Thomas Dexter Jakes (born June 9, 1957) is a nondenominational Christian pastor from the United States. He is the senior pastor of The Potter’s House, an American megachurch that is secular. The Potter’s Touch broadcasts Jakes’ church sessions and evangelistic teachings. He is the author of several novels and also a film producer.
Quick Facts:
- Name: Thomas Dexter Jakes
- Birth date: June 9, 1957
- Birth Place: Charleston, West Virginia
- Gender: Male
- Career: Bishop
- Best Known For: The Potter’s House
Early Life:
Thomas Dexter Jakes, megachurch pastor, best-selling author, writer, and film producer, comes from modest roots. He was born in Charleston, West Virginia on June 9, 1957 and grew up in the Vandalia district of Charleston, West Virginia, where his last name is commemorated by a street.
Jakes was born into a business family. Earnest, Sr. had a janitorial firm with three locations and 52 employees. Odith, his mother, was a schoolteacher who also marketed Avon items in her spare hours. Jakes, the youngest of three children, was known in his neighborhood as “the Bible boy.” He was told he would never preach because of his slight lisp. Jakes’ father developed kidney failure when he was ten years old.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, Jakes began selling veggies from his mother’s garden when he was eight years old. He trimmed grass, delivered newspapers, and marketed Avon and Amway items while in high school. Jakes dropped out of high school and sought a vocation to preach after being overcome by the loss of his father in 1972 and harassment from his friends about his beliefs.
He finally passed a high school equivalency exam and enrolled at West Virginia State College. Jakes dropped out of college after a year because he couldn’t balance school, church, and a full-time job at a chemical factory.
Jakes grew up at the First Baptist Church, where he was a pianist and choir director. Jakes’ choir was invited to perform one night at Greater Emanuel Gospel Tabernacle, a small Pentecostal church in Charleston. That night, during worship, Jakes began to speak in tongues, a phenomena that Pentecostals believe proves a person is possessed by the Holy Spirit.
As a result, he left First Baptist to join Greater Emanuel in order to further his new Pentecostal religion. Greater Emanuel belonged to a branch of Pentecostalism known as Apostolic or Oneness Pentecostalism, which opposes the Trinitarian view of God. Apostolics believe that God exists exclusively in the person of Jesus Christ, not in the three personalities of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Their practices, notably water baptism, reflect this oneness doctrine, as proven by only baptizing in Jesus’ name.
At the age of 25, Jakes became the pastor of Greater Emanuel Temple of Faith, a ten-member storefront church in Smithers, West Virginia. In 1988, he joined the Higher Ground Always Abounding Assemblies, which was created by Bishop Sherman Watkins. Jakes relocated to South Charleston, West Virginia, in 1990, and his group swelled to 300 members. He relocated to Cross Lanes, West Virginia, in 1993.
Jakes received his B.A. in biblical studies from Friends International Christian University in 1985, his M.A. in biblical studies from the same institution in 1990, and his D.Min. from the same institution in 1995. Jakes was consecrated to the Bishopric in 1987, and in 1992, he first gave ‘Woman, Thou Art Loosed’, a sermon about women’s grief.
Jakes’ final success may be traced back to his first nationally televised sermon on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1991. Over 12,000 people crowded the Azusa Conference auditorium in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1992 to witness the country preacher they had originally heard on TBN. Jakes would go on to have remarkable success as a minister from that point forward.
Jakes then established a weekly television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network the next year, catapulting himself into the realm of televangelism. He began his weekly broadcasts on Black Entertainment Television in 1994, and that same year, he organized the inaugural ManPower conference to empower men in their relationship and communal duties.
Establishing the Potter House and Later Ministerial Duties:
Jakes presented “Get Ready,” a weekly radio and television show with nationwide distribution via syndication, from 1995 to 1996. He then moved to Dallas in the summer of 1996 where he established The Potter’s House, a non-denominational church, in Dallas, Texas, in 1996.
