December 29, 2024

By CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley

Today, I ask all Cooperative Baptists to join with the rest of our nation in praying with gratitude for the faith, life, leadership and witness of President Jimmy Carter. Even as we offer our thanksgiving, let us also offer our prayers of intercession for Chip, Jeff, Jack, Amy and all of the Carter family as they grieve his death.

The days ahead will offer many opportunities for faithful remembrance. My hope is that our reflection on President Carter’s life will cause us to more deeply embrace the commitments that defined his life, not only his devotion to Christ but also to the pursuit of just peace, genuine racial justice, the faithful stewardship of creation, relentless honesty and integrity and a politics marked more by what is right than what is politically beneficial. In all these ways, he lived out the mission of Jesus that he also called all Baptists to embrace, namely that we join Jesus in bringing good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight for the blind and freedom for the oppressed.

As I have said on other occasions, I am more grateful than ever that my formative memories of an American President were of Jimmy Carter.

As Cooperative Baptists, we are honored to call President Carter a member of our Baptist community. His leadership and support were vital in the founding of our Fellowship, delivering keynote addresses at the 1993 General Assembly and again at our 10th anniversary celebration in 2001.

President Carter was deeply devoted to his beloved Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., even as he was also significantly invested in the lives of congregations in Atlanta and Washington in the course of his public life.  I pray his commitment to personal faith, the health of congregations, and the transformation of the world will grow among all of us who share his commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord.

Rev. Dr. Paul Baxley is Executive Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Additional Reading: “An Open Letter to President Carter” by Paul Baxley (February 24, 2023)

CBF is a Christian network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry efforts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.