Who is Jimmy Swaggart married to? All about his wife as son, Donnie provides concerning update on gospel artist's health
Televangelist Reverend Jimmy Swaggart recently suffered a cardiac arrest and has been hospitalized. Swaggart's son, Donnie, shared the health update during a Sunday, June 15, 2025, live SBN broadcast of a special prayer service held at their church in Baton Rouge.
Donnie explained that the incident occurred a little after 8:00 am and "has never regained consciousness." Donnie and his son, Gabe, performed CPR until paramedics arrived. EMTs were able to "get a heartbeat" before rushing the evangelist to the hospital, adding:
"Right now he is in ICU, and without a miracle, without a miracle, his time will be short."
Jimmy is a well-known TV evangelist and gospel musician. He started his church, the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, in the late 1960s (later affiliated with the Assemblies of God). Around that time, he founded the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, which is comprised of the aforementioned church, a radio network, television networks (including SBN), and a Bible college, among others.
On the personal front, Jimmy married Frances Swaggart in October 1952. The couple shares one son, Donnie. Donnie, along with his son Gabriel (a.k.a. Gabe), is also a preacher. They are also grandparents to two other children and eight great-grandchildren.
According to Jimmy Swaggart, Frances' program Frances and Friends draws the largest audience on SBN
Per Frances Swaggart's profile on Tuko, she was born on August 9, 1937. She met Jimmy Swaggart as a teenager at an Assemblies of God church where he played music with his father, a preacher himself. They married in October 1952. At the time, she was 15 while Jimmy was 17.
As per Swaggart's autobiography, To Cross a River, the couple, along with their son, lived in poverty during the 1950s. At the time, Jimmy worked as a preacher throughout rural Louisiana and earned an income of $30 a week. The family lived in church basements, homes of pastors, and small motels. That was until the preacher began his full-time ministry in 1955.
Frances has helped build and run her husband's ministry and church since its conception. She is the Chief Financial Officer at the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. In his note about his wife on the organization's website, she also manages the ministry's workforce (about 255 people).
Additionally, she hosts the two-hour program Frances and Friends, which airs daily on Sonlife Broadcasting Network (SBN) and Sonlife Radio Network. The show discusses a variety of topics and contemporary issues related to the church. Per Jimmy Swaggart, Frances "prepares diligently" for the show. He noted that the program draws the largest audience on SBN.
Jimmy stated that she was the "greatest thing" that ever happened to him after "salvation." Praising her intelligence, Swaggart wrote:
"I have said many times about her, I believe she has the talent and the ability to run General Motors if she had to do so."
Jimmy Swaggart credited his wife for pushing him to start recording gospel music. The televangelist explained that while he recorded in the "finest studios in Nashville," Frances sat in the "control room" telling the engineers "exactly what she wanted done on that recording."
"They learned to listen to her, that despite the fact of not being a musician, she knew what was right and what was not right," Jimmy Swaggart added.
According to Tuko, Frances has authored books like The Modern Babylon (2006) and And Sarah Saw (2016). Citing Celebrity Net Worth, the outlet reported that she boasts an estimated fortune of $10 million, with the majority of her income coming from her pursuits in ministry and her books.
While Frances has kept her private life away from the public eye, per Tuko, Frances underwent knee surgery in 2015. The 88-year-old has since recovered.
Frances has not publicly commented on her husband's health as of this writing.
