PLAINS, Ga. (ABP) — Former First Lady Rosalynn Smith Carter was ordained as a deacon Dec. 10 by Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. Though raised a Methodist, Carter, 79, has been active in Baptist congregations since her marriage more than 60 years ago to former President Jimmy Carter, a longtime Baptist deacon.
“She is very shy and doesn't like the spotlight,” said Maranatha pastor Jeff Summers. “But people have seen her leadership and compassion.” Carter is often involved in behind-the-scenes ministries, such as working with children and delivering meals to the homebound, he added.
Maranatha is among a growing number of Baptist congregations to include women as deacons, a role noted for its service to church and community. The Carters are well known for their involvement in the small, rural congregation that welcomes thousands of worldwide visitors each year to attend the Sunday school class taught by President Carter.
Rosalynn Carter is the second woman elected as a deacon at Maranatha. The first was Sue Askerzada in 2003. In December 2005, Jessica Summers, a graduate of Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology who assists her husband with the church's ministries, became the first woman ordained to ministry by the church.
Carter was not immediately available for an interview.
The issue of women in church leadership continues to be debated among many Baptists. Most churches aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention do not ordain women as ministers or deacons.
No count of Baptist women deacons is available. Roughly 1,600 Baptist women in the southern United States have been ordained to the ministry, according to a report released by Baptist Women in Ministry. The study reviewed women in churches affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
The Southern Baptist Convention revised its Baptist Faith and Message doctrinal statement in 2000 to include stated opposition to women as pastors. Some related agencies and associations have expanded that restriction to apply to female chaplains and, in one case, to a church's associate pastor.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and American Baptist Churches, USA, have more affirming positions on women in church leadership. However, Baptist polity, particularly the concept of local church autonomy, gives each congregation the freedom to call out and ordain its ministers and deacons without interference from any other church body.
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