Jimmy Swaggert’s Birthday Today: He’s 77 [Video]

Jimmy Swaggart was born in Ferriday, Louisiana, to Willie Leon and Minnie Belle Swaggart. He is the cousin of rock'n'roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and country music star Mickey Gilley.

With his parents, Swaggart attended a small, 25-member Assemblies of God congregation in Ferriday. At the age of nine, he began to preach on street corners and lead congregations in singing. On October 10, 1952, Swaggart married Frances Anderson. Their son, Donnie, was born in 1954.

Swaggart worked several part-time odd jobs in order to support his young family and also began singing Southern Gospel music at various Baptist and Pentecostal churches.

According to his biography, Swaggart, along with his wife and son, lived in poverty during the 1950s as he preached throughout rural Louisiana, struggling to survive on $30 a week. Being too poor to own a home, the Swaggarts lived in church basements, pastors' homes, and small motels.

Sun Records producer Sam Phillips wanted Swaggart to take part in a gospel line of music for Sun as the label's first gospel artist. Swaggart's cousin Jerry Lee Lewis, who had previously signed with Sun, was reportedly making $20,000 per week at the time.

Although the offer meant a promise for significant income for him and his family, Swaggart turned him down, stating that he was called to preach the gospel.

By 1975, Swaggart's television ministry had expanded to more stations around the US; it was at this time that he decided to use television as his primary preaching venue. In 1978, Swaggart's weekly telecast was expanded to an hour.

In 1980, Swaggart began a daily weekday telecast featuring Bible study and music while the weekend, hour-long telecast would feature a sermon from either the Family Worship Center or an on-location crusade.

In the early 1980s, Swaggart's crusades expanded to major cities nationwide. By 1983, more than 250 television stations featured Swaggart's telecast. Multitudes of people around the world were converted to Christianity, 'receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord.'

In 1988, Swaggart was implicated in a sex scandal involving a prostitute that resulted initially in his suspension and ultimately Swaggart was defrocked and removed from the ministry by the Assemblies of God.

Three years later, Swaggart was again implicated in a sex scandal involving a prostitute. As a result, Swaggart's current ministry is non-affiliated, non-denominational and considerably smaller than before the scandals were revealed.