Jimmy Swaggart, once one of America’s most famous televangelists and gospel voices, has passed away at age 90 after spending two weeks in a Louisiana hospital, his family announced Tuesday.
The influential preacher, whose rise to fame was later marred by scandal, died following a cardiac arrest on June 15. According to his son, Donnie Swaggart, Jimmy had been in critical condition and in need of a miracle.
A message posted on his official Facebook page read:
“Today, our hearts are heavy as we share that Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ. He met his beloved Savior and entered the portals of glory. At the same time, we rejoice knowing that we will see him again one day.”
From dirt roads to TV screens
Born on March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, Jimmy Lee Swaggart began preaching in his teens and married Frances Anderson when he was just 17 and she was 15. The couple lived in deep poverty, preaching wherever they could.
Barely scraping by on just $30 a week — roughly $340 in today’s money — the Swaggarts were unable to afford a home of their own, they often found shelter wherever they could, staying in church basements, the homes of generous pastors, and cheap roadside motels.
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But everything changed in 1969, when Swaggart began broadcasting on the radio. By 1971, he launched the Jimmy Swaggart Telecast, a television ministry that would grow to reach millions of homes each week.
By the early 1980s, Swaggart was one of the most recognizable faces in American Christianity. He founded the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge and opened a Bible college. Beyond preaching, Swaggart was a hugely successful gospel singer, selling over 15 million albums and even earning a Grammy nomination. He toured internationally, drawing huge crowds in Latin America, Africa, and beyond. Swaggart was actually a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, so music truly ran in his veins.
A fall from grace
In 1988, Swaggart’s career took a major hit when he was caught with a prostitute in a motel room. The scandal exploded, and Swaggart took to live television with a tearful confession that became known as his infamous “I have sinned” broadcast.
He addressed his family, congregation, and television viewers through tears, delivering an emotional confession that ended with a heartfelt 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.”
But after the scandal, Swaggart lost his credentials with the Assemblies of God and saw a sharp decline in viewership and financial support.
Just a few years later, in 1991, he was caught again – this time during a traffic stop in California with a sex worker named Rosemary Garcia. According to Garcia, Swaggart had pulled over to solicit her for sex.
“He asked me for sex. I mean, that’s why he stopped me. That’s what I do. I’m a prostitute,” she told reporters.
Unlike his first scandal, Swaggart did not issue a public apology. When questioned by members of his church, he responded bluntly:
“The Lord told me it’s flat none of your business,” he said to those gathered at Family Worship Center, before briefly stepping away from the pulpit.
The fallout from both scandals was devastating — enrollment at his Bible college plummeted, longtime donors pulled away, and his once-massive audience shrank.
