Jim Bakker, the televangelist who rose to global fame with ‘The PTL Club’ before his empire crumbled under sex and fraud scandals, has died at 86.
The man who built a televised empire out of praise and promises has died. Jim Bakker, whose face once defined the reach and the excesses of 1980s evangelical broadcasting, was 86.
His second wife, Lori Bakker, confirmed the death on Monday but did not provide a cause. Bakker, who suffered a stroke in 2020, had lived in recent years near Branson, Missouri, where he continued to film “The Jim Bakker Show” since its 2003 launch.
In his prime, Bakker was a cultural force. “The PTL Club”—which stood for “Praise the Lord”—drew 13 million nightly viewers in the mid-1980s. Alongside his first wife. Tammy Faye. he presided over a sprawling operation in Fort Mill. South Carolina. that included the massive Heritage USA theme park and hotel. They were household names. often lampooned by late-night comedians for their wealth and Tammy Faye’s signature heavy mascara. yet they remained the face of a movement that fundamentally shifted American religious life.
The trajectory of that movement shifted abruptly in March 1987. Bakker resigned from his empire after admitting to a sexual encounter with church clerk Jessica Hahn. While Hahn alleged sexual assault, Bakker maintained the encounter was consensual. The resignation cleared the way for pastor Jerry Falwell to take control of the ministry. but the legal fallout was only beginning. In 1988, Bakker was indicted on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. He was convicted in 1989 and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, a term later reduced to eight years.
Following his 1994 parole, Bakker rebuilt his life, marrying Lori in 1998. He returned to the airwaves, but his legacy remained as complicated as the public life he led. As recently as June 2021, Bakker and his Morningside Church Productions Inc. settled a lawsuit for $156. 000. which went toward refunds for customers who had purchased a health supplement called Silver Solution. which Bakker had falsely claimed could cure COVID-19 during 11 episodes in early 2020.
His passing marks the final chapter for a generation of televangelist titans, following the death of Jimmy Swaggart last year. The impact of their rise and fall remains visible in the prosperity gospel preachers who continue to command television airwaves today.
For those closest to him. the reality of his death is marked by the same complexity that defined his public career. Jay Bakker, his 50-year-old son from his marriage to Tammy Faye, took to social media to process the loss. “We had a very complicated relationship and he was also my father and a grandfather and I need to mourn in my own time. ” he wrote. “I need the freedom to feel anger and feel loss…”.
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Jim Bakker met Tammy Faye at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. They married in 1961, leaving school to launch a traveling ministry. Their path to influence began in 1965 when they started a children’s show on Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. By 1966. Bakker was the host of “The 700 Club.” He left CBN in 1972 to establish the PTL Satellite Network. eventually becoming a fixture of the cultural landscape. After their divorce in 1992, Tammy Faye, who later married building contractor Roe Messner, died of colon cancer in 2007. Jim and Lori Bakker had adopted five children in 2002.
Jim Bakker PTL Club televangelist religion obituary Heritage USA Tammy Faye Bakker