Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990 TAG: 9006020367
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Jimmy Swaggart Crusade appearance in Roanoke was scheduled only after attorneys for the ministry decided it would be better to postpone a scheduled crusade in Los Angeles, the evangelist and local crusade organizers said.
Swaggart said that God's timing is always right, and he was sure that he was in the place God intended him to be Friday.
The U.S. Supreme Court in January ruled against a Swaggart appeal of a California law that forced his ministry to pay more than $180,000 in back sales taxes for merchandise sold through the mail and at his crusades in that state.
A broad spectrum of religious organizations sided with Swaggart in his battle against the tax.
Swaggart alluded to the rescheduling only briefly in the 2 1/2-hour service of the three-day crusade's opening night, saying he had been advised to "postpone for a few months" the trip to California.
The Rev. Charles Bledsoe of Life Tabernacle in Roanoke, who handled publicity for the crusade, said in an interview Friday that "lots of ministries" are avoiding California because of the new tax laws and other legislation they consider unnecessary.
The Roanoke Civic Center lobby was lined with bin after bin of Swaggart audio and video tapes, pamphlets and books. Cashiers on Friday did not separate the sales tax from the total cost of the items purchased.
No crusade officials would comment on the sales tax or any other issues Friday night. Swaggart aide Bradley Stroud said the Baton Rouge, La.,-based evangelist will grant interviews only if they are arranged well ahead of the crusades and that no one else associated with the ministry can speak for it.
Bledsoe said at least 26 churches from the Roanoke and New River valleys and Lynchburg areas were "sponsoring churches" for the weekend crusade. He said the churches provided ushers and counselors for the event and helped with other local details.
He said publicity mainly had been by word of mouth in the sponsoring congregations largely because there had been so little time to prepare.
Attendance for the opening night service - between 1,000 and 1,500 people - hardly spilled upward out of the box-seat sections in the half of the coliseum facing the stage. An usher for the service said he expected the attendance to rise for services tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 3 p.m.
The crusade did receive some publicity on the taped Jimmy Swaggart programs that run on Christian television station WEFC.
The station carries a weekday Bible study program and a Sunday show, usually consisting of a tape of a crusade, said station spokesman Andy Wright.
The station is affiliated with Evangel Foursquare Church on Bullitt Avenue Southeast.
Swaggart told the audience Friday that he was embarrassed by how far behind his ministry is in its payments to the station for the air-time it receives, and asked those in attendance to contribute to the television ministry by making a donation of $100.
During a period of about three minutes, 23 people walked to the stage to get a personal handshake from Swaggart and a "Rock of Ages Family Edition" Bible in appreciation for their $100 donations. He also told the contributors that he trusted that they would be blessed financially as well as spiritually for the donations.
Ushers also took a row by row collection for the crusade after that but before the sermon.
The first two hours of the crusade were devoted primarily to musical presentations by Swaggart, a pianist and singer, and members of a small choral group.
Swaggart, 55, made no direct references to his defrocking by the Assemblies of God in early 1988 after he confessed to sins that he never publicly detailed. A New Orleans prostitute later said she had posed nude for Swaggart.
His sermon dealt with the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors, in which he talked about avoiding hatred of one's enemies and the Christian's duty to continue to have faith in God despite suffering and trials.
by CNB