Televangelist Jim Bakker dies at 86, his wife Lori Bakker announced Monday night. The longtime host of The Jim Bakker Show and the co-founder of the PTL Club empire passed away on October 5, 2026.
Lori shared the news in an emotional statement on social media, calling her husband “a pioneer of Christian television” and writing that he devoted 66 years of his life to preaching the Gospel. His son Jay Bakker also confirmed the death online. No cause of death has been announced. The couple lived near Branson, Missouri, where they filmed The Jim Bakker Show since its launch in 2003.
The death of Jim Bakker closes one of the most dramatic chapters in American religious broadcasting. His story moved from a record-breaking TV ministry to one of the biggest scandals of the 1980s, then to an unlikely comeback on the airwaves.
Jim Bakker on the set of The PTL Club in 1977. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Announcement: Jim Bakker Dies at 86
According to the Associated Press, Lori Bakker said her husband “went home to be with the Lord” on Monday evening, surrounded by family. In her statement, she described him as her husband, her best friend, and the man she was honored to walk beside through many seasons of life and ministry.
“Our family is grieving and we ask for your prayers and privacy during this time,” she wrote. “Jim finished his race with faith. His voice, his vision, and his legacy will never be forgotten.”
Reports from The New York Times, CNN, and Deadline all confirmed the death within hours of the announcement. Bakker had suffered a stroke in 2020 but continued to appear on his show in the years that followed.
How Jim Bakker Built the PTL Club Empire
James Orsen Bakker was born on January 2, 1940, in Muskegon, Michigan. He met his first wife, Tammy Faye, while both were students at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. Together, they built one of the most successful ministries in television history.
In 1965, the couple joined televangelist Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, where they hosted a children’s show. By 1966, Jim was hosting The 700 Club. Then, in 1974, the Bakkers struck out on their own and launched The PTL Club — “Praise the Lord” — from Charlotte, North Carolina.
The show became a phenomenon. At its peak in the mid-1980s, it drew up to 13 million nightly viewers. The ministry also built Heritage USA, a sprawling Christian theme park and resort in Fort Mill, South Carolina, with hotels, a water park, and residential areas. In 1986, it drew more than 6 million visitors in a single year — behind only Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
The Bakkers became cultural icons. Late-night comedians skewered them, Saturday Night Live parodied them, and their story later inspired the Oscar-winning film The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021).
Jim Bakker with Bill Brafford during his televangelist years. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Heritage USA: The Theme Park That Rivaled Disney
Heritage USA was the crown jewel of the PTL empire. It showed how far the Bakkers had come from their early days of traveling tent revivals. The park stood as a symbol of the ministry’s reach — and, after the fall, of its excess.
The Heritage USA sign. The park once drew more than 6 million visitors a year. Photo: Todd Barwick, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Scandal and Fall of Jim Bakker
The empire collapsed in 1987. Bakker resigned abruptly after reports revealed he had paid church secretary Jessica Hahn $115,000 following an affair. Soon after, investigators uncovered deep financial troubles at the ministry, and PTL filed for bankruptcy.
In 1989, a federal jury convicted Bakker on 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Prosecutors showed he had sold $1,000 “lifetime memberships” to tens of thousands of followers, promising them hotel stays at Heritage USA that the ministry could never deliver. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison but served just under five, winning release in 1994.
The Comeback: The Jim Bakker Show
After prison, Bakker slowly rebuilt his public life. In 2003, he launched The Jim Bakker Show, filmed near Branson, Missouri, alongside his second wife, Lori. The program mixed preaching with discussions of current events and became a fixture of Christian television for more than two decades.
He never fully escaped controversy. In 2020, he faced lawsuits after promoting a colloidal silver product with claims about COVID-19. He settled the cases and continued broadcasting.
Jim Bakker’s Death Marks the End of an Era
Jim Bakker’s death ends a 66-year ministry that changed religious broadcasting forever. He proved that faith could fill television screens — and showed, through his downfall, how quickly a media empire can collapse. His rise and fall remain one of the defining stories of American televangelism.
He is survived by his wife Lori and his children, including son Jay Bakker. Funeral and memorial details have not yet been announced.
We have added Jim Bakker to our living tribute, Celebrities We Lost in 2026, alongside other October losses such as comedian Reggie McFadden. For more on the year’s earlier passings, see our September 2026 remembrance.
