John Swanger
John Swanger (born November 23, 1952) is an American evangelist, pastor, musician, and author of the memoir Shackled: Confessions of a Teenage Bank Robber. He was the founder of the Tollgate Coffee House in both Denver, CO and Seattle, WA. He founded a church in Seattle, WA under the name Scum of the Earth Seattle (a sister church of Scum of the Earth in Denver, CO) with his wife Raylene. Swanger is also noteworthy for being a highly successful bank robber in the U.S. in the early 70's, for which he was convicted and served time in prison.
Early Life[edit]
John was born in Nashville, TN in 1952 to Jack and Dorothy Swanger. At the age of two, he moved with his family to Dallas, TX and began a string of moves across the city and the state, never staying in one place for too long. His stepfather was an active car thief during this time, and passed the practice on to John. When he was 16 John left home and lived independently, hustling pool and selling drugs.[1]
As a Bank Robber[edit]
In 1971, Swanger began robbing banks and other establishments with Billy James Headrick and LaDeana Ruth Pringle (called Linda). In his book Shackled, Swanger says he committed over 150 robberies of banks and other establishments with Pringle and Headrick over two years.[2] John and the others were arrested in October 1971 in Minnesota.[3] Swanger was eventually convicted of robbing the National Bank of Commerce in Kent, WA of $2,991 on April 9, 1971. He then pled guilty to robbing the Federal Way branch of Seattle-First National Bank of $10,322 on June 14, 1971. After the guilty plea, the prosecuting attorney announced Swanger would not be prosecuted on charges of robbing another bank in Seattle of $25,000, nor a fourth bank in Haywood, California.[4] On Feb. 4, 1972, at age 19, Swanger was sentenced by United States District Judge Walter Thomas McGovern to three concurrent 10-year prison terms. Billy James Headrick was convicted as well, of robbing yet another bank.[5] Swanger was sent to Lompoc FCI near Santa Barbara, CA.[6] At the age of 22, just four years after going to prison, John was released to Seattle, WA to serve his remaining six years on parole.
Becoming a Christian[edit]
In 1983 while working as a bouncer for a group of exotic night clubs, John became a Christian, began to write and perform gospel music, and relocated to the Denver area where he met his wife Raylene. In the mid-1990s, John and Raylene started Cross & Clef Ministries, a nonprofit music and evangelistic ministry, and began making sack lunches to distribute to the homeless around Denver, CO.
Scum Seattle[edit]
In 2003 John and Raylene moved to Seattle, WA. While John and his son Bo Swanger were playing music at a nearby church, they were asked to change their tattooed and pierced appearance in order to fit into the congregation. John met with Mike Sares, Senior Pastor of Scum of the Earth Church in Denver, about his worries. Scum Denver was founded on the Bible verse I Corinthians 4:11-13: "To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world." During the meeting, John heard from another friend who was had also been asked to alter her appearance in order to be allowed at the church. John told her that from now on, she had a church to go to. In that moment he decided to start what became Scum of the Earth Seattle.
From a 2007 article in Seattle Pacific University's The Falcon:
The church is currently run under the banner of Cross & Clef Ministries by Pastor John Swanger and his wife Raylene, who originally operated the first Tollgate Coffee House in Denver (the namesake for the Seattle location) as a homeless outreach. The Seattle church carries on the message of the original coffee house and church, focusing on the "appearance of the heart and not the appearance of the packaging."[7]
The church started nameless in John's living room on May 9th, 2004, and met for a time at Starbucks on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. A number of locations later, John leased a space at 5228 University Way NE in Seattle's University District in order to provide a more personal and permanent space for the church. The venue actually doubled as both Scum of the Earth Church and the Tollgate, a coffee house for the homeless. In 2009 Zach McCauley became the head pastor of Scum Seattle, when the Swangers moved back to Denver.
Current Life[edit]
As of 2016, John currently resides in Gig Harbor, WA with his wife Raylene. He is currently writing a series of books about his life to follow his memoir Shackled, and spends his time preaching and doing music ministry in prisons.
References[edit]
- ↑ Swanger, John (2015). Shackled. p. 137. ISBN 978-1500895945. Search this book on
- ↑ Swanger, John (2015). Shackled. p. 67. ISBN 978-1500895945. Search this book on
- ↑ "Woman pleads innocent to robbing bank". The Seattle Times. October 22, 1971.
- ↑ "U.S. rests holdup case; girl, 19, is freed". The Seattle Times. December 14, 1971.
- ↑ "Man given 3 concurrent terms for bank robberies". The Seattle Times. February 5, 1972.
- ↑ Swanger, John (2015). Shackled. p. 79. ISBN 978-1500895945. Search this book on
- ↑ Comrie, Paul (February 14, 2007). "Precious Scum". The Falcon. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
In Media[edit]
External links[edit]
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