Swaggart Gives Emotional Speech After He’s Heckled

BATON ROUGE, La. —  Only hours after a young heckler called him a hypocrite, fallen evangelist Jimmy Swaggart took the microphone during a Sunday night service and gave his most emotional speech since stepping down from the pulpit on Feb. 21.

Swaggart jumped up to take the microphone briefly during the service, then shouted into it.

“It works! It works!” he said, shaking a Bible as he does when he preaches. “If there is a reporter here, spread the word everywhere. It works!”

Favorable Response

Swaggart got a favorable response from the crowd at his Family Worship Center.

However, the Rev. Everett Stenhouse, assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God church, said that Swaggart’s appearance would have violated the one-year ban on preaching that the church hierarchy ordered last week, had Swaggart accepted the punishment.

But Swaggart has not yet submitted to the church’s rehabilitation program, Stenhouse said in a telephone interview from Springfield, Mo., the church’s national headquarters.

The church’s General Presbytery last Tuesday banned Swaggart from the pulpit for at least a year for “moral failure.” A prostitute has said Swaggart paid her to pose nude for him.

Plans to Defy Penalty

Swaggart must decide this week whether to accept the disciplinary action, a choice that could affect the future of his financially troubled ministry. He said through his attorney last week that he will defy the order and return to the pulpit on May 22.

Juleen Turnage, a national church spokeswoman, said the national office expected to hear from Swaggart today. She also criticized his appearances Sunday and said he probably would face expulsion if he did not quickly accept the church’s discipline.

“I know our executives want to give him sufficient time to respond to their written notification, and I would think that, maybe by the end of this week, if they have not heard from him, the executives will be looking at what further steps they can take to bring this to a close,” she said.

Accused of Hypocrisy

A heckler had disrupted the morning service to accuse the evangelist of hypocrisy.

“Brother Swaggart, your hypocrisy is scornful of the government of God,” the young male, about 16 years old, yelled during a brief lull in the service.