But this Sunday’s lesson – Carter’s 689th, according to his grandson Jason – commanded attention far beyond the worshippers who packed the pews and overflow rooms in the wake of the revelation that the 90-year-old Carter is battling cancer.
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“Well, I always explain to the class where I’ve been the past couple of weeks”, he said as he opened his notes at the lectern.
“Any time, we can just bow our heads and say, “God, I’m really troubled”.
Carter, 90, a lifelong Baptist and church deacon, has taught Sunday school for decades, and the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, is used to a throng. “I am able to go on to a brand new journey”.
She asked people crowded into the pews not to applause, not to stand when he arrived and not to shake his hand.
The Associated Press said Mr Carter’s lesson was familiar to anyone who had heard him speak previously; that when burdens grow heavy, it is time to ask God for strength.
Jan Williams, a longtime friend, is the church pianist and also serves as her neighbor’s warm-up act. Even so, the ache of that call clearly lingered, as Carter spoke hopefully about nonetheless embarking on a November journey to Nepal to construct Habitat for Humanity homes for the needy, although it might intrude with the top of his remedy routine.
As listeners left the church, they proudly showed each other newly taken photos with the Carters.
Cricket Keating said Mr Carter’s “irrepressible joy” made the trip from her home in Columbus, Ohio, worthwhile.
Carter said he was done with radiation treatments, at least for now, but that he was receiving “supplemental medication” intravenously.
“No matter how bad things are, we have company in this world”, she said. “I’ve had a wonderful life”.
The former leader of the free world also returned to the church after teaching the class at the high school in order to take pictures with some of the parishoners in attendance.
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“If you come up by yourself, I won’t say anything but I’ll wonder why you don’t have any friends”, Carter said before exiting to a burst of laughter.
