HeвЂ™s built more hospitals and helped more people around the world.вЂќ Buying and sellingДЄt its peak in the early and mid-1980s, the ministry was bringing in nearly $142 million annually. вЂњI wish people knew the real heart of Jimmy Swaggart. вЂњThe ministry has had its problems, but itвЂ™s still a great ministry,вЂќ Goux says.

Despite the dwindling crowd, Swaggart remains a charismatic and powerful speaker, delivering a fire-and-brimstone sermon about the dangers of sin. Where thousands of people regularly attended his services, the number of worshippers was down to a few hundred one recent Sunday morning. That second fall from grace-SwaggartвЂ™s son Donnie announced that his father was temporarily stepping down for вЂњa time of healing and counselingвЂќ-reduced SwaggartвЂ™s ministry to a fraction of its size. He was found in the company of another prostitute after the pair was pulled over by a policeman in Indio, Calif. Three years later, as SwaggartвЂ™s ministry started to recover, there was another huge setback. The image of the weeping pastor and his admission-вЂњI have sinnedвЂќ-became one of the defining moments of the year and was widely rebroadcast, discussed and parodied. 21, 1988, Swaggart made a tearful public confession of sin, one day after it was reported that there were photos of him with a prostitute in an Airline Highway motel room in Metairie. вЂњThat was one of the epicenters of Baton Rouge,вЂќ developer Mike Wampold says, вЂњand one of the finest parcels of real estate assembled in the state.вЂќ And it all fell apart So many people came from out of state to visit his church that a 120-room Quality Suites was built at I-10 and Bluebonnet in part to accommodate them. Swaggart, a Ferriday native whose parents became Pentecostal evangelists and whose first cousins include Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, was not only one of the biggest private employers in Baton Rouge, but also one of the cityвЂ™s leading tourist draws. His thriving church complex consisted of more than a dozen buildings, including dormitories, television production studios and warehouses to handle the bundles of mail that came into the ministry every day. The centerpiece was a 7,500-seat church, in front of which the flags of 40 nations flew, representing each of the countries where SwaggartвЂ™s services were televised.Д«y 1986, Swaggart was the countryвЂ™s top-rated televangelist The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast was broadcast by upwards of 200 television stations and watched by two million households. Seven years later, Jimmy Swaggart World Ministries had purchased more than 200 acres of land along Bluebonnet Road stretching from I-10 to Perkins Road. вЂњYou could see with the expansion that was planned for Bluebonnet and the expansion of Baton Rouge, that was the place to go,вЂќ Goux says. After Goux acquired the land, he went back to his own business. Swaggart told GouxВ to start negotiations with D.H. ThatвЂ™s what we were looking for,вЂќ Swaggart says. We needed land to construct our ministry. вЂњI didnвЂ™t think about the potential for this area. But he could see that section was a growing area with plenty of available property. When Swaggart first looked at the land that would become the core of his ministry, Bluebonnet Road was still being built. вЂњBut we all looked at the piece of property and prayed about this and decided that was the place where we needed to be.вЂќ вЂњThere was not a whole lot out on Bluebonnet,вЂќ Goux says. Frances Swaggart, JimmyвЂ™s wife, liked a site at I-12 and Airline Highway. Goux, now living in Mandeville, says he checked out sites along interstates 10 and 12. Ronald Goux, who was serving as vice president and chief executive officer of SwaggartвЂ™s ministry, was tasked with looking for a new site to replace its Goya Avenue headquarters behind Bon MarchГ© Mall. Jimmy Swaggart was rapidly running out of room for his church, which had settled in Baton Rouge a little more than 10 years earlier.

The article wasВ written by Timothy Boone. This article originally was published by onВ Tues October 9th, 2007.

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