Jim Bakker
Televangelist who built and lost a media empire.
He co-founded both the PTL Club and a theme park called Heritage USA.[1][2] He was indicted in 1988 and convicted in 1989 on multiple fraud and conspiracy charges.[3]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- James Orsen Bakker
- Born
- 2 January 1940
- Birthplace
- Muskegon, Michigan, U.S.
- Church
- Assemblies of God (1960–1988); Charismatic (2003–present)
- Congregations
- The PTL Club
- Heritage USA
- Heritage Village Church
- Morningside Church
- Children
- 7, including Jay Bakker
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
In 1966, they began working at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, hosting a children's show and later The 700 Club.[4] He was convicted on 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy in 1989.[3] April 1, 1961, was the date of their marriage; after that, they departed from college to serve as itinerant evangelists.[5] In 1973, the Bakkers departed from CBN and subsequently assisted in establishing the Trinity Broadcasting Network.[4]
What the cited sources add
A BuzzFeed News account describes Bakker's current show selling buckets of freeze-dried food with a 25-year shelf life for end-times preparation.[2] The same article states that Bakker's current show has 30 employees, compared to 3,000 at PTL.[6] The same source notes that Bakker later stated that this kind of ministry was not biblical.[2] The report from United Press International also says Bakker used PTL funds for personal items including a mink coat and a Corvette.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Jim Bakker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ostling, "Power, Glory – and Politics", June 24, 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- McKinney, "The Second Coming Of Televangelist Jim Bakker", BuzzFeed News, May 19, 2017. facts only, no text reused. buzzfeednews.com
- Wikipedia, "Jim Bakker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ostling, "Jim Bakker's Crumbling World", December 19, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jim Bakker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Lived Here - in a Kit Home!", searshome.org, November 23, 2011; "Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, "On her first television appearance and creating The Jim and Tammy Show", Television Academy Foundation Interviews, October 23, 2017; "Robertson's Bakker Connection", The Washington Post, February 6, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jim Bakker" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Tammy Faye Bakker Gets Divorce, Custody of Son, 16", Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1992; Garfield, "The Preacher's Wife: Lori Beth Bakker says she is her own woman", The Free Lance-Star, April 1, 2000; "About Pastor Jim Bakker The Jim Bakker Show", The Jim Bakker Show; Lancaster, "Jim Bakker's Son: The No. 1 Thing to Remember When Dealing With Immigrants", Charisma News, June 2, 2017; Staff, "EXCLUSIVE: Jim Bakker's Son Ricky Believes This Is the Generation That Will See Christ Return", Charisma News, January 9, 2019; "The Salt Lake Tribune en.wikipedia.org
- "The Salt Lake Tribune - Utah News, Sports, Religion & Entertainment". facts only, no text reused. archive.sltrib.com
- "Federal report: PTL president abuses donations", United Press International, January 27, 1986. facts only, no text reused. upi.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jim Bakker (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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