How Jim Bakker became the Johnny Carson of Christian TV

Bakker’s ‘PTL Club’ existed at the nexus of evangelical Christianity and American pop culture.

By: John Wigger, University of Missouri-Columbia, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 8, 2026

Words: 1,082

Last Updated: 1 week, 2 days ago

By John Wigger, University of Missouri-Columbia

When I was researching my 2017 book, “PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire,” I interviewed dozens of former staffers and supporters of PTL, the ministry, television and theme park empire that the Bakkers built starting in the 1970s.

Time and again, I heard the same thing. PTL – sometimes known as “Praise the Lord” or “People That Love” – was …

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