President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn are fully vaccinated, back at church
Theresa Braine
President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have received both their coronavirus vaccines and are back in the spiritual saddle.
The former president, 96, and first lady, 93, were seen on Sunday in their customary spot in the front pew of Maranatha Baptist Church, wearing masks, The Associated Press reported. It was their second Sunday back at church for in-person worship.
“They’ve both had their shots,” Pastor Tony Lowden said from the pulpit. In a reminder to keep a safe distance from the couple, Lowden said if someone gets tackled by him, another man or Secret Service agents, “it’s because we’re still practicing social distancing.”
In this Nov. 3, 2019 photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga.
In this Nov. 3, 2019 photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. (John Amis/)
Indeed, the church’s Facebook page had a list of protocols.
“On Sunday, February 21, 2021, Pastor Tony Lowden announced that President and Mrs. Carter have returned to in-person worship at Maranatha Baptist Church,” the church said. “We understand this is an exciting time for everyone, but to keep everyone as safe as possible, both members and guests, the following protocols will be put into place.”
They include social distancing and wearing masks “at ALL times – no exceptions,” the church said. “This is being required by Secret Service to protect everyone in the building.”
Temperature checks will continue as folks come into the building, which will be capped at 30% capacity, or 90 people including Secret Service.
In addition, those attending Sunday service must reserve a spot, the church said.
Carter turned 96 in October and is the nation’s longest-living president, surpassing George H.W. Bush, who made it to age 94, and Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, who each died at 93.
Jimmy Carter, 6, is with his sister, Gloria, 4, in 1931, in Plains, Ga.
Jimmy Carter, 7, is photographed in 1932, in Plains, Ga.
State Sen. Jimmy Carter (D-Ga.) hugs his wife, Rosalynn, on Sept. 15, 1966, at his campaign headquarters in Atlanta. While campaigning for her husband's bid to become governor of Georgia outside of an Atlanta cotton mill, Rosalynn Carter came upon a stooped and weary woman heading home to care for a mentally ill daughter. The pre-dawn encounter in 1966 would help launch a crusade that's lasted to this day. As her husband's political career catapulted him to the White House, Mrs. Carter worked to bring mental health to the fore. Her advocacy has continued long after the couple left the nation's capital. They established the Carter Center in Atlanta to help improve the lives of people with mental health care, prevention of other diseases and advancing human rights in more than 80 countries.
Jimmy Carter, the winner in Georgia's runoff primary in the Democratic party to determine the party's candidate for the November election for governor, speaks in 1970.
Former State Sen. Jimmy Carter listens to applause at the Georgia State Capitol on April 3, 1970, in Atlanta, after announcing his candidacy for governor. In the background, his wife Rosalyn holds their two-year-old daughter Amy who joined in the applause.
Jimmy Carter, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, points to his name in a voting machine as he casts his primary vote on Sept. 9, 1970, in his hometown of Plains, Ga.
Judge Robert H. Jordan administers the oath of office to Gov. Jimmy Carter during ceremonies at the state capitol on Jan. 12, 1971, in Atlanta. Ga. Former Gov. Lester Maddox, center, will become the lieutenant governor of Georgia.
Gov. Jimmy Carter discusses drug issues in Atlanta during his testimony before a Senate Government Operations subcommittee on federal drug control on July 15, 1971, in Washington, D.C.
Gov. Jimmy Carter is at his desk at the Georgia State Capitol on Feb. 19, 1971, in Atlanta. His term began on Jan. 12, 1971.
From left, Gov. Jimmy Carter; his wife, Rosalynn Carter; their daughter, Amy; and his mother, Lillian Carter, right; listen while Lt. Gov. Lester Maddox makes his acceptance speech on Jan. 12, 1971, in Atlanta, Ga. Gov. Carter had just been sworn in as the governor of Georgia.
Gov. Jimmy Carter prepares to sign a Georgia Senate House resolution opposing forced busing to achieve integration in the classrooms of the U.S. on Feb. 25, 1972, in Atlanta.
Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, right, and Delaware Gov. Sherman Tribbitt, center, greet Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron, left, following a canceled game due to rain, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, on Sept. 27, 1973, in Atlanta.
