Hundreds flock to Jimmy Carter's Baptist church for his Sunday School lesson

Former president Jimmy Carter.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

In Plains, Georgia, hundreds of people lined up outside the Maranatha Baptist Church Sunday in order to listen to former president Jimmy Carter deliver his 689th Sunday School lesson.

The crowd filled the small church's sanctuary and overflow room, but with more than 800 people in line — some from as far away as Guatemala — there wasn't enough room for everyone. Carter, 90, didn't want anyone to be turned away, and volunteered to teach another lesson, this time at a local high school. He did "what he does best," Rev. Jeremy Shoulta told People. "That's sharing his faith and encouraging others to love one another. He did not miss a beat. It's hard to believe that he went through a treatment just a few days ago, and comes to church today and does a marvelous job."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.