Jimmy Carter in hearts of Plains residents on quiet Easter Sunday

PLAINS — On a frigid and cloudy Sunday morning, Brenda Jennings was among the dozens of people who woke up before dawn, bundled up in heavy layers of clothing and descended upon the same bricks steps where Jimmy Carter sat in years past.

Many expected to sit outside during a sunrise service that kickstarts the Easter traditions in the former president’s hometown but things were different this year amid 45-degree morning temperatures and no sun in sight. A decision was made to move it inside for the first time in more than 60 years.

“It was the first time I remember it being inside, and I’ve been here a long, long time,” said Mill Simmons, who has lived in the area for a half-century.

Weather aside, it was a joyful start to Easter in Plains, as the sounds of singing and Scripture reading echoed through the church. But another traditional part was missing: the town’s favorite son. Carter was in Plains, but marking the religious holiday from his home, where he has been under hospice care since mid-February.

Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com

Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com

“He was just the anchor,” Jennings said of Carter after the service. “We miss that rock.”

Members of Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school for many years, joined worshippers and pastors from other denominations inside Plains Baptist Church. Those in attendance expressed how the 98-year-old peanut farmer-turned-politician would have loved to be there. The only times he missed the service were during his presidency, when he was overseas or after his health started to get worse, said Jan Williams, a longtime resident who plays piano at Maranatha.

“He loved sunrise service, and he would definitely want to be here rejoicing with each one of us,” added Simmons from inside Plains Baptist. “He’s more a friend to us than a president.”

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Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter would sit on the steps of the church before heading to Maranatha Baptist for breakfast, Sunday school and church, said Jill Stuckey, the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. Breakfast has since moved to Plains Baptist, but includes the same bacon and biscuits offered to the former president in years past. Easter was a special time for his family.

While teaching Sunday school, Carter made it a point to tell people which date Easter would fall on because of how it changes year to year, unlike Christmas. Williams said he was amazed that no one seemed to know how to figure it out — other than just relying on the calendar. She said Carter would typically explain it in a long scientific way, but it’s essentially the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox.

The former president and first lady didn’t attend church at Maranatha this Sunday, but they likely watched from afar. Stuckey said they are able to watch livestreams of the Sunday school and the 11 a.m. service from their home.

“They will definitely be watching church service (on Easter),” she said.

Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com

Jimmy Carter had attended the Easter service at Maranatha last year. On Sunday, nearly 30 people sang and prayed together within the church walls while surrounded by green and purple stained glass windows. A visiting pastor gave a sermon about second life in front of a large wooden cross made by Carter on the wall behind the podium.

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Ellen Harris, 65, the manager of Plains Historic Inn and Antique Mall, mentioned how the former president still wants to know what’s going on in the community and in his church. He was even comfortable talking about death.

“Even before he got sick or whatever, he still would have meetings with folks like, ‘What are ya’ll gonna do when I’m gone?’” said Harris. “I always thought that was morbid to have a meeting and you’re talking about his death, but that’s how involved he is that he wanted to make sure that we had a plan to carry on.”

In Plains, Easter is a quiet time for families. The downtown area wasn’t bustling over the weekend as most of the town’s 575 residents were either at church or doing Easter-related activities with their loved ones at home. Williams even joked that the town rolls up its sidewalks at night.

Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com

There were a few tourists browsing the stores along with residents Haley and Robert Beverly, a married couple who were shopping inside the Plains Historic Inn and Antique Mall.

“Plains at Easter is like a Norman Rockwell painting,” said Haley Beverly, who has lived in the area with Robert since 2017. “That’s just that’s the way we do holidays here. It’s all about family and your community and loving one another.”

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“It’s your church family in the morning and your kin family in the afternoon,” added her husband, who is the pastor at Plains United Methodist Church.

Members of the Methodist church participated in the sunrise service, along with the town’s Lutheran and Baptist churches.

Brenda Richardson, the store clerk at Bobby Salters Plain Peanuts and General Store, said things have remained quiet around Easter. She said there was an egg hunt that was rained out Saturday and expressed her disappointment she wasn’t able to give the children free ice cream afterward — even the peanut butter flavor, which she said was Carter’s favorite. Richardson, who has lived in the area since the early 1980s, mentioned things around town won’t change “unless something happens to Jimmy, of course.”

Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com

“And I pray that doesn’t happen,” she added.

Williams said the town expects more than 40,000 people will be in Plains on the day of his funeral. She said the only way people will be invited to the service itself is if they get a ticket and are on the family’s list.

During the town’s sunrise service on Sunday, Pastor Buck Kinney made it a point to discuss the weather and how even on “a cloudy day when we cannot see the sun, we know the sun is there.”

This statement could be interpreted in three different ways on Easter — for our nearest star, the resurrection of Jesus and the town’s favorite son, who remains nearby and in the hearts of the community.

Williams mentioned if anyone wonders where Carter is, she points to the initials carved by the skilled woodworker into the collection plate at Maranatha.