"More Than A President: Sundays With Jimmy Carter" Spotlights Spiritual Wisdom From An American Treasure

More than a President: Sundays with Jimmy Carter, edited by acclaimed author, filmmaker, and recording artist Andrew Greer, will be available October 1 from Mercer University Press. The compilation showcases 15 excerpts from the many enduring lessons President Carter presented as a beloved Sunday school teacher at Plains, Georgia's Maranatha Baptist Church for more than four decades, as well as at The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C., during his term in the Oval Office. 
 
With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author and academic Barbara Brown Taylor and an afterword penned by the President's grandson, Jason Carter, More than a President: Sundays with Jimmy Carter offers a treasury of Scriptural insight from a man whose Christian principles informed every aspect of his life. The title is also uniquely distinguished as the first book featuring Carter's words published following his death in 2024. 
 
After discovering an archive of the late President's Sunday school lessons in the Maranatha Baptist Church library last year, Greer-who captured one of Carter's final interviews during the production of his 2024 PBS documentary Plainspoken-was inspired to bring the late American statesman and Nobel Peace Prize winner's faith-filled teachings to the forefront for a new generation. 

"These lessons are imbued with a wealth of wisdom gained throughout a lifetime of historic experiences yet measured by a deep reverence for the Bible and a compassionate respect for all persons," Greer shares. "President Carter had a way of getting straight to the point, asking the questions that are burning inside the heart of the matter: 'Who is Jesus?' 'What does He want from us?' 'Who is my neighbor?' 'How do I love my neighbor as myself?'"  
 
"It is nearly impossible to envision the most powerful man in the world falling to his knees in an act of humble submission to God, but I think teaching Sunday school, even while President, was a part of Carter's practice of tethering his mind and heart to the mind and heart of Christ," Greer adds. "As a person of faith, I feel so fortunate to have lived in the lifetime of President Carter and to have his legacy as an example of how I might live in service to God, and so in service to others."
 
Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States, says, "President Jimmy Carter served America with distinction throughout his life and lived out his faith in Jesus Christ with integrity and devotion. His Christian testimony in public life inspired generations of believers in both political parties, including me. In this new book, More than a President, Andrew Greer invites future generations to take a seat in a pew and listen in on the Sunday School lessons of this good and great man."
 
"To know Uncle Jimmy was to believe that his faith was truly one of the strongest virtues he possessed; to listen to his Sunday School lessons was to experience that faith in action," adds Kim Carter Fuller, niece of President Carter and executive director, Friends of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. 

Greer is set to speak about More than a President: Sundays with Jimmy Carter at the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, Georgia, as well as at Nashville, Tennessee's Southern Festival of Books, among other appearances this fall.    

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