PTL’s meteoric rise halted by ownership’s crash, burn

With her signature clumpy mascara and a message that kept millions glued to their TV screens, Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband at the time, Jim, ran an empire that would eventually crumble.

The couple started PTL, or “Praise the Lord,” in the 1970s, which included “The PTL Club” televangelist show, a TV network and Heritage USA water and theme park in Fort Mill.

The couple was living in a 10,000-square-foot house in Tega Cay in 1987 when the IRS said the ministry owed in the tens of millions in taxes, following a dispute over its tax-exempt status. Total debts piled up to an estimated $130 million.

In 1987, Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of the PTL ministry after rumors of sexual misbehavior involving a former church secretary surfaced. After changes in ownership, PTL became defunct.

He was sentenced to 45 years in prison in 1989, which was reduced to eight years.

The couple divorced in 1992, and Tammy Faye Bakker later married and changed her name to Tammy Faye Messner. She died July 20, 2007, at 65.

Bakker was released on parole in 1994. He now hosts an hour-long daily show called the “The Jim Bakker Show” from Branson, Mo.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 8:47 PM with the headline "PTL’s meteoric rise halted by ownership’s crash, burn."