Jim Bakker, the televangelist who amassed a multimillion‑dollar ministry and lived lavishly before his downfall in a sex scandal, fraud conviction and divorce from co‑host Tammy Faye, has died at the age of 86.
His passing, announced on social media by his second wife Lori Bakker, echoes the arc of a TV preacher who rose from the pulpit to a prison cell in the 1980s—a trajectory likened to the fictional Elmer Gantry.
She posted on the ministry’s Facebook and Instagram pages: “With a broken heart I announce that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, has gone to be with the Lord this evening.”
She described Bakker as a pioneer of Christian television, while the cause and circumstances of his death remain undisclosed.
After his release from prison, Bakker revived his television ministry in 2003 with a new wife and a fresh program, later becoming a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.
In the 1980s Bakker ranked among the most popular Christian televangelists, gaining fame through The PTL Club—whose initials stood for “Praise the Lord” and “People That Love.” Critics, noting his incessant pleas for donations, quipped that PTL really meant “pass the loot.”
He was convicted in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1989 of defrauding followers through a scheme that sold lifetime vacation packages at his Heritage USA Christian theme park, resulting in a four‑and‑a‑half‑year prison sentence.
Prosecutors portrayed him as a selfish, petty con artist motivated by greed and a hunger for power. Before sentencing, Judge Robert Potter remarked, “Those of us who do have a religion are sick of being saps for money‑grubbing preachers and priests.”
Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry in 1987 after news emerged of a 1980 sexual encounter with former church secretary Jessica Hahn—who later posed nude in Playboy—and a $265,000 payment from ministry funds to secure her silence. He was subsequently defrocked.
Together with his first wife, Tammy Faye, Bakker built a modest TV ministry into a multimillion‑dollar enterprise employing 2,000 people and encompassing the 2,300‑acre (930‑hectare) Heritage USA complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina. At its height, PTL reached 13 million viewers across 200 stations and generated roughly $129 million annually.
Coming from a working‑class background, Bakker’s affable style resonated with ordinary people. Unlike many televangelists who relied on fire‑and‑brimstone preaching, he delivered a friendly Christian message—though it was frequently intertwined with appeals for donations.
Tammy Faye, by contrast, was far more flamboyant, known for her enthusiastic singing and a tendency to tears that often left her heavy makeup running.
After a six‑week federal trial on 24 fraud and conspiracy charges, Bakker was found guilty. Prosecutors alleged he defrauded followers of $158 million by selling nonexistent lifetime vacation packages and diverted $3.7 million to fund a lavish lifestyle that included multiple homes, luxury cars, mink coats, diamonds, servants—and even an air‑conditioned dog house.
The judge initially sentenced him to 45 years in prison, a term that was later reduced. Bakker told the court, “I have sinned; I have made mistakes, but I never intended to defraud anyone.”
Bakker’s chief aide, Richard Dortch, served 18 months of an eight‑year sentence after pleading guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testimony against Bakker.
Tammy Faye faced no charges. She stood by Bakker during the trial—even singing to reporters after his conviction—but divorced him in 1992 while he was incarcerated. She died of cancer in 2007.
After his release from prison in 1994, Bakker began anew, renouncing the prosperity gospel he once promoted and authoring the book *I Was Wrong*.
In a 2000 CNN interview, Bakker said, “I’ve been given a second chance at life, and I have a beautiful wife who loves me,” referring to Lori, whom he married in 1998.
The couple launched a joint TV ministry in 2003, and in 2008 began taping *The Jim Bakker Show* at Morningside, a 600‑acre development near Branson, Missouri—a setting reminiscent of Heritage USA. Once again, Bakker appealed to his audience for donations.
In 2020 Bakker attracted the ire of state and federal authorities for promoting a bogus COVID‑19 treatment during the pandemic.
In 2017 Bakker warned that Christians would resort to civil war if Trump were impeached; Trump subsequently became the first U.S. president to face impeachment twice.
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