| James Orsen Bakker | |
| Born | January 2, 1940 in Muskegon, Michigan, United States of America Age: 68 |
|---|---|
| Church | Assemblies of God |
| Congregations served | The PTL Club, Heritage USA, Heritage Village Church, Morningside Church |
| Spouse | Tammy Faye Bakker (1961–1992) Lori Bakker (1998–present) |
| Children | Tammy Sue Bakker Chapman Jamie Charles ("Jay") Bakker |
James Orsen Bakker (born January 2, 1940, in Muskegon, Michigan) is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, and a former host (with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker) of The PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Muskegon (mus-kēg'n is a city in the US state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 40105 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The World Assemblies of God Fellowship, or Assemblies of God for short is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination with over 283413 churches and outstations PTL (stands for "Praise The Lord" or "People that Love" was the flagship program of the PTL Satellite Network of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Heritage USA is the now defunct 2300 Acre (9 km² Christian Theme park / Water park /residential complex built in Fort Mill Tamara "Tammy" Faye Messner ( March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American Christian singer, evangelist Lori Graham Bakker is the second wife of Televangelist Jim Bakker. Jamie Charles (Jay Bakker ( December 18, 1975) is an American Christian pastor and the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Muskegon (mus-kēg'n is a city in the US state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 40105 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Televangelism is the use of Television to communicate the Christian faith The World Assemblies of God Fellowship, or Assemblies of God for short is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination with over 283413 churches and outstations Tamara "Tammy" Faye Messner ( March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American Christian singer, evangelist PTL (stands for "Praise The Lord" or "People that Love" was the flagship program of the PTL Satellite Network of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about his imprisonment and divorce and effectively ended his time in the larger public eye. Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage.
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Personal information
In 1960, Bakker met Tammy Faye LaValley while both were students at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tamara "Tammy" Faye Messner ( March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American Christian singer, evangelist North Central University is a Coeducational, Undergraduate, primarily Residential college owned and operated by 11 Assemblies of God districts [1] Tammy Faye worked in a boutique for a time while Jim found work in a restaurant inside a department store in Minneapolis. They were married on April 1, 1961, and left the Bible College to become itinerant evangelists. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. They had two children: daughter Tammy Sue (Sissy) Bakker Chapman (born March 2, 1970) and son Jamie Charles (Jay) Bakker (born December 18, 1975). Events 986 - Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1127 - Assassination of Charles the Good Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Jamie Charles (Jay Bakker ( December 18, 1975) is an American Christian pastor and the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Jim and Tammy Bakker divorced on March 13, 1992, and he married Lori Graham Bakker in 1998. Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Lori Graham Bakker is the second wife of Televangelist Jim Bakker.
Early career
In 1966, the Bakkers began working at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, which at the time barely reached an audience of thousands. Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22 1930 is a controversial Televangelist from the United States. The Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, is a Christian Television broadcasting network in the United States. The Bakkers greatly contributed to the growth of the network, and their success with a variety show format (including interviews and puppets) helped make The 700 Club one of the longest-running and most successful televangelism programs. The 700 Club is the flagship news Talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing on cable's ABC Family and in syndication [2] The "Jim and Tammy Show" was broadcast for a few years from their Portsmouth, Virginia, studio. Portsmouth is an Independent city located in the US Commonwealth of Virginia. It was aimed at young children, whom they entertained with such films as "Davey and Goliath", a claymation Bible-story series. Davey and Goliath was the title of a 1960s Stop-motion animated television series Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The Bakkers then left for California in the mid-1970s.
Teaming with Paul and Jan Crouch, the Bakkers created the "Praise the Lord" show for the Crouches' new Trinity Broadcasting Network in California. Paul Franklin Crouch (born March 29, 1934) is the American Co-founder, Chairman and President of the Trinity Jan Crouch (born Janice Wendell Bethany, 1937 is the co-founder vice-president and director of programming of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, or TBN the The Trinity Broadcasting Network ( TBN) is a Christian television network headquartered in Costa Mesa California with studios in Irving Texas California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. While that relationship lasted only about a year, this time the Bakkers retained the rights to use the initials PTL and traveled east to Charlotte, North Carolina, to begin their own show, The PTL Club. PTL (stands for "Praise The Lord" or "People that Love" was the flagship program of the PTL Satellite Network of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Their show grew quickly until it was carried by close to a hundred stations, with average viewers numbering over twelve million, and the Bakkers had established their own network, The PTL Television Network (also known as PTL-The Inspirational Network). They attributed much of their success to decisions early on to accept all denominations and to refuse no one regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or criminal record.
By the early 1980s the Bakkers had built Heritage USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina, (south of Charlotte), then the third most successful theme park in the U. Heritage USA is the now defunct 2300 Acre (9 km² Christian Theme park / Water park /residential complex built in Fort Mill Fort Mill is a town in Lancaster and York counties in the US state of South Carolina, and a Suburb of the city of Charlotte S. , and a satellite system to distribute their network 24 hours a day across the country. Contributions requested from viewers were estimated to exceed $1 million a week, with proceeds to go to expanding the theme park and mission of PTL. [3] In justifying his use of the mass media, Bakker responded to inquiries by likening his use of television to Jesus's use of the amphitheater of the time. "I believe that if Jesus were alive today he would be on TV," Bakker said.
