The Nation - News from March 28, 1988

Jimmy Swaggart has told elders of the Assemblies of God church he met only once with a prostitute, who claimed that she had several encounters with the television evangelist, a church spokeswoman told a television station in New Orleans. Assemblies of God spokeswoman Juleen Turnage told WVUE-TV that Swaggart said he met “one time only” with prostitute Deborah Murphree. But since the disclosure, Murphree has said that she met several times over a year with Swaggart and performed obscene acts for him. “If we find out . . . Swaggart is lying to us, we’re prepared to boot him out of the church,” Turnage said. Swaggart also told members of his 7,000-plus congregation in Baton Rouge, La., that he committed an unspecified “moral failure.” Meanwhile, the church’s General Presbytery will gather today in Springfield, Mo., to review a recommendation by the Louisiana District Council of the Assemblies of God that Swaggart should be barred from preaching for three months.