Jim Bakker Dies: Disgraced Televangelist Was 86

0Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker on a hill overlooking their megachurch complex, Heritage USA,in Fort Mill, South Carolina in August 1987 – Will & Deni McIntyre / Getty ImagesJim Bakker has died. The famed (and disgraced) televangelist and ex-husband of Tammy Faye Bakker was 86 years old.

Bakker’s death was announced by his wife, Lori, in a statement posted to his Instagram account, which revealed he had died on Monday, October 5. “It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening,” Lori Bakker began.

“For 66 years, Jim gave his life to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry. Jim loved people deeply. He loved this ministry, and he loved the friends and partners who stood with him throughout the years. Even in his final days, his heart was still for the work of God and for the Gospel to continue reaching the world,” she continued.

“Our family is grieving and we ask for your prayers and privacy during this time. Jim finished his race with faith. His voice, his vision, and his legacy will never be forgotten.”

No cause of death has been shared at this time. Born January 2, 1940, Bakker began making a name for himself in the TV space alongside his then-wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, in 1974 with The PTL Club (a.k.a. Praise the Lord Club), a Christian television program that was hosted from an abandoned furniture store in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Eventually, PTL grew to the point of broadcasting worldwide as its own PTL Television Network, which included various programs, including a late-night TV series. As the brand expanded, Heritage Village ministry headquarters and complex moved to specially constructed studios in Fort Mill, South Carolina, which became Heritage USA, the site of the Bakkers’ theme park and residential complex.

Bakker’s success continued through the 1980s until his empire was revealed to have been raised through his ministry for his own benefit by selling thousands of “lifetime memberships” to a luxury hotel, when only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. An investigation into Bakker’s activities uncovered that most of the funds went to his company’s operating expenses, but he kept millions for himself.

Bakker was also accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars in ministry funds to pay his church secretary, Jessica Hahn, to keep quiet after she alleged that Bakker and PTL Club co-host John Wesley Fletcher drugged and raped her. Bakker argued that any encounters were consensual.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection)

Ultimately, Bakker was indicted in October of 1988 on 24 federal counts of mail and wire fraud, and conspiring to defraud the public. The case exploded when Hahn’s allegations came out. After a five-week trial in 1989, Bakker was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. He only served five.

Three years later in 1992, Tammy Faye Bakker divorced Jim after decades of marriage, going on to marry Roe Messner. Meanwhile, Jim Bakker married Lori Beth Graham in 1998 after he was released from prison, and went on to create The Jim Bakker Show, which ran from 2003 to 2006.

Bakker shared two children with Tammy Faye Bakker, including Jay and Tammy Sue. Meanwhile, he adopted five children with Lori during their years of marriage. Bakker’s televangelist empire may not have lasted forever, but it inspired plenty of pop culture contributions, including the 2021 biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye, starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, as well as HBO‘s megachurch comedy The Righteous Gemstones, among others.

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