In their success, the Bakkers took conspicuous consumption to an unusual level for a non-profit organization. According to Frances FitzGerald in an April 1987 New Yorker article, "They epitomized the excesses of the 1980s; the greed, the love of glitz, and the shamelessness; which in their case was so pure as to almost amount to a kind of innocence. The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry "
Scandals
On March 19, 1987, following the revelation of a payoff to a young woman named Jessica Hahn, whom Bakker's staff members had paid $279,000 from PTL funds to keep secret her allegation that he had raped her, Bakker resigned from PTL. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Jessica Hahn (born July 7, 1959 in Massapequa New York) is a model actress and former church secretary best known for her Sex scandal [4] Bakker acknowledges he met Hahn at a hotel room in Clearwater Beach, Florida, but denies raping her. Following Bakker's resignation as PTL head, he was succeeded in late March, 1987, by Jerry Falwell. Jerry Lamon Falwell Sr ( August 11 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American evangelical Christian Pastor, [5] Later that summer, as donations sharply declined in the wake of Bakker's resignation and the end of the Bakkers' popular PTL Club TV show, Falwell raised $20 million to help keep the Heritage USA Theme Park solvent, including a well-publicized waterslide plunge there. Heritage USA is the now defunct 2300 Acre (9 km² Christian Theme park / Water park /residential complex built in Fort Mill [6]. Falwell called Bakker a liar, an embezzler, a sexual deviant, and "the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings "[7] In 1988, Falwell said that the Bakker scandal had "strengthened broadcast evangelism and made Christianity stronger, more mature and more committed". [8] Bakker's son, Jay, wrote in 2001 that the Bakkers felt betrayed by Falwell, whom they thought at the time Bakker's resignation was intending to help in Bakker's eventual restoration as head of the PTL ministry organization. [2]
PTL's fund raising activities between 1984–1987 underwent scrutiny by The Charlotte Observer newspaper, eventually leading to criminal charges against Jim Bakker. The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper in terms of circulation in North From 1984 to 1987, Bakker and his PTL associates had "sold lifetime memberships" for $1,000 or more that entitled buyers to a three-night stay annually at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA. Heritage USA is the now defunct 2300 Acre (9 km² Christian Theme park / Water park /residential complex built in Fort Mill According to the prosecution at Bakker's later fraud trial, tens of thousands of memberships had been sold, but only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. Bakker sold more "exclusive partnerships" than could be accommodated, while raising more than twice the money needed to build the actual hotel. A good deal of the money went into Heritage USA's operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3. Heritage USA is the now defunct 2300 Acre (9 km² Christian Theme park / Water park /residential complex built in Fort Mill 4 million in bonuses for himself, along with the $279,000 payoff for Jessica Hahn's silence. [4]
Bakker, who apparently made all of the financial decisions for the PTL organization, allegedly kept two sets of books to conceal the accounting irregularities. Reporters from The Charlotte Observer, led by Charles Shepard, investigated and published a series of articles regarding the PTL organization's finances. [9]
Legal problems
Following a 16-month Federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. In the Common law legal system an indictment (ɪnˈdaɪtmənt (in-DITE-mint is a formal accusation of having committed a criminal offense Mail fraud refers to any scheme which attempts to unlawfully obtain money or valuables in which the Postal system is used at any point in the commission of a criminal offense Wire fraud is a legal concept in the United States Code which provides for enhanced penalty of any criminally fraudulent activity if it is determined that the activity involved A racket is an illegal business usually run as part of Organized crime. [10][4] In 1989, after a five week trial in Charlotte, the jury found him guilty on all 24 counts, and Judge Robert Potter sentenced him to 45 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. See also List of US state prisons, List of US military prisons This is a list of U [11]
He served time in the Federal Medical Center, Rochester in Rochester, Minnesota. Federal Medical Center Rochester (FMC Rochester is a United States Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in southeast Minnesota which provides specialized Rochester is a City in the US state of Minnesota and is the County seat of Olmsted County.
In early 1991, a federal appeals court upheld Bakker's conviction on the fraud and conspiracy charges, but voided Bakker's 45-year sentence, as well as the $500,000 fine, and ordered that a new sentencing hearing be held. At that hearing, Bakker was sentenced to 18 years in prison. [11]
In 1993, after serving almost five years of his sentence, Bakker was granted parole. Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system [11] Bakker's son, Jay, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the parole board on his father's behalf, urging leniency. [2]
A federal jury subsequently ruled that PTL was not selling securities by offering Lifetime Partnerships at Heritage USA, as Bakker had contended.
