Jimmy Carter returns to church for first time since brain surgery

Former President Jimmy Carter has returned to his Georgia church for the first time since undergoing brain surgery.

The 95-year-old and his wife Rosalynn Carter, 92, attended services at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains on Sunday.

It is the first time he has been back to the church where he worships since he was struck down with a string of health issues last month. 

Parishioners prayed for the Carters, who have been married more than 70 years, as they nestled into front-row seats at the church where Carter famously has taught Sunday school.  

The nation’s oldest-ever former president underwent surgery in November at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from a fall.   

Carter has faced several health issues in recent years. 

Earlier this month, he was treated at a hospital for a urinary tract infection. 

In October, he was hospitalized for a fall that fractured his pelvis and another fall in which he hit his head and required 14 stitches. 

Despite that fall, Carter still traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to help build a Habitat for Humanity home shortly thereafter. 

A previous fall required he get hip surgery. 

Carter was also diagnosed with melanoma in 2015 and he announced soon after that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. 

After having parts of his liver removed and undergoing radiation, immunotherapy and treatment for brain lesions, he announced that he was cancer-free. 

It is the first time he has been back to the church where he worships and famously has taught Sunday school since he was struck down with a string of health issues last month 

In October, he was hospitalized for a fall that fractured his pelvis and another fall in which he hit his head and required 14 stitches. Despite that fall, Carter still traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to help build a Habitat for Humanity home shortly thereafter

The Democrat was the 39th president of the United States and served one term from 1977 until 1981. He was defeated in his re-election bid by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Carter went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his humanitarian work and has lived longer after leaving the White House than any former president in U.S. history.

In November, Carter reflected on his own mortality after suffering a broken pelvis.

The former president taught a Bible lesson on life after death at the church. 

Referring to his 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he was is ‘at ease’ with the idea of dying and believes in life after death. 

‘I assumed, naturally, that I was going to die very quickly,’ he said.

‘I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.

‘It didn’t really matter to me whether I died or lived. Except I was going to miss my family, and miss the work at the Carter Center and miss teaching your Sunday school service sometimes and so forth. All those delightful things.’ 

Parishioners on Sunday prayed for the Carters, who have been married more than 70 years, as they nestled into front-row seats at the church where Carter famously has taught Sunday school