Leading a Worthy Life: Sunday Mornings in Plains: Bible Study with Jimmy Carter

Former president Carter, who captured a Grammy for Our Endangered Values, now embarks on an ambitious audio-only series. Since leaving the White House more than 25 years ago, Carter has led a weekly adult Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. Each Sunday Mornings in Plains release will include past lessons grouped around a particular book of the Bible. Leading a Worthy Life explores Ephesians, which outlines the Apostle Paul’s case for reconciliation and unity in the face of disagreement and division. The recordings date from early 1998, though the applications seem even more relevant in the face of September 11 and the conflict in Iraq. Carter firmly stakes out his theological claims in the left-of-center evangelical realm, a territory that such bestselling authors as Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren have recently rendered less lonely and isolated. Carter’s unscripted and intimate discourse marks an auspicious beginning to a project that holds tremendous potential for bringing practical issues of faith into the public arena. (Mar.)