On July 23, 1996, a North Carolina jury threw out a class action suit brought on behalf of more than 160,000 onetime supporters who contributed as much as $7,000 each to Bakker's coffers in the 1980s. Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States In Law, a class action or a representative action is a form of Lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court
The Charlotte Observer reported that the Internal Revenue Service still holds Bakker and Roe Messner, Tammy Faye's husband from 1993 until her death in 2007, liable for personal income taxes owed from the 1980s when they were building the PTL empire, taxes assessed after the IRS revoked the PTL ministry's nonprofit status. The Ronald Roe Messner (born circa 1935 is an American building contractor who has built more than 1700 churches including several Megachurches Having divorced his first wife Tammy Faye Messner's new husband said that the original tax amount was about $500,000, with penalties and interest accounting for the rest. The notices reinstating the liens list "James O. and Tamara F. Bakker" as owing $3,000,000, on which liens the Bakkers still pay.
Philosophy
Bakker has renounced his past teachings on prosperity theology, saying they were wrong. Prosperity theology is the teaching that an authentic religious belief and behavior in a person will result in their material prosperity In his 1996 book, I Was Wrong, he admitted that the first time he read the Bible all the way through was in prison, and that it made him realize he had taken certain passages out of context - passages which he had used as "proof texts" to back up his prosperity teachings. He wrote:
| “ | The more I studied the Bible, however, I had to admit that the prosperity message did not line up with the tenor of Scripture. My heart was crushed to think that I led so many people astray. I was appalled that I could have been so wrong, and I was deeply grateful that God had not struck me dead as a false prophet![12] | ” |
In 1998, Bakker released another book, Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse, and, in 2000, he published The Refuge: The Joy of Christian Community in a Torn-Apart World.
His son, Jay, who is now a minister at Revolution Church in New York City, wrote of the PTL years in his book, Son of a Preacher Man: "The world at large has focused on my parents' preaching of prosperity, but. The City of New York . . I heard a different message — one of forgiveness and the abundance of God's love. I remember my dad always seating a mentally handicapped man in the front row and hugging him. And when vandals burned an African American church down, Dad made sure its parishioners got the funds to rebuild. His goal was to make PTL a place where anyone with a need could walk in off the streets and have that need met. "[2]
Later career
In January 2003, Bakker began broadcasting the daily Jim Bakker Show at Studio City Cafe in Branson, Missouri, with his second wife, Lori Bakker. Branson is a city in Stone and Taney counties in the US state of Missouri. Lori Graham Bakker is the second wife of Televangelist Jim Bakker. It is carried on the DISH and DirecTV satellite networks and the CTN cable network. Not be confused with Indian Service Dish TV DISH Network is a Direct broadcast satellite (DBS service that provides Satellite television DirecTV (trademarked as "DIREC' TV' " is a Direct broadcast satellite (DBS service based in El Segundo California, USA, that was founded Christian Television Network ( CTN) is a not-for-profit Broadcast television network of small owned-and-operated stations that broadcasts religious programming
In January 2008, Bakker's ministry moved into a new, elaborate television studio near Branson. The studio is housed within a 600-acre development that resembles Bakker's former location, Heritage USA. Most or all of the property in the new development (named Morningside) is owned by associates of Bakker, rather than Bakker himself. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has pointed out, Bakker is still in debt to the IRS for about $6 million. [13]
See also
References
- ^ Welch, William M. (July 21, 2007). Events 356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "Ex-wife of evangelist Jim Bakker dies". USA Today. USA TODAY is a national American daily Newspaper published by the Gannett Company. Retrieved on 2007-11-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe
- ^ a b c d Jay Bakker, Son of a Preacher Man. New York: Harper Collins, 2001 (ISBN 0-06-251698-1).
- ^ Power, Glory and Politics, Richard Ostling, TIME magazine
- ^ a b c Ostling, Richard N.. Richard and Joan Ostling are United States Authors and Journalists living in Ridgewood New Jersey. Richard and Joan Ostling are United States Authors and Journalists living in Ridgewood New Jersey. "Jim Bakker's Crumbling World", Time, December 19, 1988. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved on 2007-12-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations.
- ^ Taking Command at Fort Mill, Richard Ostling, TIME magazine, May 11, 1987
- ^ "American Notes: Fund Raising", Time, September 21, 1987. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved on 2007-11-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe
- ^ Tammy Faye Bakker - Obituary
- ^ "Preacher Scandals Strengthen TV Evangelism, Falwell Says". The Washington Post (March 19, 1988). The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved on 2007-12-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations.
- ^ Ostling, Richard N. . "Enterprising Evangelism", Time, August 3, 1987. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved on 2007-01-27. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.
- ^ U. S. v. Bakker, (C. A. 4, 1991), 925 F. 2d 728, 740, case no. 89-5687
- ^ a b c Peifer, Justice Paul E. (April 12, 2000). Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. "Jim Bakker's Federal Court Appeal". Supreme Court of Ohio website. Retrieved on 2007-11-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe
- ^ Jim Bakker, I Was Wrong. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1996 (ISBN 0785274251), p. 535.
- ^ STLtoday - Jim Bakker, with the PTL and prison behind him, dreams big in Missouri
External links
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