American televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar Christian television ministry before his career collapsed amid a sex scandal and fraud conviction, has died at the age of 86.
Bakker died on Monday, 5 October, according to his wife, Mrs Lori Bakker. His cause of death had not been disclosed as of Tuesday.
Mrs Bakker announced her husband’s death in a statement shared on social media, describing him as both her husband and a pioneer of Christian television.
“It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening.”
She said Bakker had spent decades preaching the Gospel and described him as her best friend and a man she was honoured to accompany through different seasons of his life and ministry.
Rise of the PTL Club
Bakker rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s alongside his first wife, Mrs Tammy Faye Bakker, through their Christian television programme, The PTL Club.
At its peak, the programme attracted as many as 13 million viewers nightly, while the couple’s ministry expanded into a large Christian media and entertainment empire that included the Heritage USA theme park and hotel.
Bakker and Tammy Faye met while studying at Bible college and married in 1961. They later launched their own television ministry after working with televangelist Pat Robertson and his Christian Broadcasting Network.
Scandal brought down ministry
Bakker’s television empire collapsed in 1987 after he admitted to a sexual encounter with church secretary Jessica Hahn.
He resigned from the PTL ministry amid the scandal, while investigations into the organisation’s finances subsequently led to criminal charges.
In 1989, Bakker was convicted of multiple counts of mail and wire fraud and conspiracy over a scheme involving money raised from followers. He was sentenced to prison, although the sentence was later reduced, and he was released on parole in 1994.
His marriage to Tammy Faye ended in divorce in 1992 while he was still incarcerated. She died of colon cancer in 2007.
Returned to television after prison
After his release, Bakker married Mrs Lori in 1998, and the couple later relaunched his television career.
The Jim Bakker Show began in 2003 and continued his involvement in Christian broadcasting, with the couple operating from the Branson area of Missouri.
Bakker also remained a controversial figure in his later years. In 2021, he and his company settled a lawsuit over claims that a product marketed on his programme could cure COVID-19. The settlement provided refunds to people who had purchased the product or contributed money for it.
A controversial legacy
Bakker’s death closes the chapter on one of the most dramatic careers in American televangelism, from building one of the country’s biggest Christian broadcasting empires to imprisonment over financial crimes, and eventually returning to television.
Despite the controversies surrounding his career, his influence on Christian television remained significant, with The PTL Club becoming one of the most recognisable religious programmes of its era.
Bakker’s death is likely to renew discussion about the rise of televangelism in the United States, the enormous financial influence of religious broadcasting and the accountability of religious leaders who control large media ministries.
His career also remains a cautionary example of how quickly public trust and religious institutions can be affected when allegations of personal misconduct and financial wrongdoing emerge.
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