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{{Infobox clergy
| name = Jim Bakker
| image = Jim Bakker 1977.png
| caption = Bakker in
| birth_name = James Orsen Bakker
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|1|2}}
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}}
'''James Orsen Bakker''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|k|ər}};<ref name=Time06-2001>{{cite magazine|last=Ostling|first=Richard N.|author-link=Richard N. Ostling|title=Power, Glory – and Politics|date=June 24, 2001|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101860217-143137,00.html|access-date=November 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308110631/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101860217-143137,00.html|archive-date=March 8, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> born January 2, 1940) is an American
In the late 1980s, Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry over a cover-up of hush money to church secretary [[Jessica Hahn]] for an alleged [[rape]]. Subsequent revelations of [[accounting fraud]] brought about felony charges, conviction, imprisonment, and divorce. Bakker later remarried and returned to televangelism, founding Morningside Church in [[Blue Eye, Missouri|Blue Eye]], [[Missouri]], and reestablishing the PTL ministry. He currently hosts ''The Jim Bakker Show'', which focuses on the [[Eschatology|end times]] and the [[Second Coming]] of Christ while promoting [[survivalism|emergency survival]] products. Bakker has written several books, including ''I Was Wrong'' and ''Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead''.
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James Orsen Bakker was born in [[Muskegon, Michigan|Muskegon]], [[Michigan]], the son of Raleigh Bakker and Furnia Lynette "Furn" Irwin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=doYfAAAAIBAJ&pg=6009,3137616&dq=finding-refuge-in-a-doting-grandmother&hl=en|title=Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search|work=google.ca|access-date=September 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213143115/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=doYfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nM4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6009,3137616&dq=finding-refuge-in-a-doting-grandmother&hl=en|archive-date=February 13, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker attended [[North Central University]], a [[Minneapolis]] [[bible college]] affiliated with the [[Assemblies of God USA|Assemblies of God]], where he met fellow student [[Tammy Faye Messner|Tammy Faye LaValley]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite news|last=Welch|first=William M.|title=Ex-wife of evangelist Jim Bakker dies|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=July 21, 2007|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-21-tammy-faye_N.htm|access-date=November 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523233146/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-21-tammy-faye_N.htm|archive-date=May 23, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker worked at a restaurant in the [[Young–Quinlan Building|Young-Quinlan]] department store in Minneapolis; Tammy Faye worked at the Three Sisters, a nearby boutique.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sturdevant|first1=Andy|url=https://www.minnpost.com/stroll/2014/05/tammy-faye-bakkers-year-minneapolis-scoping-out-sites-college-marriage-and-ministry|title=Tammy Faye Bakker's year in Minneapolis: scoping out the sites, from college to marriage and ministry|newspaper=[[MinnPost]]|date=May 28, 2014|access-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203075601/https://www.minnpost.com/stroll/2014/05/tammy-faye-bakkers-year-minneapolis-scoping-out-sites-college-marriage-and-ministry|archive-date=February 3, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Bakkers married on April 1, 1961, and left college to become [[Itinerant minister|itinerant]] [[Evangelism|evangelists]]. They had two children, Tammy Sue "Sissy" Bakker Chapman (born March 2, 1970) and [[Jay Bakker|Jamie Charles "Jay" Bakker]] (born December 18, 1975). The couple divorced on March 13, 1992.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tammy Faye Bakker Gets Divorce, Custody of Son, 16|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-14/news/mn-3158_1_tammy-faye-bakker|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 14, 1992|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009180218/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-14/news/mn-3158_1_tammy-faye-bakker|archive-date=October 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 4, 1998, Bakker married Lori Beth Graham, a former televangelist, fifty days after they met.