I’m in Atlanta at the New Baptist Covenant event. One floor down, Hillary Clinton was speaking to African American Baptists. One floor up, President Jimmy Carter was politely and good-naturedly fending off questions about the 2008 presidential campaign.

The former president said he doesn’t plan to endorse anybody in the near future. His focus right now is on this historic gathering of Baptists that he helped convene.

While he spoke, Deacon Rosalyn Carter sat on the front row and listened intently. This event is a labor of love for the nation’s most famous Sunday School teacher.

As I type, the service has just begun. President Carter and thousands of other Baptists just finished singing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Now, they’ve switched from old-time hymns to modern music, from pipe organ to hand-clapping praise and worship.

Joining President Carter at the press conference — former Southern Baptist Convention president Jimmy Allen and William J. Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.

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