By Aldgra Fredly
Contributing Writer
Jim Bakker, who built an evangelical media empire with his former wife, Tammy Faye, during the 1970s, has died at age 86.
His second wife, Lori Bakker, said the televangelist died on Monday. She did not provide any details about the cause of death.
“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 Facebook post.
She described Bakker as a “pioneer of Christian television” who loved people deeply and was devoted to his ministry. She said that even in his final days, Bakker remained committed to his work for God and for the Gospel to continue reaching the world.
“Our family is grieving and we ask for your prayers and privacy during this time. Jim finished his race with faith. His voice, his vision, and his legacy will never be forgotten,” she said.
Jay Bakker, the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye, also confirmed his father’s passing in a social media post. He said that he had a complicated relationship with the televangelist.
“We had a very complicated relationship and he was also my father and a grandfather and I need to mourn in my own time,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“I need the freedom to feel anger and feel loss and not have other people add their two cents please respect this time for me and my family.”
Jim Bakker founded “The PTL Club,” a religious talk show he co-hosted with then-wife Faye from 1974 to 1987. That year, their empire began to crack after Jim Bakker admitted to having a sexual encounter with the secretary of a church on Long Island, 21-year-old Jessica Hahn. Hahn claimed she was raped.
Jim Bakker was forced to resign from the empire and turned over its operations to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.
In 1978, Jim Bakker also founded a Christian-themed resort named Heritage USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina, which drew more than 6 million visitors a year at its peak. The resort’s finances deteriorated following Bakker’s federal indictment and eventually closed down in 1989.
In 1988, Jim Bakker was indicted on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud following an investigation into PTL’s finances. Prosecutors accused him of defrauding his followers through a partnership scheme in which he promised annual vacation stays at the resort in exchange for a $1,000 donation, but he did not deliver.
He was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, though the sentence was later reduced to eight years.
Faye divorced Bakker in 1992 while he was serving his prison sentence. She died of colon cancer at the age of 65 in 2007. They shared two children.
Bakker was released from prison on parole in 1995 after serving nearly five years. He married Lori in 1998, and they adopted five children in 2002. The couple launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL Satellite Network in 2003.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
