Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart suffers heart attack, will die soon without miracle, son says

Jimmy Swaggart, one of America’s most prominent televangelists who has had a television ministry since 1971, has suffered a heart attack and without a miracle the Pentecostal minister is likely to die soon, his family has announced.

Jimmy Swaggart’s only son, Donnie Swaggart, made the announcement Sunday to members of the Family Worship Center Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where his father remains senior leader.

“We’ve always been very private. We keep our troubles to ourselves. We don’t bring other people into it. We’ve always braved the storms as a family internally. But this is beyond that,” a somber Donnie Swaggart began as he prepared to break the news to the church about his 90-year-old father.

“This morning at a little after 8, Gabe (his son) and I rushed into mother’s house as dad had gone into cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness. We both took turns giving him chest compressions until EMT could get there,” he explained.

“They were able to get a heartbeat back. Right now, he is in ICU and without a miracle … his time will be short. But we believe God. We’re not giving up. We’ve already told the doctors we don’t want to hear anything from them. We will make decisions at our own time, but we’re going to give the Lord an opportunity to work,” he added.

An updated statement on the televangelist’s Facebook page on Monday said, “there has been no change in his condition” and asked that “you continue to lift him up in prayer and believe God for a miracle — but above all, we trust in the Lord’s perfect will.”

In addition to being the senior pastor of the Family Worship Center Church, Swaggart also leads the Sonlife Broadcasting Network, which he founded in 2007. It claims to reach an estimated global audience of 2 billion. He is also the founder of Jimmy Swaggart Bible College.

The televangelist, who has been in ministry since 1955, has written more than 60 books, commentaries, study guides and The Expositor’s Study Bible. He is also an award-winning musician and singer who has sold nearly 17 million recordings worldwide and recorded some 60 gospel albums.

 His ministry has not been without its share of challenges, however.

On Oct. 11, 1991, Jimmy Swaggart was pulled over while driving in California and was discovered by authorities to be with a prostitute. The discovery came three years after he was caught in an affair with a prostitute in New Orleans, which led to him being defrocked by the Assemblies of God.

Swaggart had been cited for driving an unregistered vehicle, driving on the wrong side of the street, and not wearing a seatbelt when he was caught with Rosemary Garcia of Coachella Valley.

“He asked for sex,” Garcia told KNBC-TV. “I mean, that’s why he stopped me, that’s what I do, I’m a prostitute.”