Gov. Jimmy Carter waves to a crowd on Dec. 12, 1974, gathered in Atlanta, where he officially announced his Democratic candidacy for the presidency. Carter promised to “restore integrity, confidence and businesslike management to the federal government.”
Gov. Jimmy Carter speaks in 1974.
Former Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia announces on Aug. 14, 1975, in Washington D.C., that he qualified for federal matching funds to help finance his campaign for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. Carter is the fifth Democratic aspirant to become eligible under the new federal financing plan.
Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter wades through a crowd of two thousand Marylanders on May 7, 1976, in Baltimore, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential primary on May 18. Former Gov. Carter addressed the group and then departed for Detroit.
Former Gov. Jimmy Carter and noted undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau participate in a conference on nuclear energy and world order on May 14, 1976, at the UN.
Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter holds up a longshoreman's hook and plaque that he received at a rally on Oct. 29, 1976, in Brooklyn, from the longshoremen's union boss Anthony Scotto. Later in the day, the candidate spoke Hofstra University in Long Island.
Democratic presidential candidate and former governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter answers questions at a gathering at the Unitarian Church of All Souls on Lexington Ave. at 80th St., on Jan. 9, 1976, in New York. The presidential hopeful spoke to the gathering during a campaign swing in New York.
Jimmy Carter makes his first appearance at the Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in July 1976, in New York.
Former Gov. Jimmy Carter relaxes in blue jeans outside his home on Feb. 8, 1976, in Plains, Ga., as he takes a break from campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president.
Former Gov. Jimmy Carter and Sen. Walter Mondale team up to lead the Democrats in July 1976, in New York.
President Jimmy Carter speaks at a press conference along with Mayor Abe Beame, right, and Sec. of Housing and Urban Development Patricia Harris on Oct. 6, 1977, regarding the problems besieging the South Bronx.
A motorcycle policeman falls while trying to avoid a man rushing to the car with President Jimmy Carter and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat on March 8, 1979, in Cairo.
From left, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin clasp hands on the north lawn of the White House on March 26, 1979, after signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in Washington D.C., that led to the Middle East’s most durable peace treaty.
President Carter waves from the Presidential helicopter as he prepares to depart the South Lawn of the White House on March 7, 1979, in Washington D.C., for Andrews Air Force Base and then on to Egypt and Israel for meetings with President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin.
Former President Jimmy Carter holds a press conference on Jan. 27, 1986, at the U.S. Embassy in London.
Former President Jimmy Carter, center; accompanied by his wife Rosalyn, left; shakes hands with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, right; before their meeting on Dec. 19, 1994, in the Bosnian Serb stronghold of Pale, Bosnia. After his previous successful missions in North Korea and Haiti, former President Carter came to Pale to try to break a deadlock in Bosnia's peace talks.
After seven hours of talks at the Bosnian Serb headquarters on Dec.19, 1994, in Pale, Bosnia, former President Jimmy Carter, center, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, left, and Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, right, sign a declaration proposing a four-month cease-fire in the Bosnian war. Former President Carter's wife Rosalynn stands behind her husband.
Former President Jimmy Carter, left, talks with South Korean President Kim Young-sam at the presidential palace on June 14, 1994, in Seoul. Carter will leave for North Korea on June 15, to try to help resolve the nuclear dispute during his four-day stay in North Korea. North Korea announced on June 13 it would withdraw its membership from the International Atomic Energy Agency making it virtually impossible to check whether North Korea is complying with an international nuclear arms-control pact it signed in 1985. South Korea and Japan voiced dismay over the North's decision and appealed to the hard-line state to reconsider.
Former President Jimmy Carter speaks with reporters following the unveiling of a statue of him on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol on June 7, 1994, in Atlanta. The sculpture, by Frederick Hart, shows former President Carter in an informal pose and casual dress with his sleeves rolled up, honoring his roots as a farmer.
From left, Sen. Sam Nunn, retired Gen. Colin Powell and former President Jimmy Carter, and wave to the media on Feb. 24, 1995, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, before attending a military briefing on the current situation in Haiti. Later today the trio will travel to several areas of the countryside.
Former President Jimmy Carter, left center; and his wife Roselynn, left; listen as Millard Fuller, right; president and founder of Habitat for Humanity; and Leroy Troyer discuss the layout of a house on June 18, 1995, which will be built on the foundation they are standing on in a remarkable six days, in an unreported location. The former president has been a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity since 1984.
