Jimmy Lee Swaggart
Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15) Jimmy Lee Swaggart was born March 15, 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana. Ministering the Word under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he preached to stadiums filled with capacity crowds around the world and, pioneered televangelism through his weekly telecast. In the 1980's his television programming transmitted to over 3,000 stations and innumerable cable systems each week. Reverend Swaggart's telecasts were seen by mare than 8 million people in the United States and by more than 500 million people worldwide, making it the most widespread mass communication of the Gospel in history! Reverend Swaggart first started his television ministry in 1975 and it continues today airing nationally and internationally to a potential audience of over 80 million. The weekly Jimmy Swaggart Telecast and A Study in the Word are seen nationwide and abroad on 78 channels in 104 countries and live over the interned.(sic) Television has enabled Jimmy Swaggart Ministries to carry the Good News to people in every part of the world and his messages have been translated into 11 different languages. Reverend Jimmy Swaggart is heard nationwide on over 78 stations and around the world via the internet. At the end of 2009 Jimmy Swaggart Ministries launched the SonLife Broadcasting Network, a Christian Television Network which airs nationally and internationally to a potential viewing audience of over 80 million. Jimmy Swaggart Ministries has long been known for its anointed music. Reverend Swaggart has recorded over 50 Gospel Albums, with approximately 15 million Recordings sold worldwide. His first album, Some Golden Daybreak, was made primarily to have a record he could give people at his early revivals. Recognizing his gift, Frances Swaggart began encouraging him to contact radio stations. As Jimmy Swaggart's song began to be aired on radio, the public response was overwhelming. In the spring of 1958 Sam Phillips (the producer who discovered Elvis Presley) had sent for the small town, piano-playing, preacher to come to Memphis. He wanted to sign Jimmy Swaggart as the first Gospel artist on the Sun Record Label. However, with heart to minister the Gospel, the young Swaggart turned him down.
In 1974 Jimmy Swaggart was voted Favorite Gospel Music Artist for "Singing News". In 1977 "Record World" Magazine honored him as Male Vocalist of the Year. In that same year Jimmy was a Dove Award Finalist in three categories: Male Vocalist of the Year, TV Program of the Year, and Instrumentalist of the Year. Again in 1978 Jimmy Swaggart became a Dove Finalist as Instrumentalist of the Year, and in 1980 a Dove Finalist in four categories: Children's Album of the Year for "Color Me a Story," Instrumentalist of the Year, Year's best Traditional Album for "Homeward Bound", and Best Gospel Album of the Year "Worship." The prestigious Grammy Awards nominated Jimmy's "Live from Nashville" for Best Album in 1976, and again in 1980, Jimmy's "Worship" album became a Grammy finalist. Reverend Swaggart is the author of several christian works offered through his ministry as well as the author of the Expositor's Study Bible. The leather bound edition of the Expositor's Study Bible is the fastest selling Study Bible in the world. He has also written 12 Study Guides and 28 Commentaries on the Bible. Rev. Swaggart is the Pastor of the Family Worship Center, in Baton Rouge Louisiana, a multi-cultural, interdenominational, Full Gospel Church that continues to be the spiritual hub of the ministry.