<ref>{{cite news |last=Garfield |first=Ken |date=April 1, 2000 |title=The Preacher's Wife: Lori Beth Bakker says she is her own woman |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=20000401&id=YWQzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6682,207555 |newspaper=[[The Free Lance-Star]] |location=Fredericksburg, VA |access-date=September 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094010/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=20000401&id=YWQzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cwgGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6682,207555 |archive-date=April 29, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2002, they [[adopted]] five children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://jimbakkershow.com/about-us/about-jim/|title=About Pastor Jim Bakker {{!}} The Jim Bakker Show|work=The Jim Bakker Show|access-date=October 1, 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001220448/https://jimbakkershow.com/about-us/about-jim/|archive-date=October 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/65297-jim-bakker-s-son-the-no-1-thing-to-remember-when-dealing-with-immigrants|title=Jim Bakker's Son: The No. 1 Thing to Remember When Dealing With Immigrants|last=Lancaster|first=Jessilyn|website=Charisma News|date=June 2, 2017 |language=en|access-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041816/https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/65297-jim-bakker-s-son-the-no-1-thing-to-remember-when-dealing-with-immigrants|archive-date=January 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.charismanews.com/culture/74716-exclusive-jim-bakker-s-son-ricky-believes-this-is-the-generation-that-will-see-christ-return|title=EXCLUSIVE: Jim Bakker's Son Ricky Believes This Is the Generation That Will See Christ Return|last=Staff|first=Charisma|website=Charisma News|date=January 9, 2019 |language=en|access-date=March 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203032906/https://www.charismanews.com/culture/74716-exclusive-jim-bakker-s-son-ricky-believes-this-is-the-generation-that-will-see-christ-return|archive-date=February 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}
==Career==
===Early career===
In 1966, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker began working at [[Pat Robertson]]'s [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] (CBN) in [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Portsmouth]], [[Virginia]], which had an audience in the low thousands at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Lived Here - in a Kit Home!|url=http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/2011/11/23/jim-and-tammy-faye-bakker-lived-here-in-a-kit-home/|publisher=Sears Home|website=searshome.org|date=November 23, 2011|access-date=February 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215024019/http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/2011/11/23/jim-and-tammy-faye-bakker-lived-here-in-a-kit-home/|archive-date=February 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Bakkers contributed to the network's growth, hosting a children's variety show called ''Come On Over'' that employed comic routines with [[puppet]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, "On her first television appearance and creating The Jim and Tammy Show |website=Television Academy Foundation Interviews |date=October 23, 2017 |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/jim-and-tammy-show |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408085932/https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/jim-and-tammy-show |archive-date=April 8, 2019 }}</ref> Due to the success of ''Come On Over'', Robertson made Bakker the host of a new prime-time talk show, ''[[The 700 Club]]'', which gradually became CBN's flagship program.<ref name=wapo>{{Cite news|title=Robertson's Bakker Connection|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/02/06/robertsons-bakker-connection/f558f67c-c4f5-489c-b733-e768d1daacdc/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 6, 1988|access-date=February 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311081305/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/02/06/robertsons-bakker-connection/f558f67c-c4f5-489c-b733-e768d1daacdc/|archive-date=March 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Bakkers left CBN in 1973 and, soon after, joined with [[Paul Crouch|Paul]] and [[Jan Crouch]] to help co-found the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] (TBN) in [[California]]. However, this partnership lasted only eight months until a falling-out between Jim Bakker and Paul Crouch caused the Bakkers to eventually leave the new network.
