PLAINS, Ga. — Following the state funeral on Thursday, Jimmy Carter will leave Washington D.C. and head home.
A private family funeral will be held at his beloved Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains on Thursday afternoon.
The church’s new pastor will be co-presiding over the funeral, even though she never met the former president.
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Pastor Ashley Guthas is from Dunwoody and just recently became pastor at the church, long after Carter’s failing health prevented him from attending.
She admits she’s a bit overwhelmed by hosting the funeral.
“Is it all kind of overwhelming?” Channel 2′s Richard Elliot asked. “It is. It very much is overwhelming. I think sometimes I try not to think about the magnitude of this.” She replied. “But it’s hard.”
Guthas was recently named pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday School one Sunday a month for years and years.
She’s worked hard to earn the trust of the small remaining congregation.
She often gives her sermons barefoot in the pulpit.
She said she’s learning from the example of Jimmy Carter, which was taught to her through stories from his friends and family.
“I loved being able to listen to all the things that they shared about, for them to me, their neighbor, their friend, their family member.
She said in preparing for Carter’s funeral, she’s trying not to focus so much on his accolades and accomplishments, which are many, and instead focus on the man and his faith.
“President Carter’s life... his faith was his life. His life was prayer,” she said.
Guthas will share the funeral service with Maranatha’s former pastor, Tony Lowden, who remained the Carter’s personal pastor right up to the end.
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