Jan Williams, long time member of Maranatha Baptist Church, shared memories of organizing former President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school classes. “We wanted people to come, of course, to see the Carters, but we wanted them to come and hear a message, and one that they could use in their everyday life. I think that’s one of the things Mr. Jimmy kind of stressed almost every Sunday, was that he wanted you to take what he said and use it.”

Initially, numbers were small, but soon word began to spread. “Well, the flood gates opened then.” She told how the increasing size of the crowd put pressure on the church. “We had to come up with some ideas of how we’re going to handle hundreds of people when we were used to being about 25 and 40, and we had some issues. Some people didn’t want motor coaches to come with big groups on it.” She stated there were members who thought it was unfair to others who wanted to attend.

The discussion became heated. “I looked at Mr. Jimmy, and I said; ‘maybe you don’t need to teach if it’s going to be this disruptive.’” Carter spoke up. “Let me tell y’all something. I’m going to put Jan in charge. She’ll tell y’all how it’s going to work, because I want to teach and I want people to come.”

Williams outlined the system they constructed. “We came up with the number situation, because we wanted to treat everybody fair. So if you were the first one to get to the church and stand on the sidewalk, you got number one, going on down.”

The numbers grew and grew. “My husband would go up on Saturday and start handing out the numbers, and then they had to spend the night in the parking lot, in their car. And then the next morning, when I got to church, about 7:30, I’d start lining people up by their numbers, and then, everybody was treated fairly.” She did recall a few who weren’t happy. “Some people forgot how to count.”

Williams gave one example of disagreeable attendees. “One Sunday, I got there, and these two men were sitting in camper chairs on the side walk, and I said; ‘good morning, men. What’s your number for the day?’ They said 44. I said; ‘well, you’ll be back by the sidewalk that goes in the side door.’ ‘No, we’re not moving. We’re sitting right here. This is where we’re going to be in line.”

Williams had a solution. “I went in [the] front door to church, and I said; ‘I need the biggest secret service man we have here today.’” Williams went out with the Secret Service member in tow and reiterated the rules to the two men. “I said; ‘guys, let me tell you something. I don’t think you understood what I said a few minutes ago, so I’m going to repeat it for you. Number 44 will be in line about back there, where that sidewalk is, and that’s where you’re going to be in line to come into the church.’ They said; ‘yes, ma’am, thank you.’” Williams and the Secret Service member celebrated success. “Secret Service man and I went back inside, and we did a hi-five. He never had to say a word.”

She drew a parallel between the effect the Secret Service member’s presence had and the effect Carter’s presence had on those attending his lessons. “But I never could get Mr. Jimmy to understand that just his presence, whether they heard him teach, or whether they had a picture made with him, or just got to stand by him, that there was no way in the world that anybody could ever explain to him what his presence meant to millions of people, and that was the kind of man that he was. He never wanted any praise.”

Williams had much to say about what made Carter’s presence so impactful. “He was a man who could talk about faith, a man who could show his faith by what he did, a man who was not afraid to walk up to somebody and say; ‘my name is Jimmy Carter, how are you today?’”

Williams shared what she hoped people gained and remembered the most from his legacy. “One of my greatest wishes is, as his legacy goes on, that young people will see that there are some good people, even in politics, maybe.”

She expressed gratitude for her relationship with both of the Carters. “My husband and I say often that God gives us more blessings than we deserve. My husband and I have lived for many years with the greatest blessing we could have ever wanted to have.”

For more stories about Jimmy Carter please go to www.americustimesrecorder.com/category/jimmy-carter/