Jimmy Swaggart, the favored Pentecostal preacher and televangelist who garnered national headlines for his extramarital affairs, has died on the age of 90 following a cardiac arrest.
Swaggart’s official Facebook page announced Tuesday morning that “Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ.”
“Today was the day he has sung about for many years. He met his beloved Savior and entered the portals of glory. At the identical time, we rejoice knowing that we’ll see him again someday,” stated the page.
“He was not only a preacher — he was a worshiper, a warrior, and a witness to the grace and mercy of God. He was a person whose faith was steadfast and all the time entered whatever door the Lord opened. And the Lord honored that faith.”
Jimmy Lee Swaggart was born on March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. Around the age of 8, he reportedly had a deep religious experience through which he felt called by God to evangelise.
At age 17, Swaggart married 15-year-old Frances Anderson in 1952, with the couple having a son, Donnie. In 1961, Swaggart was ordained within the Assemblies of God, the most important Pentecostal denomination within the United States.
Swaggart was the cousin of famed rock ’n’ roll performer Jerry Lee Lewis and had his own successful music profession, releasing multiple albums over the many years and reportedly selling over 17 million recordings.
Swaggart’s ministry work also included radio programming, starting in 1969 with the “The Campmeeting Hour” program, and print media with the magazine The Evangelist, which was first published in 1970.
In 1973, Swaggart took to the medium of television, starting with a 30-minute program titled “The Jimmy Swaggart Evangelistic Association Presents Jimmy Swaggart.” During this time, Swaggart also set about airing live recordings of his church services and broadcasting his programming in other languages.
During the Nineteen Eighties, Swaggart launched several evangelism crusades within the U.S. and abroad, with the most important one reportedly going down in October 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a conservative estimate of around 125,000 in attendance.
In 1988, Swaggart garnered national headlines when he was found to be involved with a prostitute in New Orleans.
In response to the news, Swaggart delivered his famous tearful “I even have sinned” confession before his congregation.
“I haven’t any one but myself accountable. I don’t lay the fault or the blame of the charge at anyone else’s feet. For nobody is accountable but Jimmy Swaggart. I take the responsibility. I take the blame. I take the fault,” he said.
“To my fellow television ministers and evangelists, you which might be already bearing an almost unbearable load, to proceed to say and tell the good story of Jesus’ love, I even have made your load heavier and I even have hurt you. Please forgive me for sinning against you.”
While the Assemblies of God defrocked Swaggart in response to the scandal, he continued to function an independent Pentecostal pastor.
In 1991, Swaggart was again caught with a prostitute in California after being given three traffic tickets for not wearing a seat belt, driving on the unsuitable side of the road, and operating an unregistered vehicle, The Associated Press reported on the time.
Just a few years after the scandals, Swaggart launched SonLife Radio Network in 1995, which might spread to dozens of stations within the U.S. and abroad after which launched SonLife Broadcasting Network, which began airing content in April 2010.
In November 2022, Swaggart and his son, Donnie, conducted the funeral service for his cousin Jerry Lee Lewis, with the older Swaggart speaking emotionally about his late relative.
Swaggart told those gathered that Lewis was “considered one of the best entertainers who ever lived” and that “I do know my cousin is with the Lord within the portals of glory,” as quoted by the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“How do you realize he was saved? How do you realize? He all the time had a heart for God, all the time. Even in his lowest times, he had a heart for God,” added Swaggart.
On June 15, a Sunday, Swaggart was found unconscious by his son and grandson at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to the family, while the televangelist remained unconscious, paramedics were in a position to revive a heartbeat.
The following day, the ministry reported that there had been “no change in his condition” and asked supporters to “proceed to lift him up in prayer and consider God for a miracle — but above all, we trust within the Lord’s perfect will.”
