Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Jimmy Carter won’t teach Sunday school days after procedure

Former President Jimmy Carter has changed plans and will not teach Sunday school just days after undergoing surgery for a broken hip.

FILE- In this Sept. 12, 2018, file photo former President Jimmy Carter answers questions from students during his annual town hall with Emory University in Atlanta. Carter has been released from a Georgia hospital after hip replacement surgery. The 94-year-old former president injured his hip earlier this week when he fell at his home before a planned turkey hunt.
FILE- In this Sept. 12, 2018, file photo former President Jimmy Carter answers questions from students during his annual town hall with Emory University in Atlanta. Carter has been released from a Georgia hospital after hip replacement surgery. The 94-year-old former president injured his hip earlier this week when he fell at his home before a planned turkey hunt.Read moreCurtis Compton / AP

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter changed plans and will not be teaching Sunday school just days after undergoing surgery for a broken hip.

"Though he is progressing well, he underestimated the amount of time he would need to recover from his recent hip replacement," Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said in a statement Saturday evening.

Carter, 94, broke his hip Monday as he was leaving to go turkey hunting.

Congileo said Carter apologized for any inconvenience to those who traveled to hear his lesson at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.

Congileo said Carter's niece, Kim Fuller, will teach the lesson in his stead and, he says, "No one will be disappointed."

A devout Christian, Carter regularly teaches Sunday school in Plains, drawing hundreds of visitors for each session. He and his wife Rosalynn pose for pictures with each attendee.

Carter became the longest-lived president in U.S. history in March when his age surpassed that of former President George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30 at the age of 94 years, 171 days.

Nearly four years have passed since Carter revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer. Carter said in August 2015 he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. He received treatment for seven months until scans showed no sign of the disease.