R.I.P. Rev Jim Bakker (1940 - 2026)

Famed televangelist Jim Bakker, former husband of Tammy Faye Bakker, died on Monday, Oct. 5. He was 86.

Jim Bakker was an American televangelist who became one of the most prominent—and later one of the most controversial—figures in American Christian television during the 1970s and 1980s.

Bakker was born in 1940 in Michigan and became a Pentecostal minister. He and his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, began their television careers working with Pat Robertson. In the 1960s, Bakker helped establish The 700 Club, which later became one of the best-known Christian television programmes in the United States.

The PTL Club

In the 1970s, Jim and Tammy Faye created The PTL Club, with "PTL" standing for "Praise the Lord" (and sometimes "People That Love"). The programme became enormously successful, combining preaching, interviews, entertainment and fundraising.

Their ministry eventually built Heritage USA, a huge Christian-themed resort and amusement park in South Carolina. At its height, Heritage USA attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors, while PTL was raising millions of dollars from viewers.

The Bakkers also became famous for their very lavish lifestyle. Their wealth, expensive homes and other conspicuous spending eventually became a major source of criticism, particularly because much of their income came from donations from viewers.

The 1987 scandal

Everything collapsed in 1987.

It became public that Bakker had had a sexual encounter with Jessica Hahn, a church secretary. PTL subsequently paid Hahn a substantial amount of money, which became part of the controversy surrounding the ministry.

Bakker resigned from PTL, and Jerry Falwell took control of the organisation. The scandal then expanded beyond the sexual affair into questions about PTL's finances and fundraising practices.

The particularly serious issue was PTL's sale of so-called "lifetime partnerships." People were encouraged to contribute money in exchange for future stays at Heritage USA. Prosecutors argued that Bakker had sold far more partnerships than the facilities could actually accommodate and had diverted some of the money for other purposes.

The criminal trial

In 1989, Bakker was convicted of fraud and conspiracy.

His original sentence was an extraordinary 45 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. An appeals court subsequently ordered a new sentencing because of problems with the original proceedings, including the judge's comments about religion. His sentence was eventually reduced to eight years, and Bakker was paroled in 1994 after serving several years.

The case became one of the defining scandals of the televangelism era. It also contributed to a much broader public examination of how television ministries solicited and spent donations.

What happened to Tammy Faye?

Jim and Tammy Faye divorced in 1992 while he was in prison. Tammy Faye subsequently married Roe Messner and continued working in television and Christian media. She eventually became something of a cultural figure in her own right, particularly because of her distinctive appearance, makeup and sympathetic attitude toward people who were often rejected by conservative Christian communities.

Her life was later portrayed in the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, starring Jessica Chastain.

Bakker's return

After leaving prison, Bakker returned to Christian broadcasting. He eventually established another television ministry, The Jim Bakker Show, and became particularly associated with end-times preaching, prophecy and the sale of survival-oriented products to viewers.

One interesting aspect of Bakker's story is that he went from being one of the richest and most successful televangelists in America, to being a convicted felon whose ministry collapsed, and then back to being a television preacher.

So, in a nutshell, Jim Bakker's story is really three stories at once: the rise of televangelism, the spectacular collapse of the PTL empire, and Bakker's attempt to rebuild his religious career after prison. His case is also an important piece of the history of American television and religious fundraising.

Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model