Former President Jimmy Carter receives flowers from a little girl on his arrival at the airport on Nov. 21, 1995, in Goma, Zaire. Former President Carter urged Hutu refugee camp leaders to cooperate with regional officials' plan to repatriate 6,000 refugees a day to Rwanda and Burundi. With his wife, Rosalyn, he is on a fact-finding mission.
Former President Jimmy Carter and his daughter, Amy, look over their new children's book, "The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer," before a book-signing on Dec. 13, 1995, at a bookstore in New York. The story is based on a tale Carter would tell his children when they were young.
Amy Carter, the illustrator and her father, former President Jimmy Carter, the author of "The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer," published by Times Books in 1995, pose on Jan. 15, 1996, in an unreported location.
Former Presidents George H. W. Bush, left, and Jimmy Carter, right, stand with President Bill Clinton and wave to volunteers during a kick-off rally for the President Clinton's Volunteer Summit at Marcus Foster Stadium on April 27, 1997, in Philadelphia. Vice President Al Gore stands at rear.
Jerry Seinfeld, left, and former President Jimmy Carter, right, watch the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves play Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 19, 1999, in Atlanta.
Former President Jimmy Carter addresses a press conference on April 1, 1999, during his visit to Jakarta, Indonesian. Former President Carter who will be part of the foreign observers monitoring the upcoming June 7 elections, said he believed people of East Timor, which may get independence soon, should still take part in the elections.
From right, President Bill Clinton; and former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush pay their respects to King Hussein in front of his coffin in the throne room of the Raghadan Palace on Feb. 8, 1999, in Amman, Jordan. Kings, presidents, sheikhs and sultans from around the world attended the state funeral of the 63-year-old Hashemite monarch, who died on Feb. 7, 1999, in Amman.
Former President Jimmy Carter, right, exchanges documents with Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso during a ceremony to transfer control of the Panama Canal to Panama after 85 years of American control on Dec. 14, 1999, outside of Panama City. Panama will fully take control of the Panama Canal on December 31.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, right, welcomes former President Jimmy Carter to the Revolution Palace on May 12, 2002, on the first day of the former president's six-day visit in Havana, Cuba. Former President Carter is the first U.S. president, in or out of office, to visit Cuba since Castro came to power in 1959.
Former President Jimmy Carter smiles after receiving the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize during a ceremony in the Oslo City Hall on Dec. 10, 2002, in Oslo, Norway.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, former President Jimmy Carter; and his wife Rosalynn, greet wellwishers during a torchlight procession on Dec. 10, 2002, from the balcony of Grand Hotel, prior to the Norwegian Nobel Committee's banquet, in Oslo, Norway.
Former President Jimmy Carter, right, smiles during a news conference on Friday, Oct. 11, 2002, in Plains, Ga., held to discuss his Nobel Peace Prize. Carter won the prize Friday, more than two decades after he left the White House, for his efforts to promote human rights and peace mediation efforts, with the Norwegian Nobel Committee adding that his "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Former President Carter was noted for the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.
Former President Jimmy Carter poses for a portrait on Sept. 10, 2007, during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto where "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," directed by Jonathan Demme, is being shown.
Former President Jimmy Carter poses for a portrait on Sept. 10, 2007, during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto where "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," directed by Jonathan Demme, is being shown.
Former President Jimmy Carter poses for a portrait on Sept. 10, 2007, during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto where "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," directed by Jonathan Demme, is being shown.
Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife Rosalynn wave to the audience at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 25, 2008, in Denver.
President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed from left, by former President George H. W. Bush for a meeting at the White House on Jan. 7, 2009, in Washington D.C., with from right, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; and President George W. Bush, center.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, right, is greeted by former President Jimmy Carter during a reunion with The Elders on May 29, 2010, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Former President Jimmy Carter is seen on July 10, 2015, in Philadelphia.
Former President Jimmy Carter teaches his regular Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church on Dec. 13, 2015, in his hometown of Plains, Ga.
In December the Carter Center, the nonprofit he founded, said the former president planned to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“President Carter is looking forward to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when it is available to him,” the center said.
