For years, visitors arrived in the early hours at the car park of Maranatha Baptist Church in the small town of Plains, Georgia, queuing in darkness to attend Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class.

Some were devout Christians, while others were not. Many were American, though a significant number travelled from countries such as Brazil, Canada, and Russia. For those whose faith did not align with evangelical Christianity, it mattered little.

Carter’s death on Sunday at the age of 100 marks the passing of not only a former US president, whose single term was underpinned by an unyielding Christian faith, but also a leader whose combination of deep evangelical roots and progressive politics seems almost unimaginable in contemporary America.

A Democrat, Baptist, and peanut farmer, Carter was elected in 1976 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, the latter having forced Richard Nixon to resign in disgrace.

The “born-again” Christian, with his Gospel-inspired values, was seen as a moral antidote to America’s recent troubles. Historian Randall Balmer noted in his biography Redeemer that “casting a ballot for Carter, the redeemer president, would expunge voters’ sins and absolve them of complicity” in Nixon’s downfall.

Carter believed that Christian principles, such as justice and love, formed the cornerstone of his presidency. In the 2020 documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President, he reflected: “We never dropped a bomb, we never fired a missile, we never shot a bullet to kill another person,” attributing this approach to his “religious commitment to the Prince of Peace.”

During his presidency, Carter brokered the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and faced the Iran hostage crisis. However, his progressive brand of Christianity was soon overshadowed by the rise of the religious right, a movement championed by figures like televangelist Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority.

The movement propelled Ronald Reagan to victory, ushering in a wave of staunch social conservatism that advocated for school prayer and opposed abortion rights, leaving Carter’s liberal Christianity sidelined.

Despite this, Carter remained devoted to his faith. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he regularly taught Sunday school classes at Maranatha Baptist Church, attracting diverse congregations of hundreds. Attendees were often advised to arrive five hours early, waiting as Secret Service agents secured the area.

Jan Williams, a church volunteer, recalled how Carter, a keen woodworker, offered to make collection plates for the church. One plate, she revealed, bore the carved initials “J.C.”—in this case, not short for Jesus Christ.

Carter’s sermons combined Gospel teachings with reflections on current events and international human rights. “The main takeaway is how biblical lessons relate to present-day challenges, opportunities, fears, or dreams,” Carter explained in a Simon & Schuster video.

After church, Carter and his wife Rosalynn would pose for photos with visitors—a token of their connection to the public.

As president, Carter maintained that while his faith informed his worldview, he did not seek to impose it on others. “A religious person cannot divorce their beliefs from public service,” he said in 1978, “but you also cannot impose them on others.”

Even during his campaign, Carter’s honesty stood out. In a 1976 Playboy interview, he candidly admitted: “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remark was mocked but did little to hinder his election victory.

Reflecting on his life in 2018, Carter said: “Christians are called to plunge into the life of the world. I’ve sought to carve out a productive, useful, and gratifying life. I’ve been very lucky.”