Of Swaggart’s $150 million in 1987 revenues, fully $135 million came from voluntary contributions generated both by his television ministry-which appears on 200 stations in the United States and is beamed to 145 countries in English and 15 foreign languages-and by fund-raising letters that are mailed at a rate of 7 million pieces a day. The organization said it would hold a telethon in an effort to revive donations. Officials said Friday that because of a sudden drop-off in contributions, more than 100 employees had been laid off and construction of new ministry buildings had been halted. But ministry officials have enough taped broadcasts to keep his weekly show on the air for months to come-if local stations still want it. Swaggart’s temporary suspension from preaching as of last month, a result of his self-confessed “moral lapse” with a prostitute, may have a devastating effect on his ministry’s income. When asked about such a life style, Elizabeth Fuller of Chattanooga, Tenn., a board member of the ministry, told The Times: “After years of hardship and traveling in poor circumstances, if the Lord chooses to bless him in his latter days, I don’t quarrel with that.” The Swaggarts have accepted gifts from loyal members of his video flock that include a diamond-studded gold Rolex watch, fine clothes and a mink coat. Swaggart and his wife, Frances, drive matching late-model Lincoln Town Cars and fly to appearances around the country in a private Gulfstream jet aircraft that once was owned by the Rockefeller family. The highly polished parquet living room floor is partly covered with an Oriental carpet, and off the master bedroom is a step-up Jacuzzi with faucets in the shape of golden swans. His two-story, high-columned “parsonage,” as it is called by ministry officials, sits behind a tall fence to assure privacy and is situated on 20 landscaped acres, including a swimming pool.
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