Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
televangelist
Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...
, gospel music recording artist, pianist, and Christian author.
His television ministry, which began in 1971, and was originally known as the “Camp Meeting Hour”, has a viewing audience both in the U.S. and internationally. The weekly ''Jimmy Swaggart Telecast'' and ''A Study in the Word'' programs are broadcast throughout the U.S. and on 78 channels in 104 countries, and over the Internet.About Jimmy Swaggart Ministries jsm.com. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
At the height of his popularity in the 1980s, his telecast was transmitted to in excess of 3,000 stations and cable systems each week. His “crusades” enabled him to travel throughout the contiguous United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and South America.
Swaggart plays the piano and he also sings in a baritone voice. During the 1970s and 1980s, he sold in excess of 17 million LP albums.
In 1980, Swaggart received a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nomination for Best Performance for Traditional Gospel.
The Jimmy Swaggart Ministries owns and operates the SonLife Broadcasting Network (SBN). Swaggart is the senior pastor of the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
Early life
Jimmy Lee Swaggart was born on March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, to fiddle player and Pentecostal preacher Willie Leon (known as "Sun" or "Son") Swaggart and Minnie Bell Herron, daughter of sharecropper William Herron. They were related by marriage, as Son's maternal uncle was Elmo Lewis, who was married to Minnie's sister Mamie. The extended family had a complex network of interrelationships: "cousins and in-laws and other relatives married each other until the clan was entwined like a big, tight ball of rubber bands."
He is the cousin of
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
pioneer
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...
and
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
star
Mickey Gilley
Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 19 ...
. He also had a sister, Jeanette Ensminger (1942–1999). With his parents, Swaggart attended small Assemblies of God churches in Ferriday and Wisner.
In 1952, aged 17, Swaggart married 15-year-old Frances Anderson, whom he met in church in Wisner, Louisiana while he was playing music with his father, who pastored the Assembly of God Church there. They have a son named Donnie. Swaggart worked several part-time odd jobs to support his young family and also began singing Southern Gospel music at various churches.
According to his autobiography “To Cross a River”, Swaggart, along with his wife and son, lived in poverty during the 1950s as he preached throughout rural
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, struggling to survive on an income of $30 a week (). Being too poor to own a home, the Swaggarts lived in church basements, homes of pastors, and small motels.
Sun Records
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...
producer
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
wanted to start a
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
line of music for the label (perhaps to remain in competition with RCA Victor and Columbia, who also had gospel lines at the time) and wanted Swaggart for Sun as the first gospel artist for the label.
His cousin Jerry Lee Lewis, who had previously signed with Sun, was reportedly earning $20,000 per week at the time. Although the offer meant a promise for significant income for him and his family, Swaggart turned Phillips down, stating that he was called to preach the gospel.
Ordination and early career
Preaching from a flatbed trailer donated to him, Swaggart began full-time evangelistic work in 1955. He began developing a revival-meeting following throughout the American South. In 1960, he began recording gospel music record albums and transmitting on Christian radio stations. In 1961, Swaggart was ordained by the Assemblies of God; a year later he began his radio ministry. In the late 1960s, Swaggart founded what was then a small church named the Family Worship Center in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
; the church eventually became district-affiliated with the Assemblies of God.
In 1971, Swaggart began transmitting a weekly 30-minute telecast over various local television stations in Baton Rouge and also purchased a local AM radio station, WLUX (now WPFC). The station broadcast Christian feature stories, preaching and teaching to various
fundamentalist
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...
and Pentecostal denominations and playing black gospel, Southern gospel, and inspirational music. As Contemporary Christian music (CCM) became more prevalent, the station avoided playing it. However, Swaggart did cover Chuck Girard's CCM song "Sometimes Alleluia", using this as the theme to his weekly and flagship namesake program. Swaggart sold many of his radio stations gradually throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Jimmy Swaggart Ministries still operates several radio stations that operate under the name Sonlife Radio.
Swaggart wrote a book, ''Religious Rock n Roll: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'', in 1987.
In his monthly periodical known as "The Evangelist", he wrote against worldliness in worship music, particularly referring to a Carman concert.
He also mentioned in the article that Christian leaders were in "terrible opposition" with him for preaching the truth against contemporary Christian music and its artists.
