Book Beat May 16 2001 (3)

Throughout his life, Jay Bakker has been in the public eye. Having grown up as the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, the founders of the now defunct PTL ministry, Jay tells of his life’s trials and tribulations in his new book Son of a Preacher Man.

Life in the beginning was fabulous for Jamie Charles; he had the run of Heritage USA and had everything a child could want. But that all changed. In 1986, when he was just 11 years old, the Charlotte Observer broke the story that would begin the downfall of his father’s ministry. The torrid affair Jim Bakker had with Jessica Hahn lasted only 15 minutes, but it led to him handing PTL over to Jerry Falwell. This was to have been a temporary change of leadership, but the Rev. Falwell had other plans. The Bakker family was thrown out of their house and lost control of the ministry altogether. An investigation into PTL’s fund raising and spending practices followed. Bakker was convicted of fraud and he spent the next five years in prison.

During this time, Jay began to question his faith and experiment with drugs and alcohol. Although he would never stop believing in a higher power, Jay had a hard time understanding what God had in store for him. Here he was alone, without the biggest influence in his life — his father, and he had become involved in the underground punk and skate community.

Although he felt abandoned by the church, it was the very people — those who he believes destroyed his parents and took their church — which Bakker would need assistance from to gain his father’s freedom.

After aiding in his father’s release, Jay began on his spiritual quest. But Jay felt rebuked by the mainstream church, which he attributes to the institution’s inabilities to relate to the youth culture, so he started Revolution, a ministry geared to the youth subculture in Phoenix, with friend Mike Wall. Revolution grew, but Mike and Jay began to have differences, and Jay admits to partying too much.

Jay eventually made his way back to Atlanta, where he learned that God loved him no matter what. Now on the straight and narrow, he re-started Revolution in Atlanta. Ministering to the underground culture, Jay found his calling.??