Jim Bakker

James Orson Bakker (born January 2, 1939 in Muskegon, Michigan) is an American televangelist, Assemblies of God preacher, and evangelist beset by scandal, and the former host of The PTL Club (PTL being an acronym for 'Praise the Lord' and 'People That Love') with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker.

History in Christian broadcasting

In the early 1960s, Bakker and his new wife Tammy began working with Pat Robertson at Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, which at the time barely reached an audience of thousands. The Bakkers greatly contributed to the growth of the network, but their success with a variety show format (including interviews and puppets) sparked controversy, and they were eventually forced out by Robertson in the early 1970s. Bakker was distraught but continued on. Robertson retained for his 700 Club show the successful format the Bakkers had devised, and that show became one of the longest running and most successful televangelism programs ever.

Related Topics:
1960s - Pat Robertson - Christian Broadcasting Network - 1970s - 700 Club

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Teaming with Paul and Jan Crouch, the Bakkers created the "Praise the Lord" show for the Crouchs' new Trinity Broadcasting Network in California. 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 to begin their own show, The PTL Club. This time, with the Bakkers fully in control, 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 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.

Related Topics:
Paul - Jan Crouch - Trinity Broadcasting Network - California - PTL - Charlotte

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By the early 1980s the Bakkers had built Heritage USA (in Fort Mill, south of Charlotte), then the third most successful theme park in the US, and a satellite system to distribute their network twenty-four hours a day across the country. Annual contributions requested from viewers were estimated to exceed one million dollars a week, with proceeds to go to expanding the theme park and mission of PTL.

Related Topics:
1980s - Heritage USA - Fort Mill - PTL

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Between 1984 and 1987, the Bakkers received annual salaries of $200,000 each and Jim awarded himself over $4 million in bonuses. Their assets at that time included a $600,000 house in Palm Springs, four condominiums in California, and a Rolls Royce. In their success, the Bakkers took conspicuous consumption to an unusual level for a non-profit. PTL once spent $100,000 for a private jet to fly the Bakkers' clothing across the country. It also once spent $100 for cinnamon rolls because the Bakkers wanted the smell of them in their hotel room. 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."

Related Topics:
Palm Springs - California - Rolls Royce - New Yorker

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