Jimmy Carter, recovering from a broken hip, will miss his Sunday homework

May 18, 2019, 23:13 UTC

By Dennis Romero and Andrea Mitchell

Jimmy Carter will not teach Sunday School after all.

The Sunday sittings of the 39th President at the Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, were to resume after the hospital exit Thursday. Carter, age 94, has fractured his hip and underwent a replacement operation.

Deanna Congileo, spokeswoman for the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Saturday that Carter would not rush to the lectern after all.

"Although he is progressing well, he has underestimated the time he would need to recover from his recent hip replacement," she said in a statement. "He and his wife, Rosalynn, appreciate each other's support and prayers and apologize for any inconvenience to those who have traveled to hear his lesson."

The former president taught several hundred Sunday schools in Maranthana.

Carter's niece, Kim Fuller, was to teach in his place on Sunday. Carter is quoted in the statement as saying, "No one will be disappointed."

In 2015, Carter said doctors had discovered melanoma in his brain after surgery to remove a cancerous part of his liver. The following year, citing the drug Keytruda, Carter stated that he had no cancer.