Jim Bakker Dies at 86 After Controversial Televangelist Career

Jim Bakker, the American televangelist who grew from a modest Christian television ministry to a multimillion-dollar empire before confronting a sex scandal, fraud conviction, and jail sentence, died at the age of 86. Lori Bakker, his second wife, announced his death on Monday.

Lori Bakker posted the news on her husband’s television ministry’s social media pages. She recognised him as a pioneer in Christian television and stated that he had gone to be with the Lord. There was no disclosure of the cause or circumstances of death.

Bakker rose to prominence as an American televangelist in the 1980s as part of “The PTL Club,” a television ministry that stood for “Praise The Lord” and “People That Love.” At its peak, the ministry reached approximately 13 million viewers via 200 television stations.

Jim Bakker built a major TV ministry before his fall

Bakker and his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, started with a tiny television company and gradually grew into a massive organization employing over 2,000 people. Their ministry also ran Heritage USA, a 2,300-acre Christian theme park and resort in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

The PTL operation generated up to $129 million per year at its peak. Bakker became noted for his friendly television demeanour, as opposed to the fire-and-brimstone approach of some other televangelists, despite the fact that his shows frequently solicited financial support from viewers.

His career started earlier, when he met Tammy Faye LaValley at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. The couple married in 1961 and left college to become travelling missionaries. Pat Robertson, a televangelist, gave them an opportunity on his nascent television network in 1964 with a religious puppet show for youngsters.

Bakker later leveraged the expanding reach of cable and satellite television to broaden his ministry in the 1970s.

His public demise resulted from reports about a 1980 sexual encounter with Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary. A payment of $265,000 from ministry funds was eventually made to ensure her silence. Bakker resigned from PTL in 1987 and was eventually defrocked.

Jim Bakker served prison time after fraud conviction

The incident was followed by a federal fraud investigation involving Heritage USA. Prosecutors claimed Bakker stole $158 million from followers by offering lifetime yearly vacation promises that could not be kept.

In 1989, a federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, convicted him on all 24 fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors also claimed he transferred $3.7 million to fund a lavish lifestyle that included multiple mansions, fancy automobiles, fur coats, jewellery, servants, and an air-conditioned dog house.

A judge first sentenced Bakker to 45 years in prison, but the punishment was eventually lowered. He ended up doing 4½ years in prison.

Bakker admitted guilt in court, but claimed he had never planned to deceive anyone. Richard Dortch, his chief aide, was also sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to reduced charges and testifying against him.

Tammy Faye remained supportive throughout the trial, but divorced Bakker in 1992 while he was in prison. She died of cancer in 2007.

After being released from prison in 1994, Bakker attempted to restore his life. He then abandoned the prosperity gospel he had previously taught and wrote the book I Was Wrong.

In 1998, he married Lori Bakker. The pair started another television ministry in 2003, and by 2008, they were filming “The Jim Bakker Show” at Morningside, a 600-acre complex outside Branson, Missouri.

Bakker resumed asking viewers for donations and remained involved in conservative Christian circles. In 2020, he received criticism from state and federal agencies for selling a medicine marketed as a cure for COVID-19.

His death brings to an end a career that included quick television success and a massive ministry operation, as well as scandal, conviction, imprisonment, and a subsequent comeback to Christian broadcasting.