Jimmy Carter photo

Baptist Brotherhood Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention Remarks of the President and Glendon McCullough, Executive Director of the Commission.

May 13, 1977

MR. McCULLOUGH. Mr. President, this group feels a real closeness to you because of your service on our board, and I would doubt there's any group in the country that's more concerned about you and praying for you and remembering you, and we appreciate you a lot.

You've taken some good stands. You've built a good image, and we're proud of you.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you, and I'd like to respond.

This is one of the events in my schedule that I've been anticipating with a great deal of pleasure. Many of you have been friends of mine for a number of years, and I've felt the impact of your concern and your prayers for me as President. It's been a very enjoyable experience so far, and one of the reasons is because of my sense and realization of your support and your concern in the partnership that I have with the American people.

I don't think I could be any closer with anyone than I am with some of you. Glendon and Marjorie were married in my house. And when they decided to take this momentous step forward, for Glendon--maybe backwards for Marjorie-[laughter]--I was one of the first ones they talked to about it, and I obviously and very quickly gave them my blessing and my good will.

I think this morning's ability for me to speak to you and to renew our friendship is very constructive. And as you know, Baptists are among the most fervent advocates of all legal separation between the church and the state, between religion and government. But at the same time, no matter what we do, whether we are physicists or engineers or farmers or Governors or Presidents or full-time workers in the church, we feel that we have an obligation to our country to devote our lives to the furtherance of its finest ideals and commitments and, at the same time, when we are concerned about government, to try to elevate those standards to meet the standards set for-us by Jesus Christ.

And I don't see any incompatibility there. We are strong and independent people as Baptists; we are strong and independent people as Americans. We want to make our own decisions. We seek guidance from above. We don't yield to pressure from others, and I think this is the essence of our strength.

I'm very grateful that you would come and meet with me this afternoon, now. And we have a chance, I think, to make our country even greater than it has been in the past. It depends not on the identity of the President but on the common thrust and strength of our people. And I'm one of you, and you're part of me, and that realization gives me a quiet confidence that I can serve in such a way as not to embarrass you.

I do need your continued friendship and support, your open criticisms when I make mistakes, and your constant prayers that the judgments that I make will be compatible with our highest commitments and our highest faith and our highest belief.

Thank you very much.

Note: The exchange began at 12:20 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House.

Jimmy Carter, Baptist Brotherhood Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention Remarks of the President and Glendon McCullough, Executive Director of the Commission. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/244283

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