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 Phillips down, stating that he was called to preach the gospel. Preaching from a flatbed trailer donated to him, Swaggart began full-time evangelistic work in 1955. He began developing a revival-meeting following throughout the American South. In 1960, he began recording gospel music record albums and transmitting on Christian radio stations.
In 1961, Swaggart was ordained by the Assemblies of God a year later he began his radio ministry. In the late 1960s, Swaggart founded what was then a small church named the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana the church eventually became district-affiliated with the Assemblies of God. In the late 1960s Swaggart began transmitting a weekly 30-minute telecast over various local television stations in Baton Rouge and also purchased a local AM radio station, WLUX (now WPFC). The station broadcast Christian feature stories, preaching and teaching from various fundamentalist and Pentecostal denominations and played black gospel, Southern gospel, and inspirational music. As Contemporary Christian music became more prevalent, the station avoided playing it. Swaggart sold many of his radio stations gradually throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries still operates several radio stations that operate under the name Sonlife Radio.īy 1975, Swaggart's television ministry had expanded to more stations around the U.S., and he started using television as his primary preaching forum. In 1978 Swaggart's weekly telecast was expanded to an hour.
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