"Doing well by doing good" might well have been the motto of former Assemblies of God minister Jim Bakker, co-founder of the PTL Club who left that ministry following a sex scandal.
In their youth, Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye decided to become evangelists. A few years later, in 1966, they were working for evangelist entrepreneur Pat Robertson during the early years of his Christian Broadcasting Network in Tidewater Virginia.
The peppy Bakkers worked for the religious variety show "The 700 club," then had their own "Jim and Tammy Show," aimed mainly at children.
At some time after 1970, he couple moved to California, the land of golden dreams, where they conducted the "Praise the Lord" show on Trininty Broadcasting Network. Around a year thereafter, they moved back to the East Coast to Charlotte, N.C., and founded a new and highly popular show, "The PTL Club."
PTL stood for Praise the Lord, but in time, critics wiescracked that it really should stand for "Pass the Loot."
The Bakkers assured their followers that God wanted them all to be rich (and presumably wanted the Bakkers to be even richer).
The couple's appeals for "love gifts" were many and varied. A fair amount of the loot that poured in from the well meaning faithful was devoted to a really, really lavish lifestyle for Jim and Tammy.
The height of their ambition came with the building of Heritage USA, a huge Christian theme park in nearby Fort Mills, S.C. Offers for "lifetime memberships" became fraudulent come-ons for some PTL members and attracted the eagle eye of investigative reporters at the Charlotte Observer newspaper.
About that same time, reports revealed that Jim Bakker had made a fat payoff to a buxom young woman, Jessica Hahn, as hush money because he had had sex with her, which she was calling rape.
Bakker resigned and Lynchburg, VA, pastor Jerry Falwell assumed the helm of PTL.
Jim Bakker was found guilty of a variety of charges and was given a 45-year prison sentence, which eventually was cut to eight years. He was paroled after serving only five years.
The Bakkers divorced, and both remarried. Jim and his new wife moved to Branson, Missouri, in 2003, and he resumed work in the TV ministry business.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Disgraced religious figure Paul Barnes
For the large evangelical churches of Denver, Colorado, 2006 was a rocky year (pun intended).
Just a month after the highly publicized resignation of Ted Haggard, pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, came news that Paul Barnes, founder and pastor of Grace Chapel in the Denver suburb of Englewood, was leaving his pastorate.
The cause was that he admitted to having had sexual relations with men over his 28 years of his Grace Chapel ministry.
Although such churches generally decry homosexuality, to his credit, Barnes had not spoken out on same-sex marriage and other such issues in the way Haggard had done.
Just a month after the highly publicized resignation of Ted Haggard, pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, came news that Paul Barnes, founder and pastor of Grace Chapel in the Denver suburb of Englewood, was leaving his pastorate.
The cause was that he admitted to having had sexual relations with men over his 28 years of his Grace Chapel ministry.
Although such churches generally decry homosexuality, to his credit, Barnes had not spoken out on same-sex marriage and other such issues in the way Haggard had done.
Disgraced religious figure Todd Bentley
Canadian Pentecostal revivalist minister Todd Bentley, originally from Canada, had to sever relations with the Assemblies of God Ignited Church in Lakeland, Florida, due to a romantic relationship with a female staffer.
Bentley, who had a hard youth involving drinking, drugs and gang activity, was convicted of sexual assault charges in the early 1990s.
The burly, balding, tatto-covered evangelist and faith healer was known for his high-energy revivals that featured rock music and rock concert-like light shows to add luster to his efforts at healing.
Bentley claimed to have visited Heaven and talked with the Apostle Paul and with an angel called Emma. He was packing them in until revelations of the marital indiscretion that led him to move to Fort Mill, S.C. Chances are, however, he will be back at it soon.
Bentley, who had a hard youth involving drinking, drugs and gang activity, was convicted of sexual assault charges in the early 1990s.
The burly, balding, tatto-covered evangelist and faith healer was known for his high-energy revivals that featured rock music and rock concert-like light shows to add luster to his efforts at healing.
Bentley claimed to have visited Heaven and talked with the Apostle Paul and with an angel called Emma. He was packing them in until revelations of the marital indiscretion that led him to move to Fort Mill, S.C. Chances are, however, he will be back at it soon.
Disgraced religious figure Chan Chandler
No doubt he meant well, but Baptist pastor Chan Chandler's zeal got the better of his good judgment when, in 2005, according to members of his Waynesville, N.C., church, he banished members of the congregation for having voted for John Kerry instead of George W. Bush for president.
