Jim Bakker
James Orsen Bakker (/ˈbeɪkər/; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program The PTL Club and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with his then wife, Tammy Faye. He also developed Heritage USA, a now-defunct Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Jim Bakker | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Orsen Bakker January 2, 1940 Muskegon, Michigan, U.S. |
| Spouses | Tammy Faye LaValley
(m. 1961; div. 1992)Lori Beth Graham
(m. 1998) |
| Children | 7, including Jay Bakker |
| Church | Assemblies of God (1960–1988) Charismatic (2003–present) |
Congregations served | The PTL Club Heritage USA Heritage Village Church Morningside Church |
In the late 1980s, Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry over a cover-up of hush money to church secretary Jessica Hahn for an alleged rape. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about felony charges, conviction, imprisonment, and divorce. Bakker later remarried and returned to televangelism, founding Morningside Church in Blue Eye, Missouri, and reestablishing the PTL ministry. He currently hosts The Jim Bakker Show, which focuses on the end times and the Second Coming of Christ while promoting emergency survival products. Bakker has written several books, including I Was Wrong and Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead.