T. D. Jakes
Bishop
T. D. (Thomas Dexter) Jakes (born
June 9,
1957 in
South Charleston, West Virginia) is an
American televangelist. He currently is the pastor of
The Potter's House, a primarily
African-American Pentecostal megachurch in
Dallas,
Texas.
His church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcast on
The Potter's Touch, which airs on the
Trinity Broadcasting Network. Other aspects of Jakes' ministry include an annual
revival called "MegaFest", an annual women's conference called "Woman Thou Art Loosed", and
gospel music recordings.
Bishop T. D. Jakes has become one of America's best-known
pentecostal evangelical ministers. He has met many famous evangelicals, and many of them look to Bishop Jakes as a sort of
Billy Graham. He has been called the "black Billy Graham" by
TIME Magazine.
He founded The Potter's House in
1996, with about 50 families that had relocated with him from his former congregation, Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith in
Cross Lanes, West Virginia. By
December 2002, it had 28,000 members. Both Jakes and his Potter's House church are unrelated to the
Potter's House Christian Fellowship, a Pentecostal denomination founded in Arizona in
1970.
The movie
Woman Thou Art Loosed is based on Jakes' novel of the same name.
For the 2006
PBS program
African American Lives, Jakes had his
DNA analyzed; his
Y chromosome showed that he is descended from the
Igbo people of what is now
Nigeria.
He lives in a $1.7 million mansion in one of the most exclusive parts of the
Dallas/Fort Worth area with his wife Serita and their five children.
Jakes lives in a $1.7 million mansion in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. This has created controversy because some people do not think ministers should own such investments, although the majority of U. S. Christians support successful pastors and Christian leaders. In
August of 2005, Jakes came under fire in
Atlanta, Georgia when area newspapers provided advertising space for him, and were only offered free tickets to T.D. Jakes MegaFest entertainment events in exchange. Many papers found this insulting.
Sociologist Shayne Lee recently wrote a book entitled
T.D. Jakes: America's New Preacher, which presents Jakes as profoundly American in the tradition of
Benjamin Franklin and
Booker T. Washington.
Groups contend that Jakes is a supporter of
Oneness Pentecostal views, which deny the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity, and as such consider him a
heretic[Christian Apologetics Website critical of T.D. Jakes]. Others, however, point to Jakes's own denial of Oneness theology
[T. D. Jakes responds to the JOURNAL].
(available from
Amazon.com)
* He-Motions: Even Strong Men Struggle
* Ten Commandments of Working in a Hostile Environment
* Promises From God For Single Women
* Woman, Thou Art Loosed: Healing the Wounds of the Past
* The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord
* Maximize the Moment : God's Action Plan For Your Life
* So You Call Yourself a Man?: Finally Devotional for Ordinary Men With Extraordinary Potential
* God's Leading Lady
* His Lady
* Daddy Loves His Girls
* The Greatest Investment
*
T.D Jakes Ministries*
The Potters House*
Chart of Executive Salaries paid to leading Christian Ministries*
The Potter's House Newsroom
