Bakker Seeks to Start New TV Ministry Near S.C. Theme Park

FORT MILL, S.C. — Jim Bakker, comparing himself to other optimistic TV evangelists, says he is looking for office space near here to begin a new TV ministry, and he may ask for air time on the PTL network.

“We see Pat Robertson settling back into the ‘700 Club.’ We see Jimmy Swaggart settling back,” Bakker said this week in front of his father’s house on the grounds of Heritage USA, PTL’s Christian theme park.

“The whole Gospel message is a message of restoration, and if it can’t happen for the leadership then it can’t happen for the laymen.”

Bakker has several times in the past said that he and his wife, Tammy Faye, should have a chance to salvage the failing ministry they built before his downfall in a sex scandal last year, but PTL officials have always ruled it out.

Bakker left PTL after charges that Jessica Hahn, a church secretary, was paid to keep quiet about a sexual encounter. His departure was followed by disclosures of a lavish life style, and he was defrocked by the Assemblies of God.

The ministry is up to $130 million in debt, and a reorganization plan that calls for sale of much of its assets is up for approval in Bankruptcy Court.

Bakker went to Heritage USA to talk with attorneys and PTL officials on behalf of developer Roe Messner, who claims that PTL owes him $14 million.

Bakker then left for his old house in Gatlinburg, Tenn.