Baptist leaders are remembering Jimmy Carter as an example of faithfulness, compassion and justice and advocate for religious liberty.

Carter, an outsider even as he sat in the Oval Office as the 39th U.S. president, is being honored with the pageantry of a funeral at Washington National Cathedral.

Mr. Carter said his spiritual rebirth was an “evolutionary thing” rather than “a flash of light or a sudden vision of God speaking.”

I can tell you without any equivocation that the number one abuse of human rights on Earth, strangely not addressed quite often, is the abuse of women and girls,” the former President said.

Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the pioneering Southern rock band, said its members saw their fellow Georgian as an honest, inspiring figure.

Carter was widely known as a man of faith, with his post-presidency defined by images of the Baptist Sunday School teacher building homes for low-income people.

Carter was one of the most explicitly religious presidents, but his rise in politics came during a transformative era in American Christianity.

Jimmy Carter, a progressive Baptist, balanced faith with politics, advocating for church-state separation while evolving on social issues, shaping evangelical roles in U.S. public life.

Former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn visited a Habitat For Humanity community in Fairfield, Ala., Friday October 8, 2010 to help put the finishing touches on the home of Ted and Wanda Harville. The Carters worked on that house, visited others, and spoke to reporters. (File/AL.com/Joe Songer-The Birmingham News) bn bn

Lesser known, and particularly relevant for American politics today, is our 39th president’s commitment to the Baptist value of religious liberty. The United States’ most religious president in recent memory was also the most committed to the separation of church and state.

Here are five interesting facts about former President Jimmy Carter They include his service in the U S Navy, his marriage lasting longer than that of any other president and his work with Habitat