Maranatha Baptist Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Rev. Ashley Guthas (Senior Pastor since 2024 — first woman pastor); Rev. Tony Lowden served as Carter's personal pastor and first Black lead pastor before Guthas

Founded 1977

Denomination Independent Baptist; historically associated with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) — formed by ex-SBC moderates 1991

Service Times Sunday worship — Carter taught Sunday school here 1981-2019 until health declined

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website mbcplains.org/

Pastor Credentials Cooperative Baptist Fellowship lineage

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Baptist Trinitarian baseline.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

CBF-aligned Baptist — moderate on biblical inerrancy; not strict SBC framing.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not verified.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Baptist baseline; Carter's personal testimony reflected gospel basics.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Female senior pastor (Rev. Ashley Guthas, first woman pastor, 2024); not complementarian.

Female senior pastor since 2024 (Rev. Ashley Guthas, first woman pastor in the congregation's history).

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Female senior pastor; recent removal of American flags from sanctuary suggests trajectory toward CBF-progressive posture.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Carter's decades of Sunday school teaching set a strong Bible-engagement culture; current preaching not surveyed in this pass.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Small-town Georgia congregation with national profile due to Carter; international visitors came specifically for Carter's Sunday school class.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Carter's legacy of progressive social activism shaped congregational culture; recent removal of flags from sanctuary (March 2025) under Guthas reflects continuing trajectory.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Independent / CBF-aligned; Carter himself broke publicly with SBC over its 2000 BFM revision on women in ministry and other matters.

Caution

Assessment

Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia is the small-town Baptist congregation where President Jimmy Carter taught Sunday school for nearly four decades — from 1981 until his health declined in 2019. The church drew international visitors who came specifically to hear Carter teach; he funeralized there in January 2025. Rev. Tony Lowden was Carter's personal pastor and the first Black lead pastor, succeeded by Rev. Ashley Guthas in 2024 — the church's first woman pastor (a divorced mother of two). In March 2025 under Guthas the church removed American flags from the sanctuary. Maranatha is independent / CBF-aligned (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, formed 1991 by ex-SBC moderates over biblical-inerrancy and women-in-ministry questions). Carter himself publicly broke with the SBC over its 2000 BFM revision restricting women from senior pastor roles. Per MOOP rubric the female-senior-pastor + CBF-progressive denominational posture is RED on gender / leadership; included for situational awareness about the most famous lay-led Bible-teaching church in America under Carter.

#baptist#cbf#cooperative-baptist-fellowship#jimmy-carter-church#female-pastor#plains-ga#historic#sunday-school

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Live-fetched https://mbcplains.org/ + Christian Post + Word&Way + AJC + WGXA + Today.com coverage on 2026-05-16 — confirmed Rev. Ashley Guthas as senior pastor since 2024 (first woman pastor; divorced mother of two) + Carter's nearly-four-decade Sunday school teaching 1981-2019 + Carter funeral held at Maranatha January 2025 + Tony Lowden as Carter's personal pastor before Guthas + March 2025 sanctuary flag removal under Guthas.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source mbcplains.org
[2] Live source christianpost.com/news/jimmy-carters-church-appoints-firs…
[3] Live source wordandway.org/2025/03/28/jimmy-carters-church-removes-fl…
[4] Live source ajc.com/news/jimmy-carter-small-plains-church-new-pastor-…

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.