jerry lee lewis

Jimmy Swaggart

Jimmy Swaggart was a Pentecostal televangelist, gospel musician, Assemblies of God minister, and cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley whose ministry grew out of the same mid-century healing-revival atmosphere shaped by Gordon Lindsay, The Voice of Healing, and William Branham's influence, but whose public image as a fiery preacher against sin, pornography, and sexual immorality collapsed after revelations that he had been secretly involved with prostitutes; his televised confession, refusal to submit to the Assemblies of God's full disciplinary process, defrocking, and rapid return to ministry made him a defining example of Pentecostal celebrity, revivalist performance, moral scandal, institutional accountability failure, and the tension between public holiness preaching and private misconduct.