Swaggart has often preached that God does not borrow from the world to reach the youth, but has since changed his position on contemporary Christian music and has integrated its sound and style in his worship services such as Hillsong.
Shifting to television
By 1975, the television ministry had expanded to more stations around the United States, and he began to use television as his primary preaching forum. In 1978, the weekly telecast was increased to an hour.
In 1980, Swaggart began a daily weekday telecast featuring Bible study and music, and the weekend, hour-long telecast included a service from either Family Worship Center (Swaggart's church) or an on-location crusade in a major city. In the early 1980s, the broadcasts expanded to major cities nationwide. By 1983, more than 250 television stations broadcast the telecast.
Promotion of RENAMO
Throughout the 1980s, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries was one of many American Evangelical leaders who promoted the South African-backed Mozambican National Resistance, aka
RENAMO
RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...
, which was accused of committing systematic war crimes during Mozambique's 15-year-long civil war. In addition to moral support and publicity, Swaggart Ministries was repeatedly accused of providing funding and material support to the group. In September 1985, government forces supported by Zimbabwe captured RENAMO's main HQ inside Mozambique, Casa Banana in
Gorongosa district
Gorongosa District is a district of Sofala Province in Mozambique. The principal town is Gorongosa. The district is located in the northwest of the province, and borders with Maringué District in the north, Cheringoma District in the east, Muanz ...
. Among the materials left behind by retreating rebels were piles of Swaggart's 1982 publication, "How to Receive The Baptism in the Holy Spirit" translated into Portuguese. During the 1988 trial of Australian missionary Ian Grey, who coordinated much of the private support to RENAMO, it was claimed by the defendant that Swaggart Ministries worked through ex-Rhodesian soldier Michael T Howard's Shekinah Ministries to provide support to RENAMO. That year, extensive media coverage of Swaggart and his businesses in the wake of a sex scandal largely excluded these allegations. In 1991, Covert Action Magazine and the government of Zimbabwe both accused Swaggart ministries of continuing to fund RENAMO.
Prostitution scandals
In 1988, Swaggart was accused of a sex scandal involving a prostitute, initially resulting in his suspension, and ultimately
defrocking
Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or ...
, by the Assemblies of God. Three years later Swaggart was implicated in another scandal involving prostitution. As a result, Swaggart's ministry became non-affiliated, nondenominational, and significantly smaller than it was in the ministry's pre-scandal years.
Feud with Marvin Gorman
Swaggart's first exposure was in retaliation for an incident in 1986 when he exposed fellow Assemblies of God minister Marvin Gorman, whom he accused of having several affairs. Once he was exposed, Gorman was defrocked from the Assemblies of God, and his ministry was all but ended. Gorman filed a successful lawsuit against Swaggart for defamation and conspiracy to ruin his reputation which led to the award of damages amounting to $10 million in 1991, reduced after an appeal and an out-of-court settlement to $1.75 million.
However, as a retaliatory measure, Gorman hired his son Randy and son-in-law Garland Bilbo to watch the
Travel Inn
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel can ...
on
Airline Highway
Airline Highway is a divided highway in the U.S. state of Louisiana, built in stages between 1925 and 1953 to bypass the older Jefferson Highway. It runs , carrying U.S. Highway 61 from New Orleans northwest to Baton Rouge and U.S. Highway 19 ...
telephoto lens
A telephoto lens, in photography and cinematography, is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a ''telephoto ...
was placed in the window of the motel's Room 12, and draped with a black cloth. When Swaggart arrived, he reportedly went into Room 7. Randy Gorman and Garland Bilbo let the air out of the tires on Swaggart's vehicle. They called Marvin Gorman, whose church was located nearby. Randy Gorman and Garland Bilbo had taken photos of Swaggart outside Room 7 with Debra Murphree, a local prostitute. Gorman arrived at the Travel Inn a short while later and confronted Swaggart, although on details accounts from both sides differed.
According to ''Swaggart: The Unauthorized Biography of an American Evangelist'', by Ann Rowe Seaman, Gorman secured a promise from Swaggart that he would publicly apologize to Gorman and start the process of Gorman's reinstatement to the Assemblies of God. Gorman offered to remain silent if Swaggart would state publicly that he lied about Gorman's affairs. Gorman waited almost a year, then hand-delivered a note to Swaggart informing him his time was up; Swaggart did not respond. On February 16, 1988, Gorman contacted James Hamil, one of the 13-man Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God, who called
G. Raymond Carlson
Guy Raymond Carlson (February 17, 1918 – January 29, 1999) was the 10th general superintendent of the Assemblies of God USA (1986–1993).