===PTL===
[[File:HeritageUSASign.jpg|thumb|Heritage USA sign in 2007. The site is now mostly demolished.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Remnants Of This Abandoned Theme Park In South Carolina Are Hauntingly Beautiful|last1=Jarvis|first1=Robin|url=http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/abandoned-theme-park-sc/|publisher=onlyinyourstate|website=onlyinyourstate.com|date=June 3, 2017|access-date=February 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213022309/http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/abandoned-theme-park-sc/|archive-date=February 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Throughout the 1970s, Bakker built a headquarters for PTL in [[the Carolinas]] called Heritage Village.<ref name="buzzfeed"/> Over time, the Bakkers expanded the ministry to include the [[Heritage USA]] theme park in [[Fort Mill, South Carolina|Fort Mill]], [[South Carolina]], which became the third most successful theme park in the U.S. at the time. Viewer contributions were estimated to exceed $1 million a week, with proceeds to expand the theme park and ''The PTL Club''{{'s}} mission.<ref name=Time06-2001 /><ref>{{cite news|title=Televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's fall from grace|last=Connelly|first=Sherryl|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/televangelists-jim-tammy-faye-bakker-fall-grace-article-1.3387060|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|date=August 5, 2017|access-date=February 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213022105/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/televangelists-jim-tammy-faye-bakker-fall-grace-article-1.3387060|archive-date=February 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker responded to inquiries about his use of mass media by saying: "I believe that if [[Jesus]] were alive today, he would be on TV".<ref>{{cite web|last=Shepherd|first=Steve|title=Submit Yourselves To God|url=https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/submit-yourselves-to-god-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-authority-166240|website=Sermon Central|quote=I believe that if Jesus were alive today, he would be on TV|date=April 17, 2012|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213195629/https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/submit-yourselves-to-god-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-authority-166240|archive-date=February 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
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A sentence-reduction hearing was held on November 16, 1992, and Bakker's sentence was reduced to eight years. In August 1993, he was transferred to a minimum-security federal prison in [[Jesup, Georgia]]. Bakker was [[parole]]d in July 1994, after serving almost five years of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jim Bakker freed from jail to stay in a halfway house |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/02/us/jim-bakker-freed-from-jail-to-stay-in-a-halfway-house.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 2, 1994 |access-date=March 11, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311081429/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/02/us/jim-bakker-freed-from-jail-to-stay-in-a-halfway-house.html |archive-date=March 11, 2018}}</ref> His son, Jay, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the parole board advocating leniency.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bakker |first=Jay |author-link=Jay Bakker |title=Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows |year=2001 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=006251699X}}</ref> Celebrity lawyer [[Alan Dershowitz]] acted as Bakker's parole attorney, having said that he "would guarantee that Mr. Bakker would never again engage in the blend of religion and commerce that led to his conviction."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/us/judge-cuts-bakker-s-prison-term-making-parole-possible-in-4-years.html |title=Judge cuts Bakker's prison term, making parole possible in 4 years |last=Applebome |first=Peter |date=24 August 1991 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=15 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515161918/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/us/judge-cuts-bakker-s-prison-term-making-parole-possible-in-4-years.html |archive-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> Bakker was released from [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] custody on December 1, 1994,<ref>{{cite news |last=Smothers |first=Ronald |title=Ex-television evangelist Bakker ends prison sentence for fraud |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/us/ex-television-evangelist-bakker-ends-prison-sentence-for-fraud.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 2, 1994 |access-date=February 21, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030215/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/us/ex-television-evangelist-bakker-ends-prison-sentence-for-fraud.html |archive-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref> owing $6 million to the IRS.<ref>{{cite news | last=Krotz | first=Daniel | url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-krotz/jim-bakker-and-other-coun_b_795822.html | work=[[Huffington Post]] | title=Jim Bakker and the counterfeit hell robbers | date=December 20, 2010 | access-date=February 18, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204062348/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-krotz/jim-bakker-and-other-coun_b_795822.html | archive-date=February 4, 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>
<!--The reporting is problematic. First is the claim of parole. Parole at the Federal level was eliminated by the Sentencing Act of 1984 <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/98th-congress/house-bill/5773 |title=H.R.5773 - Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=January 21, 2021
In addition the federal sentencing method was based on a system of points, where points were added or subtracted depending on various factors including the particular crimes. Using a chart prepared by the US Sentencing Commission the total of the points indicated the sentencing range. A change of eight years to 45 years is way outside the range of any one total of points.<ref>[https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2016/Sentencing_Table.pdf ussc.gov]</ref> For the 4th Circuit to require a resentencing, that required that the District Court to modify the convictions.
