For years I’ve known that, twice a month, anyone could travel to Plains, GA, a tiny town two and a half hours south of Atlanta and sit in a Sunday School Class taught by Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States.
It was on my bucket list, but my work schedule had made it impossible.
Recently that changed, so I decided it was time to go.
Word to the wise, President Carter is 92-years-old, and when the teacher is 92, you don’t want to put off making the trip to Plains. Sooner is better!
My wife Jane and I checked online to see what dates President Carter would be teaching. The information is on the Maranatha Baptist Church website.
We saw he would be there May 7th, and said, “let’s go!”
The class begins at 10:00 AM sharp so that meant we would have to leave our house at 4:30 AM. Why so early, I hear you wondering?
There are times when the crowd is so large you are not guaranteed a seat in the sanctuary. We did not want to run that risk, so we got up early and made it to the Maranatha parking lot at 7:00 AM.
George, one of the leaders of the church gave us a yellow card with a big 52 on the front and details on the back. That 52 meant we were the 52nd car to pull on the lot that morning, and was also the number of our place in line when it was time to enter the church.
Upon arriving at the Maranatha Baptist Church, the crowd was large and growing. We met people who were there for the class from almost every state and several countries including China, Hungary, Lebanon, and South Africa.
About 8:30 AM we lined up to go through a security check with the Secret Service and then into the sanctuary.
Once we were inside the church, Jan Williams, who we had heard about all morning took over.
Jan is a retired school teacher who taught Jimmy and Rosalynn’s daughter, Amy in the 4th grade. She is George’s wife and has the job of making sure we know how to act in a Sunday School Class taught by a former President of the United States.
She plays on her tough, no-nonsense, school teacher persona to convince the crowd beyond any doubt, she is in control, and there would be no room for breaking her rules. She is brilliant.
Her hour presentation was one of the funniest talks I have ever heard. I learned the rules and knew if I broke them, she would see me, and I would be in trouble!
She also told us of the faithful service of Jimmy and Rosalynn. The cross that hangs in the church, he carved. The offering plates and many of the tables, he made by hand.
President Carter had faithfully taught this class for over 40 years.
Jan told us when we could pull out our phones for pictures and when we had to put them away. She told us how we should participate when responding to questions the President might ask.
She warned us we should not applaud when he enters the room or when he finishes teaching. “This is the church,” Jan told us, “and you don’t clap for your Sunday School teacher at your church, so you don’t applaud your Sunday School teacher here either.”
I cannot express how brilliant Jan’s presentation was.
At 10:00 AM the door opened wide and in walked President Carter. Truthfully, I wanted to applaud, but I was still afraid of Jan’s wrath, so I remembered to do as she had told us.
For the next 45-minutes, the President taught us from the Bible and his unique life experience.
The lesson was on a little-known person from the New Testament named Philip. President Carter was faithful to the story and taught not as one of the most famous men on the planet but rather as a humble man who was doing what he could do as a follower of Jesus.
He has taught Sunday School for nearly 70 years, going all the way back to his time as a midshipman at Annapolis. I thought as he spoke, he looks like an angel.
When he finished teaching the Sunday School Class, there was a 15-minute break before the church service began.
At 11:00 AM the service started with President and Rosalynn Carter seated on the third row, where they sit every Sunday when they are in Plains. After the service, we had an opportunity to have our picture taken with the Carter’s.
After church, we ate at an excellent (and the only) restaurant in Plains before making our way back home to Atlanta.
On the drive home I replayed the morning over and over again. The Carter’s are in there 90’s. They show up and do what they can to make the world a better place. They do what they do in a humble way. You never get the idea any of it is about them.
I checked going to a Sunday School Class taught by a former President off of my bucket list, but I will never forget the beauty and grace I experienced on that day. It was heavenly to me.
If you can go to Plains one Sunday, go! Don’t delay. He’s 92, you know, and it’s not every day you get to see an angel in real life.