The tax-free status of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church was put into jeopardy after news of these charges surfaced.
Chandler, 33, reportedly told his flock that if they had voted for Kerry in the election, they must either repent or leave the church. Nine individuals claimed to have been expelled from the congregation.
Due to the controversy, Chandler himself left his pastorate in 2005, and around 40 congregants went with him into the light of a more Republican day.
The tax-free status of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church was put into jeopardy after news of these charges surfaced.
Chandler, 33, reportedly told his flock that if they had voted for Kerry in the election, they must either repent or leave the church. Nine individuals claimed to have been expelled from the congregation.
Due to the controversy, Chandler himself left his pastorate in 2005, and around 40 congregants went with him into the light of a more Republican day.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Disgraced religious figure Charles Dederich
Charles E. Dederich had a good, useful idea, but it went askew. Having suffered from alcoholism, he knew a thing or two about how to help people with addictions and even figured out how to make lots of money doing so.
His rehabilitation program in Santa Monica, California,lost its compass, however, and morphed into cult, which was named Synanon. Members lived in what amounted to a commune and had to surrender themselves to the will of Dederich and other Synanon leaders. Some came to call this lifestyle a reign of terror, and after a lawyer unfriendly to the cult had a rattlesnake put in his mailbox, Dederich was taken to court.
At that time, Dederich lost control of Synanon, which fell apart in 1991.
His rehabilitation program in Santa Monica, California,lost its compass, however, and morphed into cult, which was named Synanon. Members lived in what amounted to a commune and had to surrender themselves to the will of Dederich and other Synanon leaders. Some came to call this lifestyle a reign of terror, and after a lawyer unfriendly to the cult had a rattlesnake put in his mailbox, Dederich was taken to court.
At that time, Dederich lost control of Synanon, which fell apart in 1991.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Disgraced religious figure John Geoghan
Perhaps America's best-known pedophile and maybe even a record holder was former Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan.
The troubled father was accused of pedophilia by around 130 boys and young men over his long career in the Boston area, shuffled from one parish to another by his superiors.
Geoghan was defrocked in 1998 and cost the church many millions of dollars in settlements. Some cases remain pending. The way his diocese handled his case was part of what led to the resignation of his Cardinal, Bernard Law, in 2002.
For a while, the aging priest lived in a home for retired clergy but was sentenced to 9-10 years in prison in 2002. Pedophiles appear to be most prisoners' and most guards' least favorite kind of criminal, and Geoghan's life in stir was a virtual hell on earth.
In 2003, a tattoo-covered homophobic young inmate, Joseph L. Druce, got into Geoghan's cell and strangled him to death.
The troubled father was accused of pedophilia by around 130 boys and young men over his long career in the Boston area, shuffled from one parish to another by his superiors.
Geoghan was defrocked in 1998 and cost the church many millions of dollars in settlements. Some cases remain pending. The way his diocese handled his case was part of what led to the resignation of his Cardinal, Bernard Law, in 2002.
For a while, the aging priest lived in a home for retired clergy but was sentenced to 9-10 years in prison in 2002. Pedophiles appear to be most prisoners' and most guards' least favorite kind of criminal, and Geoghan's life in stir was a virtual hell on earth.
In 2003, a tattoo-covered homophobic young inmate, Joseph L. Druce, got into Geoghan's cell and strangled him to death.
Disgraced religious figure Ted Haggard
Talk about mea culpas! Energetic pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs Ted Haggard was separated from that post in 2006 after revelations that he had a relationship with a former male prostitute.
Haggard, who had been a vocal critic of homosexuality and an opponent of gay marriage, also resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Haggard, who denied being gay but admitted to "having issues," went into a three-week intensive counseling program conducted by four clergymen from the megachurch he had founded.
In a letter to his former church, Haggard admitted to sexual immorality and called himself a liar and deceiver. In 2009, haggard admitted to another homosexual relationship with a young church member, who was given a settlement by the church.
Haggard, who had been a vocal critic of homosexuality and an opponent of gay marriage, also resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Haggard, who denied being gay but admitted to "having issues," went into a three-week intensive counseling program conducted by four clergymen from the megachurch he had founded.
In a letter to his former church, Haggard admitted to sexual immorality and called himself a liar and deceiver. In 2009, haggard admitted to another homosexual relationship with a young church member, who was given a settlement by the church.
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