Bakker is interested in reviving former PTL site
Charlotte Observer, January 26, 2000By KEN GARFIELDReligion Editor
Jim Bakker told a national TV audience Tuesday night that he wants to get
back on television and that under the right circumstances he'd like to help
reopen the PTL complex he once ran in Fort Mill, S.C.
Appearing for an hour on CNN's "Larry King Live," Bakker said he's working
with retired NFL star Reggie White on a 24-hour religious TV network.
Echoing comments he has made in sermons in churches around the country,
Bakker said he'd like to start a network that wouldn't have to raise money.
"My dream is there can be a network to help people," the 60-year-old Bakker
told King.
"I love the idea of telling millions of people that God loves them no matter
what they've done.
"How do you do television without raising money? We're just dreaming right
now. We're in the dream stage."
Though he's been careful in the past about not ruling out his involvement in
PTL, Bakker went a step further Tuesday, saying he'd be interested in
getting the now-closed retreat reopened in some form.
"I wouldn't mind working with other people to see it restored," he said.
Bakker, who appeared with his new wife, Lori Beth, said he's had a warm
reception since relocating to Charlotte several months ago.
"Charlotte," he said, "was the last city I wanted to go back to. It's where
the pain was."
Bakker served five years in federal prison for defrauding followers of
$158million.
Asked by a caller why the American public should trust him to return to TV,
Bakker said God forgives everyone. And he's not asking for people to trust
him, he repeated more than once."I want them to believe in God," he said.