Former President Carter Teaches Sunday School in Hometown of Plains, Ga

Plains, Ga. - Few churches greet the congregation with a bomb-sniffing dog and a pack of Secret Service agents and only one has a former president teaching Sunday School. Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., congregation of 135, welcomes 12,000 visitors annually who participate in former President Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class.

I sat in the pew fidgeting between two friends, anxious for the Bible study lesson to begin. Having grown up Catholic in Buffalo, N.Y., the Southern Baptist Church was new to me. After waiting for an hour, the church's pastor, Rev. Daniel G. Ariail (pronounced like "Ariel" from the movie "The Little Mermaid"), welcomed the group of about 300. He announced, "We want you to know you are not a burden and we are happy to have you join us." Continuing with a smile, "Please remember, we're here to worship God and not Jimmy Carter."

Following his presidency, Carter returned to his hometown of Plains, population 716. He and wife, Rosalynn, have been, and still are, active in the community, including teaching Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church. As Ariail told us of the Carters, "they're plain people here. Jimmy takes his turn cutting the church's grass and Mrs. Carter takes her turn cleaning up the building."

The people of Plains are proud of their famous residents and don't mind sharing them.

Ariail fielded questions as we awaited the start of the 10 a.m. lesson. Carter emerged from a back door five minutes ahead of schedule, almost startling Ariail. Knowing the routine, the President posed momentarily as camera flashes lit the room. He smiled that famous smile and said hello to familiar faces.

After briefly polling visitors where they were from, he launched into Genesis, Adam and Eve and then Noah. "How many of you think that Noah brought two of each species of animals aboard his ark? Please raise your hand." I knew this must be a trick question, but I raised my hand anyway, as did the majority of the congregation.

"Noah brought aboard seven of each species of clean animals and birds and only two each of the dirty animals, like snakes and gnats." Hearing his answer, I gasped and questioned my Catholic upbringing, wondering what else the nuns kept secret. After a pause, he broke the silence with, "If you take anything away with you, take this." We laughed.

The lesson progressed quickly, loosely following the Sunday School booklets. The last ten minutes were spent reading Bible verses where audience participation was vital. It was like a speed round in a television game show. The President called out bible verses and the first one to locate it would raise their hand and be called on to stand and read aloud. I'm embarrassed to say, I got lost between the Old and New Testaments.

A fifteen-minute break followed the 45-minute lesson and Ariail invited us stay for worship. Interestingly, most of the visitors left after Sunday School. Maybe they felt their god would not approve. I know my god did.

The service promptly began at 11 a.m. with Carter, complete with Secret Service shadows, sitting alongside the rest of the congregation. We sang with Jimmy (as compared to us Catholics, Baptists do a lot of singing) and gave our offerings in wooden plates he hand-crafted.

Following service, Carter was escorted through the backdoor by the Secret Service agents. We followed the crowd out of the church, said thank you to Ariail and stood in a short line to meet the former President and take advantage of the photo opportunity.

As Ariail earlier told us, Carter will pose for photographs following the service because he's, "a long suffering man."
Having it down to a science, the church volunteers quickly organized the line and expedited the picture-taking process in less than an hour. There was never a feeling of being rushed and the local folks were extremely kind and shared their favorite stories of Jimmy.

When it was our turn for a photo, Mr. Carter flashed that famous grin and in his kind, Southern voice, granted us a "good morning." The 80-something-year-old quickly stood in the Kodak posing position (maybe he had to get home to watch Sunday football or catch a nap) and it was over. Still awed by the experience and barely spitting out a "thank you," we were on our way.
Secret Service agents whisked the famous Sunday School teacher away while others stripped off their Sunday jackets and hopped in non-Secret Service looking cars. Maybe they had Sunday football to catch or perhaps a nap.

Driving back to Florida, I realized that something happened that particular Sunday. I contemplated whether it was the fact of connecting with my spirituality or being the student of a person I highly respect. No, it was the piece of trivia I was left with to ponder: there were seven of each (clean) animal species, not two, aboard Noah's ark.

Facts:
While maintaining active domestic and international travel schedules, the Carters try their best to return to Plains during the weekend and usually teach three Sunday School Classes a month. Carter informed us that this particular weekend, Mrs. Carter was in New Zealand attending a conference.

Maranatha Baptist Church has a congregation of about 135, with 95 living in the immediate area. Visitors are welcomed to attend weekly services, but space is limited to 300 visitors. Congregation members have reserved seating. Should the church reach its 300 visitor capacity, a hall is on site where a television monitor plays the live Sunday School lesson. Reservations are not accepted, so plan to get there early. Church doors open at 8:30 a.m., however, we arrived at 8:00 a.m., behind 50 other folks. For more information, visit the church's website at www.sowega.net/~alcrump/maranatha or telephone (229) 824-7896.

Located just a 45-minute drive west of Interstate 75 in southwest Ga., Plains is home to the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. Visitors are invited to follow Carter's history at three museums: Plains High School, the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm and the Plains Depot- 1976 Carter Presidential Campaign Headquarters. Facilities are open year-round.