the back room 鈥� an after-church ritual they鈥檝e been doing, well, for at least a few decades, they say, spanning back to when the place had different owners and different names.
At the entrance of The Silo, just inside the front door, a 鈥溾�� is placed under a black POW-MIA flag. The empty place setting is flanked by a Bible, a candle, and a single red rose, along with other symbols of sacrifice.
鈥淢iss Rosalynn, she was my Sunday school teacher back when I was 10 or 11,鈥� says Ms. Dodson, drawing out her vowels. 鈥淲e used to go to their house for the lessons sometimes.鈥� And at Maranatha, she says, 鈥渨e pretty much do everything together.鈥�
The church鈥檚 longtime organist, Carol Anderson, 60 years in Plains, explains how members of the congregation do almost all the work together, taking turns to serve as custodians, caretakers of the sanctuary and church grounds, as well as the church鈥檚 other needs. The Carters have always taken their turn to contribute, she says 鈥� in the past mowing the lawn or even cleaning the toilets.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e down-to-earth everyday people,鈥� says Mildred, as she eats her fried chicken and white beans with ham hocks 鈥� which people joke is the vegetable down here. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e never put on any airs 鈥� they鈥檙e just one of us, that鈥檚 all.鈥� Mildred鈥檚 been a Maranatha member from the start. The congregation had its 40th anniversary in 2017, after breaking from Plains鈥檚 more conservative congregation in 1977.
Carter, who took up woodworking years ago, constructed the sanctuary鈥檚 large wooden cross. He also built some of the nursery鈥檚 chairs and tables, as well as the large table in the vestibule. He also made the church鈥檚 mahogany collection plates.
鈥榃hat鈥檚 the best advice you鈥檝e gotten?鈥�
鈥淧eople ask, what was the best advice you鈥檝e gotten from President Carter,鈥� Maranatha鈥檚 newly installed pastor, Brandon Malloy Patterson, says to the congregation during a Q&A before the former president walks in to teach his class.
鈥淲ell, the first one, he gives a lot of advice on marriage,鈥� says Pastor Patterson, noting that Maranatha is his first full-time posting. 鈥淎nd the latest one he鈥檚 given me was, don鈥檛 look at any other woman.鈥� The congregation laughed, since the pastor two months earlier had begun his first year of marriage. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very big on being completely committed to one another.鈥�
There鈥檚 a common American evangelical theme implicit in this congregation, too, a theology in some ways rooted in a letter of Paul to the Corinthians: God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak of the world to confound the mighty.
A Millennial, Pastor Patterson says it鈥檚 been a very hard transition moving to rural Georgia, since he鈥檚 always preferred living in the bustle of big cities.
But as he notes, he speaks with a heavy lisp. 鈥淢y voice is weird,鈥� Patterson tells those gathered. 鈥淏ut God said, Brandon, I鈥檓 going to do something weird with you. Think about it: I鈥檓 short, I have the craziest hair, I have this lisp, I have a high-pitched voice that likes to crack, but there鈥檚 a God who said, Brandon, let me use you to speak to 500 people.鈥澛�
鈥楬ear, O Israel鈥�
After his greetings, the former president began to teach his lesson on a momentous passage, Deuteronomy 6. 鈥淗ear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.鈥�
鈥淎nd shall love the Lord thy God with, what?鈥� Carter asks the class. Most respond: 鈥淲ith all your heart, and all your soul, and all your might.鈥�
But it鈥檚 what follows that most interests him in the chapter 鈥� the exhortations to keep God鈥檚 commands close at hand. Carter notes how commands were sewn into their clothing, posted on their doorposts, and bound to their wrists. They were to teach their children daily, and ponder them morning to night.
鈥淭his command to love God Almighty as your only God, and to have no other gods before him, and to love God with all your heart, that was the foundation of God鈥檚 promise to Abraham about 600 years earlier,鈥� he says.
And then Carter launches into what could be called a freewheeling and very Baptist meditation.
Daniel and Lauren Berman are among those who came this morning to get the chance to hear Carter teach once more. The CEO of Pharmacentra, an Atlanta-based company that opened a call center just outside Plains, Mr. Berman cast his first presidential vote for Mr. Carter in 1976. Two years ago, he brought his 16 year old son to hear him, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 often hard for me as a Jew to take in 海角大神 messages, and take them in a way so that I can receive them,鈥� he says, noting the centuries-long history of 海角大神 persecution of Jews.
And the text, of course, is one of the essentials of Jewish theology. The formulation 鈥淗ear, O Israel鈥� is considered the most fundamental affirmation of Jewish monotheism called
He and his wife give their children a rigorous Jewish education, Berman says. 鈥淏ut his perspective on 海角大神ity, from my perspective as a Jew, is incredibly refreshing,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 inclusive, and the message is universal.鈥�
It鈥檚 also very evangelical, but in a way that harks back to a Baptist emphasis on personal liberty and the importance of striving to live a morally perfect life.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important for us to know the elements of the Bible,鈥� Carter says. Most all of us have received the Bible 鈥渨ith appreciation, and reverence, and with gratitude to God for giving it to you. But that puts a slight burden on everybody to know what鈥檚 in the Bible.鈥�
Carter then laments the decline of Biblical literacy in the US, citing Gallup polls and even a bit by Jay Leno years ago, when he was a guest. The comedian went on the street to interview people about the Bible, Carter recounts. 鈥淥ne of them said, the sixth commandment is, thou shalt not admit adultery.鈥� Another person said, 鈥淭he epistles were the wives of the apostles.鈥� The congregation erupts in laughter.
But the point, he says, is that people must learn the basic principles of the Bible to pursue the 海角大神 life, and especially the teachings and perfect example, he says, of Jesus Christ.
For many conservative Evangelicals, the focus is more upon the atoning blood of Christ and the price paid for the forgiveness of sins. Carter, however, focuses mostly on the life and difficult teachings of Christ, which 鈥渞eveal the meaning of God.鈥�
鈥榃ho makes the decision to love and not hate鈥�
And Carter sees the revelations of God through Jesus Christ as requiring an even greater commitment to living a moral life. Love your enemies; turn the other cheek; murder and hatred differ only in degree, not kind. Lust and adultery are one and the same, too. Forgive 70 x 7.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a profound and challenging and far-reaching standard that we 海角大神s have to follow the example and laws described by Jesus Christ in our daily lives,鈥� he says. 鈥淒oes that put a responsibility on you that you didn鈥檛 feel before?鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to burden anybody,鈥� he continues, 鈥渁nd I have the same problem accepting as a 海角大神 the ideals and goals of a transcendent life, a life that is worthy of God鈥檚 approval.鈥�
Carter concludes, then, with what Baptists have long emphasized: the complete liberty of individual.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a very sobering thing, is it not? To know that what we do is up to us,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ho makes the decision to love and not hate, or be generous and not stingy, who makes that decision?鈥�
鈥淚f we have a life at this moment of which we鈥檙e not proud, or if we鈥檙e not satisfied, we have an opportunity this moment to change it,鈥� Carter says. 鈥淏ecause every one of us many times every day makes a basic decision: This is the kind of person I choose to be.鈥�
鈥淲hat could be better?鈥� Carter concludes. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what 海角大神ity offers, not only an opportunity, but an obligation, to look at ourselves at every moment, ask God for forgiveness, study the life of Christ in prayer, and then make the decision, This is the person I want to be.鈥�
