Jim Bakker, who built ‘PTL Club’ televangelism empire, has died at 86

Jim Bakker, who along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful “The PTL Club” TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes, has died. He was 86.

Bakker died Monday, his second wife, Lori Bakker, said in a statement. His cause of death was not immediately clear.

The pair lived near the Missouri entertainment town of Branson and filmed their TV show “The Jim Bakker Show” there since it launched in 2003. Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020.

“He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry,” Lori Bakker said in a statement.

But it was another evangelical program that made Jim and and his first wife Tammy Faye Bakker cultural icons — so much so that they were often skewered in the 1980s and 1990s by late-night comedians and parodied on “Saturday Night Live.” A theatrical movie on their lives, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” was released in September 2021.

At its peak in the mid-1980s, the Bakkers’ ministry included not only the TV show drawing up to 13 million nightly viewers but also the Christian-based Heritage USA theme park and hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Bakker was born in Muskegon Michigan, and attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye. They married in 1961 and dropped out of college to start their own traveling ministry — he preached, she sang and played the accordion as they crossed the country visiting churches and tent revivals.

They caught the attention of televangelist Pat Robertson, and in 1965 launched a children’s show on Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. By 1966, he was hosting “The 700 Club,” a Christian talk show.

Bakker left CBN in 1972 and two years later formed the PTL Satellite Network. “The PTL Club” — PTL stands for “Praise the Lord” — became its signature show.

It hit its heyday in the 1980s, “The PTL Club” was drawing millions of viewers — and bringing in millions of dollars annually from followers.

Sort of a Christian version of “The Tonight Show,” it featured chats with guests and Christian entertainers. Bakker offered upbeat sermons and Tammy Faye — charismatic and always wearing her trademark heavy mascara — sang. Most episodes were taped at their sprawling complex just south of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The couple was so famous that they were often parodied by TV comedians for their lavish lifestyle and Tammy Faye’s abundant makeup.

In March 1987, their empire began to crack when Bakker admitted to a sexual encounter with church clerk Jessica Hahn. Bakker was forced to resign from his own empire, turning over operations to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.

Tammy Faye stuck by Bakker, often with tears running down her mascara, even as many saw his downfall as a fitting symbol of the greed and hypocrisy of the 1980s.

Things only got worse.

In 1988, Bakker was indicted for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy after an investigation of PTL’s finances. He was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, though the sentence was later reduced to eight years.

At a news conference after Bakker was found guilty, Tammy Faye stood in front of the microphones and sang the hymn, “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.”

Their marriage crumbled and Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992, just short of their 31st anniversary, while he was still in prison. She later married Roe Messner, a building contractor whose projects included the Heritage USA theme park. Messner was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 1995 and spent about two years in prison.

Tammy Faye died of colon cancer in 2007.

Bakker was released on parole in 1994. He married his second wife, Lori, in 1998. The couple launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL Satellite Network five years later.

In June 2021, Bakker and his Morningside Church Productions Inc. settled a lawsuit accusing him of falsely claiming the health supplement Silver Solution could cure COVID-19. The settlement called for $156,000 in refunds to people who paid money or gave contributions to obtain the product in the early days of the pandemic.

The lawsuit said Bakker and a guest made the cure claim during 11 episodes in February and March of 2020.

Bakker and Tammy Faye had two children. He and his second wife adopted five children in 2002.

FILE -FILE - Jim And Tammy Faye Bakker talk to their television audience, Aug. 20, 1986 at their PTL Ministry in Fort Mill, S.C. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky, File)

FILE -FILE - U.S. marshals escort former PTL leader Jim Bakker, center, from his attorney's office to a waiting car Thursday afternoon Aug. 31, 1989 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE -FILE - Televangelist Jim Bakker, founder of the former Heritage USA resort, delivers his sermon during the MorningStar Fellowship Church New Year's Conference, in Fort Mill, S.C.,Dec. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Jeff Siner, File)

File - Jim and Tammy Bakker enjoy a night on the town night of Oct. 24, 1987 as they arrive at the Beverly Theatre to see the show "The Gospel Truth." (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)

FILE - Television evangelist Jim Bakker poses in front of the Water Park in Columbia, SC, one of the attractions at his Heritage USA, March 19, 1987. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky, File)

FILE -FILE - Jim And Tammy Faye Bakker talk to their television audience, Aug. 20, 1986 at their PTL Ministry in Fort Mill, S.C. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky, File)

FILE -FILE - U.S. marshals escort former PTL leader Jim Bakker, center, from his attorney's office to a waiting car Thursday afternoon Aug. 31, 1989 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE -FILE - Televangelist Jim Bakker, founder of the former Heritage USA resort, delivers his sermon during the MorningStar Fellowship Church New Year's Conference, in Fort Mill, S.C.,Dec. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Charlotte Observer, Jeff Siner, File)

File - Jim and Tammy Bakker enjoy a night on the town night of Oct. 24, 1987 as they arrive at the Beverly Theatre to see the show "The Gospel Truth." (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)

FILE - Television evangelist Jim Bakker poses in front of the Water Park in Columbia, SC, one of the attractions at his Heritage USA, March 19, 1987. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky, File)

MURANG'A, Kenya (AP) — The black-and-white stripes of Brian Gatonye’s prison uniform match the pieces staring back at him from the chessboard at Kenya's Maranjau Prison.

The 27-year-old has served about 18 months of a three-year sentence for assault and is due to be released in November 2027.

During a break in the prison yard, he considers his next move: a pawn, perhaps, or a knight. The break isn't long, but if he finishes the game quickly he may have time to face one of the skilled guards.

But it is unwise to rush or act impulsively — in chess as in life, he has learned.

“Chess has taught me a lot,” Gatonye said. “It has taught me (about) being calm, choosing my decisions wisely. Before doing an act, I have to think first of what the repercussions are — and then I move.”

Gatonye is among a growing number of Kenyan prisoners who have taken up chess in recent years. The game has become part of rehabilitation programs in the country’s prisons, where officials and participants say it encourages patience, problem-solving and interaction between prisoners and guards.

At Maranjau, which holds about 450 prisoners according to Superintendent Humphrey Young, some choose chess over resting or playing soccer during their free time. They are drawn by the competition and what they say the game does for their state of mind.

“Chess has become one of our integral programs,” Young said. “Some of the skills chess teaches our offenders as they reintegrate back to society is how they can improve their problem-solving processes, and how they can think around issues that affect them once they’re out.”

Chess programs have operated in some Kenyan prisons since at least 2022. The government has supported the initiative alongside the International Chess Federation, known as FIDE, Chess Kenya and The Gift of Chess, a nonprofit organization that distributes chess sets.

The game is now played in all 134 prisons in Kenya, according to Phylis Ngigi, global outreach director for The Gift of Chess.

Kenya participated for the first time in FIDE’s Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners in 2024. Competitions are also held between Kenyan prisons, while some guards have been trained as chess coaches and play alongside prisoners.

At Maranjau, Young said the games create opportunities for prisoners and guards to interact in a less formal setting.

Supporters say chess offers more than recreation. Responsibility and the ability to work with others are important elements of prison rehabilitation, said Monica Njoroge, a project officer at Resources Oriented Development Initiatives.

The Kenyan nonprofit runs farming programs in prisons, where participants tend communal gardens while learning agricultural skills that could help them find work after their release.

Njoroge is not involved in the chess program, but she frequently visits Maranjau and has watched prisoners play.

“It is a game that trains patience and also having a clear mind in making decisions, being keen on what your next move is and the consequences that will come,” she said.

Kenya’s prison chess program has not been independently studied, and its long-term effects on behavior or reoffending are unknown.

For the prisoners gathered around the boards at Maranjau, there is a simpler attraction: They enjoy the game.

“It is a social game,” said Edwin Raj Walukaya, a 31-year-old prisoner. “It gives us friends and occupies our minds.”

For Gatonye, chess has become something he hopes to carry with him beyond prison.

“After being released, I hope to continue playing chess,” he said. “It brings peace inside my mind and heart.”

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Kenyan prisoners play chess under the supervision of a prison officer at Maranjau Prison in Murang'a, Kenya, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

A prison guard stands guard at Maranjau Prison in Murang'a, Kenya, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

Brian Gatonye, 2, a Kenyan prisoner, plays chess at Maranjau Prison in Murang'a, Kenya, on Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

Michael Kihara, 36, left, teaches Phillip Murage, 26, how to play chess at Maranjau Prison in Murang'a, Kenya, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

Kenyan prisoners play chess at Maranjau Prison in Murang'a, Kenya, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)