Early life and ministry
Guy Raymond Carlson was born in Crosby, North Dakota, on February 17, 1918. He ...
, the Assemblies Superintendent. Carlson summoned Hamill and Gorman to fly to Assemblies of God headquarters in
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
, and arranged for an emergency meeting of the presbyters. He was shown photos of several men coming in and going out of Room 7 at the Travel Inn Motel in New Orleans. This was done to establish that the room was being used for prostitution. One of the men shown leaving Room 7 was Swaggart. The presbytery leadership of the Assemblies of God decided that Swaggart should be suspended from broadcasting his television program for three months.
According to the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
, Murphree, who claimed to have posed nude for Swaggart, failed a
polygraph test
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked an ...
administered by a
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
polygraph expert. The test administrator concluded that Murphree had failed to tell the truth on all key questions concerning her statement. The test was administered after Murphree offered to sell the story to the ''
National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years.
The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
'' for $100,000. Paul Levy, senior editor for the ''Enquirer'', stated that the polygraph examiner had concluded Murphree was not truthful on six key questions, including one in which she was reportedly asked if she had fabricated the story. Levy stated that the ''Enquirer'' decided not to print her story due to the test results, her drug use, and the fact that she had arrest warrants in three states. Murphree failed questions about whether she was paid or promised money to "set up" Swaggart, and whether she made up the story to make money from it.
Swaggart's confession and defrocking
On February 21, 1988, without giving any details regarding his transgressions, Swaggart delivered what came to be known as his "I have sinned" speech on live television. He spoke tearfully to his family, congregation, TV audience, and ended it with a prayer, "I have sinned against You, my Lord, and I would ask that Your Precious Blood ... would wash and cleanse every stain until it is in the seas of God's forgetfulness never to be remembered against me anymore."
The
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
presbytery of the Assemblies of God initially suspended Swaggart from the ministry for three months. The national presbytery of the Assemblies of God soon extended the suspension to their standard two-year suspension for sexual immorality. His return to the pulpit coincided with the end of a three-month suspension originally ordered by the denomination. Believing that Swaggart was not genuinely repentant in submitting to their authority, the hierarchy of the Assemblies of God
defrocked
Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or ...
him, removing his credentials and ministerial license.
Swaggart then became an independent and non-denominational Pentecostal minister, establishing Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, based at the Family Worship Center in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
, and the Sonlife Broadcasting Network (SBN) which can be seen in the United States and other countries.
1991 scandal
On October 11, 1991, Swaggart was found in the company of a prostitute for a second time. He was pulled over by a police officer in Indio, California, for driving on the wrong side of the road. With him in the vehicle was a woman named Rosemary Garcia. According to Garcia, Swaggart had stopped to propose sex to her on the side of the road. She later told reporters: "He asked me for sex. I mean, that's why he stopped me. That's what I do. I'm a prostitute." This time, rather than confessing his sins to his congregation, Swaggart told those at Family Worship Center, "The Lord told me it's flat none of your business." Swaggart's son Donnie then announced to the audience that his father would be temporarily stepping down as head of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries for "a time of healing and counseling".
Ministries
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries mainly comprised Family Worship Center, ''The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast'', radio and television programs called ''A Study in the Word'', ''SonLife Radio Network'', a website, and a 24/7 cable and satellite television network, SonLife Broadcasting Network (SBN).
Swaggart's wife Frances hosts a television program, ''Frances and Friends'', shown daily on SBN. Swaggart also hosts a daily Bible study program on SBN, ''The Message of the Cross''. His son Donnie preaches at Family Worship Center and also preaches in churches across America and abroad. Donnie's son Gabriel is the ministry's
youth pastor
Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry of faith groups or other religious organizations, usually from ages 12 to 30, whose mission is to involve and engage with young people who attend th ...
who leads ''Crossfire,'' Family Worship Center's youth ministry. SBN also delivers live broadcasts of all of its weekly services at Family Worship Center, as well as live broadcasts of all of its
camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...
s.
Radio
Swaggart started SonLife Radio on the noncommercial
FM band
The FM broadcast band is a range of radio frequencies used for FM broadcasting by radio stations. The range of frequencies used differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa (defined as International Telecommunication Union ( ...
