EX-TV EVANGELIST JIM BAKKER WANTS BACK ON THE AIROctober 28, 1999,
Charisma News
Former TV evangelist Jim Bakker wants to get back on the tube. The
one-time
PTL network head caught in a sex scandal and jailed for 45 years following
the financial collapse of the ministry and his Heritage USA theme park
says
he has an important message from God to share--and the best way to
do it is
on television.
In a letter to supporters from his New Covenant Fellowship ministry
in
Charlotte, N.C., Bakker tells them that if they knew something terrible
was
going to happen to people, they would "get on television to warn them.
It's
the only way to reach masses of people quickly."
He has a "burning" message, he says, and believes that "the same media
God
anointed me to use 30 years ago is still the best way I have to preach
the
gospel."
Bakker was released from prison in 1994 after serving only five years
of his
sentence--during which time his wife and former co-host Tammy Faye
divorced
him. He later wrote his autobiography, "I Was Wrong," admitting that
his
prosperity teachings were flawed. He remarried earlier this year.
"I literally feel His Word exploding in me," Bakker writes, warning
of
"tough times" ahead. "I have to preach...I cannot rest until I have
done
everything in my power to show His love before times get too rough."
He asks
supporters to let him know "how you feel about me going back on television."
HAYFORD STEPS DOWN AT CHURCH ON THE WAY
Jack Hayford has stepped down as senior pastor at The Church on the
Way in
Van Nuys, Calif., which has grown from 18 members to 10,000 since he
went
there in 1969. The role goes to Scott Bauer, who has been on staff
at the
church since 1985 and served as co-pastor with Hayford for the last
threeyears.
The leadership changes, confirmed at a commissioning service last weekend,
have been made to "enfranchise the younger, rising generation" and
allow
Hayford to continue to develop his wider ministry, which includes the
church's rapidly expanding King's Seminary, said a church statement.
Hayford has been designated founding pastor, as "the term 'pastor-emeritus'
does not fit since Pastor Jack is neither leaving the church nor being
inactive," said Bauer, 45. The formal handover of responsibilities
marked
the end of a three-year process applauded by Jim Scott, who oversees
250
Foursquare congregations in Southern California.
"Intentionality and integrity have been the pastors' and elders' guidelines,
and this transition models a pathway many congregations would do well
to
study," he said. He commended Hayford's part in the process. "Too few
pastors in his position have taken such bold, yet unselfish action."
