Jim Bakker, the televangelist who built one of America’s most powerful Christian television empires before a sex scandal and fraud conviction brought it crashing down, has died.
He was 86.
Bakker died Monday, Oct. 5, according to his second wife, Lori Bakker, who announced his death on social media.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
Lori described her husband as a pioneer of Christian television and said he had “finished his race with faith.”
Bakker became one of the most recognizable televangelists in America during the 1970s and 1980s alongside his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker.
Together, they hosted The PTL Club, a religious television program that mixed preaching, music, celebrity interviews and aggressive fundraising.
At its peak, the PTL television network reached roughly 13 million households.
The ministry eventually grew into a sprawling multimillion-dollar operation that included Heritage USA, a 2,300-acre Christian theme park and resort in South Carolina.
The organization was reportedly bringing in at least $129 million annually before Bakker’s spectacular fall from power.
That collapse began in 1987.
Bakker resigned from the ministry after reports revealed that church secretary Jessica Hahn had received approximately $265,000 following a sexual encounter with Bakker years earlier.
Hahn later alleged the encounter was not consensual. Bakker maintained a different account of what occurred.
The scandal opened the door to greater scrutiny of PTL’s finances.
Federal prosecutors eventually accused Bakker of raising enormous sums from followers by selling memberships that promised vacation stays at Heritage USA even though the resort did not have enough accommodations to fulfill all of those promises.
In 1989, a federal jury convicted Bakker on 24 counts involving mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy.
He was initially sentenced to 45 years in federal prison and fined $500,000.
That sentence was later overturned and reduced.
Bakker ultimately spent roughly five years behind bars before being released in 1994.
While he was incarcerated, Tammy Faye divorced him.
Bakker later said his prison experience caused him to rethink the prosperity gospel he had once promoted — the belief that financial success can be a sign of divine blessing.
But his time in the public spotlight was far from over.
Bakker married Lori Graham in 1998 and eventually returned to Christian television.
The Jim Bakker Show launched in 2003 from the Branson, Missouri, area, once again giving him a national platform.
His comeback brought fresh controversy.
During Donald Trump’s first presidency, Bakker became a vocal supporter of Trump.
In 2017, while discussing the possibility of Trump being impeached, Bakker warned that such a move could lead to “a civil war in the United States of America” and said Christians would “come out of the shadows.”
Trump was ultimately impeached twice by the U.S. House, in 2019 and 2021, and was acquitted by the Senate both times.
Bakker also faced government action during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered The Jim Bakker Show to stop marketing colloidal silver products after claims were made suggesting they could combat coronavirus.
Federal health authorities had warned that colloidal silver had not been shown to safely or effectively treat COVID-19 or other diseases.
Missouri officials also sued over the product’s marketing.
Bakker later agreed to refund consumers who had purchased the product.
His health became an issue during his later years as well.
Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020 but eventually returned to broadcasting.
Despite decades of controversy, legal trouble and one of the most dramatic downfalls in American televangelism, he continued preaching and appearing on television well into his 80s.
His life also remained closely tied to the legacy of Tammy Faye, who died in 2007 and whose own story was later portrayed in books, documentaries and the Oscar-winning film The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Bakker is survived by Lori, as well as children from his marriages and extended family.