A deacon at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, where former President Jimmy Carter is a member, says attendance dropped after he stopped teaching Sunday school and the church's hiring of its first woman lead pastor is an effort to bring people back to their pews.
Maranatha Baptist Church, a predominantly white church in Plains, Georgia, where former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn are longtime members recently hired The Rev. Tony Lowden as the first black American to lead their 42-year-old congregation.
As former President Jimmy Carter entered at-home hospice over the weekend and the nation prepares for the inevitable, many who know him, including his pastor at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, agree that a big part of his legacy is his exemplary life of faith.