The Potter’s House is a 34-acre hilltop facility with a 5,000-seat auditorium and offices for employees and personnel. More than 1,500 people attended his new church, The Potter’s House, on the first Sunday in Dallas. Today, The Potter’s House has 30,000 members.
Jakes accompanied President George W. Bush on a tour to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged areas in 2005. Jakes conducted an early Morning Prayer session for President Barack Obama at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2009.
Jakes collaborated with Phil McGraw, Jay McGraw, and CBS Television Distribution in 2009 to establish a syndicated, secular chat show; however, the program never aired owing to economic concerns in the syndicated television industry.
Tegna, Inc. and Debmar-Mercury announced in July 2015 that T. D. Jakes, a new secular talk show hosted by Jakes, will air a test run on Tegna stations in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, and Minneapolis from August 17 to September 11, 2015. Tegna stated on May 10, 2016, that Jakes’ show will begin broadcasting in over 50 areas throughout the country on September 12, 2016. Unfortunately, the discussion program was canceled on March 15, 2017, owing to low ratings and clearances.
Beliefs:
Although Jakes had been converted and ordained within Oneness Pentecostalism, he disclosed in a 2012 interview with Mark Driscoll that he believes in the Trinity, however Jakes did not believe in the eternality of the individual persons of the Trinity, which Oneness congregations deny. Jakes who previously appeared on Good Morning America and Dr. Phil is a supporter of sexual abstinence.
Jakes indicated in 2015 that his views on homosexuality and LGBT rights are shifting. Jakes, on the other hand, indicated that his statements had been misconstrued and that, while he does not endorse same-sex marriage, he “respect[s] the rights that this country affords those who disagree.”
Achievements:
Jakes is listed in the Black Americans of Achievement series, The Encyclopedia of African-American Christian Heritage, and Who’s Who Among African Americans. He was named one of PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly’s “Top 10 Religious Leaders” in 2000.
Jakes delivered the keynote address at the annual meetings of the National Council of Black Mayors, the National Black Police Association, and the Congressional Black Caucus in 2000. Jakes was awarded America’s Best Preacher by Time magazine and CNN in 2001, and the following year, Savoy magazine named him one of the “Top 100 Powers That Be.”
Jakes was featured on the cover of Time magazine’s September 17, 2001, edition, with the intriguing question, “Is This Man the Next Billy Graham?” Jakes’ album A Wing and a Prayer received the Grammy Award for “Best Gospel or Chorus Album” in 2003. He has also been nominated for Grammy and Dove Awards for his gospel CD Live at The Potter’s House. He earned the NAACP President’s Award in 2004.
President Barack Obama requested Jakes to give the morning service preceding the historic Presidential Inauguration in 2009. In 2016, Jakes was included to Oprah’s SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and important leaders.
Bishop Jakes, who has been in the ministry for over thirty years, is also the author of more than twenty books and a Grammy-winning gospel musician. Bishop Jakes currently resides in Dallas with his wife, Serita. They are the parents of five children and two grandkids.
Books and Films:
Woman Thou Art Loosed, Jake’s first book, which he self-published in 1993, sold over 5,000 copies in the first two weeks. He formed “TDJ Enterprises” in 1995, which distributes his books and produces his films. Jakes is a best-selling author of thirty books, including He-Motions and Reposition Yourself. He has also produced successful feature films such as Not Easily Broken and Sparkle.
Personal Life:
Jakes had his DNA examined on the PBS show African American Lives; his Y chromosome revealed that he is derived from the Igbo people of Nigeria. According to his family history, he is also a descendant of them through his grandmother.
He met Serita Ann Jamison while ministering at another church in Montgomery. They dated for six months before marrying in 1981. Jermaine, Jamar, Cora, Sarah, and Thomas, Jr. are their five children. Bishop Jakes currently resides in Dallas with his wife, Serita and have been reported to welcome two grandkids.