. Unlike his previous stations, SonLife was commercial-free and it did not sell time to outside ministries; the preaching and teaching were all produced in-house. The music which it played was primarily Southern Gospel. SonLife Radio is also streamed on the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
.
Some controversy arose concerning the ministry raising money for stations that were never built.
List of radio stations
The network's flagship station is
WJFM
WJFM (88.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. Licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, the station is currently owned by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. The listener-supported station is run by SonLife Radio, a ...
in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
.
Notes:
Translators
Television
In 1973, Swaggart proposed to television producers in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
a television program including a fairly large music segment, a short sermon, and time for talking about current ministry projects, after two faltering attempts to tape the half-hour program in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. They accepted, and within weeks the ''Jimmy Swaggart Telecast'' was being broadcast around the United States.
In 1981, Swaggart launched a daily television program titled ''A Study in the Word''. From the beginning, the primary cable channels which the program was aired on were
CBN Cable
CBN, or cbn, may refer to:
Broadcasting organizations
* Radio stations in St. John's, Newfoundland:
** CBN (AM), CBC Radio One
** CBN-FM, CBC Music
* Chronicle Broadcasting Network, the predecessor of ABS-CBN
* CBN (Australian TV station), a TV s ...
PTL Network
James Orsen Bakker (; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist and convicted fraudster. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program ''The PTL Club'' and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with h ...
(now
the Inspiration Network
INSP (formerly The Inspiration Network; the initialism is sounded out letter-by-letter) is an American digital cable television network that features primarily westerns (both shows and movies) and is headquartered in Indian Land, South Carolina - ...
).
In 1988, Swaggart lost some of his broadcast and merchandise rights following his first prostitution scandal. In 1991, Swaggart's career as standard televangelist came to an end after more local TV stations cancelled their contracts with him following a second prostitution scandal.
In 2010, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries launched a 24 hour-a-day television network entitled the Sonlife Broadcasting Network (SBN), on
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
Glorystar
GloryStar Satellite Systems is a direct to home religious based satellite television service. The service offers viewers and churches a selection of Christian radio and television services.
Glorystar broadcasts its channels via the Galaxy 19 sat ...
channel 125,
AT&T U-verse
U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.Verizon Fios, and various cable TV providers and broadcast stations.
SBN is available in the U.S. through
Free To Air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscriptio ...
(FTA) satellite television. It is also available in Australia and New Zealand.
SBN is also available 24 hours a day in the United Kingdom on
SKY
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
(Channel 593),
Freesat
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
(Channel 695) and
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
(Channel 239). It is also shown on DSTV channel 345 for African viewers.
Jimmy Swaggart Bible College
In autumn 1984, Swaggart opened Jimmy Swaggart Bible College (JSBC). The college originally provided education and communication degrees. It flourished during the 1980s.
In 1986, Ray Trask is appointed as president of JSBC.
In the fall of 1987 enrollment peaked at 1,450 students.
JSBC enrollment dropped drastically in 1988 when students left as a result of Swaggart's scandal followed by accreditation issues. In 1988 the enrollment at the Bible college was projected to drop 72% that year but the school was planning to proceed with plans to open a theological seminary. Enrollment in August 1988 was projected to be about 400 students, compared to 1,451 students last year in 1987. The estimate was based on the number of students who had registered and the inquiries from potential students.
In 1988, Ray Trask, leaves his position as president of JSBC. That July the college dormitories were re-branded and listed as apartments.
In 1991, JSBC was renamed to World Evangelism Bible College and enrollment dropped to 370 students. The college shut down programs in music, physical education, secretarial science, and communications that October and disbanded its basketball team. In November "the college laid off three Bible professors and an English professor, effective at the end of the fall semester."
In 1992, Bernard Rossier resigns as president of Jimmy Swaggart's World Evangelism Bible College and Seminary.
In 2019, JSBC offered Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees, both in Biblical Studies. The College was not
accredited
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
but was seeking accreditation at that time.
In 2020, Ray Trask, former JSBC President at Jimmy Swaggart Bible College died. Mr. Trask served as JSBC president from 1986 to 1988.