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Bakker's revived show features a number of ministers who bill themselves as "prophets". He now says that "PTL" stands for "Prophets Talking Loud".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jimbakkershow.com/news/the-5-principles-of-faith/|title=The 5 Principles of Faith|first=Jim|last=Bakker|date=June 22, 2016|access-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703005054/https://jimbakkershow.com/news/the-5-principles-of-faith/|archive-date=July 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
In an October 2017 video, Bakker said that "God will punish those" who ridicule him;<ref>{{cite web|last=Mazza|first=Ed|title=Jim Bakker Says God Will Punish You For Making Fun Of Him|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-bakker-stop-making-fun-of-me_us_59e593f3e4b0a2324d1d2f54|quote=Jim Bakker: One day, you're going to shake your fist in God's face. And you're going to say, 'God, why didn't you warn me?' He's gonna say, 'You sat there and you made fun of Jim Bakker all those years. I warned you, but you didn't listen.|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=October 17, 2017|access-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107145213/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-bakker-stop-making-fun-of-me_us_59e593f3e4b0a2324d1d2f54|archive-date=January 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> he has said that [[Hurricane Harvey]] was a judgment of God, and he blamed [[Hurricane Matthew]] on then-President [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Disgraced pastor Jim Bakker says Hurricane Harvey was 'judgment' from God while selling his Tasty Pantry bucket for $175|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/disgraced-pastor-jim-bakker-calls-hurricane-harvey-judgement-article-1.3473935|work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York|date=September 5, 2017|access-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083505/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/disgraced-pastor-jim-bakker-calls-hurricane-harvey-judgement-article-1.3473935|archive-date=February 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Tashman|first=Brian|title=Jim Bakker Blames Hurricane Matthew On Obama|url=http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-blames-hurricane-matthew-on-obama/ |publisher=Right Wing Watch|date=October 17, 2016|access-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083601/http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-blames-hurricane-matthew-on-obama/|archive-date=February 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker predicted that if then-President [[Donald Trump]] was [[Efforts to impeach Donald Trump|impeached]], Christians would begin a Second American Civil War.<ref>{{cite web|title=Televangelist Jim Bakker: Christians will start a civil war if Trump is impeached|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|quote=Jim Bakker: If it happens, there will be a civil war in the United States of America. |last=Delk |first=Josh |url=
On the ''Stand in the Gap Today'' radio program, Pennsylvania Pastors Network president Sam Rohrer criticized Bakker's civil-war prediction.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gryboski|first=Michael|title=Pastors Network Pres: Jim Bakker Is Wrong, Christians Won't Start 'Civil War' Over Trump Impeachment|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/pastors-network-president-jim-bakker-wrong-christians-wont-start-civil-war-over-trump-impeachment-197355/|work=[[The Christian Post]]|date=August 31, 2017|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073339/https://www.christianpost.com/news/pastors-network-president-jim-bakker-wrong-christians-wont-start-civil-war-over-trump-impeachment-197355/|archive-date=February 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Christian Today]]'' criticized Bakker's show for preying on "the most vulnerable kinds of people" and claimed that it had "no place on our TV screens."<ref>{{cite web|last=Saunders|first=Martin|title=Jim Bakker's TV show amounts to spiritual abuse – so why is he still broadcasting?|url=https://www.christiantoday.com/uk/jim-bakkers-tv-show-amounts-to-spiritual-abuse-so-why-is-he-still-broadcasting/128881.htm|work=[[Christian Today]]|date=May 1, 2018|access-date=May 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502064231/https://www.christiantoday.com/uk/jim-bakkers-tv-show-amounts-to-spiritual-abuse-so-why-is-he-still-broadcasting/128881.htm|archive-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
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