Jim Bakker, ‘PTL Club’ Televangelist and Former Husband of Tammy Faye, Dies at 86

Jim Bakker, the televangelist who became nationally known through “The PTL Club” before acknowledging a sexual encounter with a church employee and later facing financial-crime convictions, has died at 86.

His second wife, Lori Bakker, said Jim died Monday. His cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Bakker had suffered a stroke in 2020.

“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 said in a statement. “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 added.

Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Bakker attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye, his first wife. The couple married in 1961, left college and began a traveling ministry of their own. Bakker preached while Tammy Faye sang and played the accordion at churches and tent revivals across the country.

“In the 1960s, he joined the Christian Broadcasting Network under the direction of Pat Robertson. Jim developed one of the first daily, one-hour, kids’ shows for Christians called ‘Come On Over,’” according to a biography published on Bakker’s website. “He also later became the first host of a ground-breaking talk show called ‘The 700 Club,’ featuring many of the top ministers and singers of the day.”

Bakker departed CBN in 1972. Two years later, he created the PTL Satellite Network, whose flagship program was “The PTL Club,” with PTL meaning “Praise the Lord.”

At the height of its reach in the 1980s, “The PTL Club” attracted millions of viewers and generated millions of dollars each year from supporters, The Associated Press reported. The program combined conversations with guests and Christian performers, Bakker’s energetic preaching and Tammy Faye’s musical performances.

The Bakkers’ ministry also built Heritage USA, a Christian-themed amusement park and hotel complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

The ministry’s rapid rise began to collapse in March 1987, when Bakker acknowledged a sexual encounter with church secretary Jessica Hahn. He subsequently handed control of the operation to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.

The following year, an investigation into PTL’s finances led to Bakker’s indictment on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. He was convicted and initially sentenced to 45 years in federal prison; that term was later reduced to eight years.

After Bakker was convicted, Tammy Faye sang the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” at a news conference, according to the AP.

Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992, while he remained incarcerated, and later married building contractor Roe Messner, whose projects included Heritage USA. Messner served roughly two years in prison after a 1995 bankruptcy-fraud conviction. Tammy Faye died of colon cancer in 2007.

Bakker was paroled in 1995 and married Lori in 1998. Five years later, the couple launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL Satellite Network.

“The Jim Bakker Show is an hour-long daily broadcast featuring prophetic and Biblical revelations brought to light in today’s world. In these end times God is providing answers and wisdom to be revealed at just the right time. And the time is now!” the program’s website states.

Bakker and Tammy Faye had two children together. In 2002, Bakker and Lori adopted five children.

The Associated Press reported that Bakker and Morningside Church Productions Inc. reached a settlement in June 2021 over allegations that he falsely promoted the health supplement Silver Solution as a treatment for COVID-19. Under the agreement, $156,000 was to be refunded to people who paid for the product or contributed money to obtain it during the early months of the pandemic.