In 2021, Gabriel Swaggart, grandson of Jimmy Swaggart, is the President of JSBC. JSBC stopped offering online classes around 2020 in one of many steps to seek accreditation. JSBC lists a total of six faculty/staff members.
In 2022, Gabriel Swaggart still remains as President of JSBC. Under "accreditation" the college website states "JSBC is a corresponding institution with The Transnational Association of Christian Schools (TRACS)." JSBC lists five college administrators, six faculty, and one staff member.
Print
Swaggart has written about 50 Christian books offered through his ministry. He is the author of the ''Expositor's Study Bible'', 13 study guides and 38 commentaries on the Bible. The ministry also publishes a monthly magazine, ''The Evangelist''.
Family
Since October 10, 1952, Swaggart has been married to Frances Swaggart ( Anderson, born August 9, 1937). They have one son, Donnie (born October 18, 1954), named after Jimmy Swaggart's brother who died in infancy. He has three grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren Abby, Caroline, Mackenzie, Samantha, Zack, Ryder, and many more .
Donnie and his son Gabriel are also preachers, making three generations of the Swaggart family to have become involved in ministerial work.
Family Christian Academy
In 1982, Swaggart founded Family Christian Academy (FCA). The school was originally run by him but is now run by Carolyn Richards, Swaggart's grandson's mother-in-law.
Popular culture
The scandals inspired the
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
song "Miracle Man" on Osbourne's 1988 album '' No Rest for the Wicked'', and a reference in the
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
song " Holy Smoke", a UK number three hit single, from the 1990 album ''
No Prayer for the Dying
''No Prayer for the Dying'' is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is their first album to feature Janick Gers on guitar, who replaced Adrian Smith. Smith left the band during the pre-production phase, unhappy ...
''.
During his 1988 concerts,
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...
would begin his song "Defenders of the Flag" from ''
Scenes from the Southside
''Scenes from the Southside'' is the second album by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The single " The Valley Road" was Hornsby's third (and last) Top 10 U.S. hit, peaking at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and also his first number one on ...
'' with a tongue-in-cheek dedication to Swaggart.
Similarities were also noted between heel
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
character Brother Love and Swaggart's style of preaching.
The Zodiac Mindwarp song "Airline Highway" is about Swaggart's hypocrisy, featuring the lyrics "Unoriginal sin led straight to my fall", and in the chorus, "Hey Jim, the crime's in your heart / You put love in a straitjacket, it tore you apart."
Swaggart was also referred to in several recorded live performances by Frank Zappa with a medley of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
' songs featuring rewritten lyrics referencing him appearing on the album '' Zappa '88''.
Swaggart is heard throughout the 1988 Front 242 song "Welcome to Paradise".
A tearful Swaggart is seen during the music video for the Def Leppard song "
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...
", appearing on-screen during the lyric "God damn".
Part of Swaggart's confessional sermon ("I beg you ... forgive me") can be heard at the start of "Kill Eye" by Crowded House.
In 1990, "the Jimmy Swaggart show" was included as part of a list of 64 disagreeable things read by
Josie Jones
Peter James Wylie (born 22 March 1958) is an English singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel.
Career Early b ...
and released as a spoken-word track under the name "Imperfect List" by "Big Hard Excellent Fish".
In 1999, rapper Eminem vaguely made reference to hypocritical preachers, most likely referring to many in the 1980s such as Swaggart and others in his song "Criminal" in the verse where he raps "...Oh, and please send me a brand new car/and a prostitute while my wife's sick in the hospital".
" Jesus He Knows Me", a 1991 song by
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
, is a satire on televangelists, such as Swaggart,
Robert Tilton
Robert Gibson Tilton (born June 7, 1946) is an American televangelist and the former pastor of the Word of Faith Family Church in Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. At his ministry's peak in 1991, Tilton's infomercial-style program, ''Su ...
, and
Jim Bakker
James Orsen Bakker (; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist and convicted fraudster. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program '' The PTL Club'' and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with ...
.
In November 2021 multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Lingua Ignota released a compilation of readings called ''EPISTOLARY GRIEVING FOR JIMMY SWAGGART'', made from letters she penned to Swaggart. This follows her sampling Swaggart's confession in her song "The Sacred Linament of Judgement" on her album '' Sinner Get Ready''.
Canadian rock band
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...
took their name from a 1986 speech by Swaggart in which he lambasted rock music as "The new pornography."