Washington (CNN) Former President Jimmy Carter on Sunday quietly returned to his hometown church for the first time since his brain surgery last month.

The 39th President was seated alongside his wife, Rosalynn, in the first row during services at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. Carter, 95, has taught Sunday school at the church, but earlier this month, the church announced Carter's lessons would be canceled and his niece, Kim Fuller, would give inspirational messages during his recovery.

The former president was released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta just before Thanksgiving after spending more than two weeks there following a November procedure to relieve pressure on his brain. He was then hospitalized for a urinary tract infection and released from the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, earlier this month.

"He said he looks forward to further rest and recovery at home in Plains, Georgia. He and Mrs. Carter wish everyone peace and joy this holiday season," according to a statement from the Carter Center at the time.

Carter, who has survived brain and liver cancer, was also hospitalized twice in October and needed 14 stitches above his brow after his first fall, when he hit his forehead "on a sharp edge." He then received treatment for a minor pelvic fracture after his second fall.

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