With the death of former President Jimmy Carter, the world has lost a humanitarian of global reach and a follower of Jesus who put his faith into action in uncommon ways. More than any American president, Carter’s life after the White House has defined his legacy more than his presidency. The return home was difficult for Jimmy and Roslyn Carter, who had been wounded by losing a second term in office. When their return to public life did come, that second act, freed from politics, was more deeply infused with their faith in Jesus.
Some of their second act was international. Rather than building just a presidential library, they created the Carter Center in Atlanta to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope.” When I visited Rwanda in 2015, I learned of how the center had worked for decades to eradicate a problem I had never heard of — Guinea worm disease. It affected 3.5 million people each year in 21 countries in Africa and Asia when the center started working on the problem in 1986. In 2022, only 13 cases of the disease were reported in humans.
Part of Jimmy Carter’s global legacy came in his personally working to provide low-cost housing. The iconic image of Carter was of him wielding a hammer on one of the more that 4,300 Habitat for Humanity builds he took part in across 35 years.
In my years of serving in south Georgia, I have come to know people who have worked with the Carters. I see that while all of us have lost an icon, the people of Sumter County, Georgia, have lost something more — a neighbor and dear friend whose life bore witness to his faith in ways that will never make history.
Deacon Jim Purks served as a deputy press director in the Carter Administration and was at Camp David when Carter negotiated a historic peace agreement between Israeli President Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Looking back on those years, he told me of how inspired he had been by President Carter’s deep faith in Jesus, which he saw in the crucible of the White House.
Another Episcopal Deacon, Dianne Hall, and her friend Clive Rainey reflected on the Carter they knew as a humble neighbor. The two recalled Jimmy and Roslyn visiting an older dying Habitat volunteer in his last days — a surprise for a man who would never have considered voting for Carter.
Stories abound of his trading some woodworking tools in exchange for tips on the craft, or calling a neighbor to discover where to find the rare bird others had seen in the area. I also know of a widow who on the night her beloved husband died received a call from the Carters in which they not only expressed their condolences but also prayed with her. People who knew him well tell me that while others may read the many articles that follow President Carter’s death as if they are hagiography, the words extolling his service to the world, they will still miss the kindness of their neighbor.
Perhaps the place where this real Jimmy came through clearest was at Maranatha Baptist Church. The church was founded in 1976 after Plains Baptist refused to integrate when an African American man, who had heard Jimmy Carter talk about his faith, wanted to join the church. There were meetings and a vote. The man was told he was not welcome. A group that did not want to belong to a segregated church founded Maranatha. After their return from Washington, Jimmy and Roslyn Carter were on the rota of members who cleaned the church.
In that little Baptist church amid pecan trees on the edge of a town of fewer than 600 souls, Carter regularly offered a Bible study attracting up to 400 people to hear the former President share from Scripture. His powerful way of opening a passage would often emphasize justice and the need to serve God through serving others, with stories to illustrate his point.
Those who made the pilgrimage to Plains would tell of how he gave his full and undivided attention to everyone asking questions and every member of a group posing with the Carters for a photo. The feeling in leaving the church was that you mattered to a former president and that his care for you was inextricably linked to his strong Christian conviction that everyone matters to God.
The Rt. Rev. Frank Logue is Bishop of Georgia.