- TD Jakes (born on 9 June 1957) is the senior paster at Potter’s House, a non-denominational American megachurch.
- He has been accused of sleeping with multiple men
Thomas Dexter Jakes, simply known as TD Jakes, is a popular figure among many Christians around the world. He has captivated a huge audience and is in charge of one of the biggest churches in the United States.
The prominent preacher has been dubbed as one of America’s most powerful preachers and is recognized globally. He has authored several best selling literature and participated in a number of faith-based films.
The prominent preacher’s net worth is estimated at $20 million and ranks among the richest preachers in the world.
Here is TD Jakes story as told by WoK.
TD Jakes Education and Background
The 66 year old was born in South Charleston, West Virginia. He grew up in Vandalia and as a teenager cared for his father who was an invalid.
From a young age, he felt the call of God upon his life. He attended West Virginia State University but dropped out and continued to preach.
Ministry
In the early 80s, he married Serita Ann Jamison and later founded a small congregation in Montgomery called Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith.
In 1988, he joined Higher Ground Always Abounding Assemblies denomination founded by Bishop Sherman Watkins. This, at the time, was an association of more than 200 pentecostal churches. Bishop Watkins ordained him and suggested he plant a church in Charleston.
In 1990, he moved to Charleston and founded a ministry. The ministry focused on helping women, most of whom were in abusive relationships. He had a class for them called Women Thou Art Loosed. This not only became the name of a conference but also the name of his best selling book.
In 1993, he moved to Cross Lanes, West Virginia and by this time had a congregation of a little over 1,000. He went on to found TDJ Enterprises (TD Jakes Ministries) which published his books and produces his films. Following this, he became a host for a radio and television show called Get Ready that aired weekly.
In 1996, he moved to Dallas, Texas and founded The Potter’s House which sits on a 34-acre hilltop campus. Today, more than 10,000 people call it their home church and he has a mega feast yearly that draws in tens of thousands.
The minister has enjoyed close relationship with various top influential people. He has been on the Oprah Winfrey show and the talk show host has also been to his church. The church is famous among celebrities and he has also enjoyed relations with some US presidents.
In 2005, he accompanied president George W. Bush to visit areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and in 2009 hosted an early morning prayer service for president Barack Obama at a Washington DC church.
In 2009, he partnered with CBS Television Distribution, Phil McGraw and Jay McGraw to launch a syndicated secular talk show but it never materialized. His second attempt at a secular talk show also flopped. He had partnered with Tegna Inc. and Debmar-Mercury for a secular talk show to be aired on a test run. In March 2017, the show was cancelled because of poor ratings.
The distinguished preacher has authored several books, some of which are:
- Ten Commandments of Working in a Hostile Environment
- Lay Aside the Weight
- Before You Throw In the Towel
- Woman, Thou Art Loosed: Healing the Wounds of the Past
- God’s Leading Lady
- Reposition Yourself: Living a Life without Limits
- Maximize the Moment: God’s Action Plan for your life
- Overcoming the Enemy
- From the Cross to the Pentecost
- Destiny: Step into Your Purpose
- Crushing: God Turns Pressure into Power
- Instinct: The Power to Unleash Your Inborn Drive
- Disruptive Thinking
Some of his works have been made into films, such as, Woman: Thou Art Loosed. He has also produced several films including: Sparkle, Winnie Mandela, Heaven is for Real and faith Under Fire.
TD Jakes Wife and Children
TD Jakes is married to Serita Ann and the couple is blessed with five children, two daughters and three sons. They are: Jermaine Jakes, Jamar Jakes, Sarah Jakes Roberts (a preacher), Cora Jakes Coleman and Thomas Dexter Jakes Jnr.
Controversy
In 2013, he rubbed off a section of Kenyans the wrong after alleging that he is the reason why they have drinking water and his ministry is the reason why a Nairobi based hospital is running.
“The natives all over Kenya drink water because of this ministry. And the hospital in Nairobi survives because of this ministry,” he said partly.
He later clarified the remarks saying his intent was to show the extensive humanitarian care of his ministry through its megaCARE arm. This was in an attempt to distinguish his ministry from an American program that was focusing on the personal wealth of a number of pastors.
“The attempt was to highlight one well and one hospital wing in Kenya as one example of this ministry worldwide efforts,” he said adding it was not an attempt to take responsibility for an entire nation.
In 2022, a sermon he had given on Father’s Day was critiqued by a couple of social media users who felt he was targeting them/ wrongly portraying others.
He had said that women are not embraced in today’s world for their femininity and instead for being too independent which messes the divine order. He said women are being raised to be men.
“And you are not applauded for your femininity. You are applauded in the contemporary society by how tough, rough, nasty, mean, aggressive, hateful [and] possessive you are. And you’re climbing the corporate ladder, but we are losing our families.”
He said that while women can buy their own things they don’t need to go home and brag about it as this makes men stay away. Some felt he was attacking the black community. Majority felt the views were backward while others defended him.
The mega-church preacher has also been critiqued by a section of Christians for being too friendly with secular artists. Other Christian content creators have also accused him of being a prosperity preacher.
TD Jakes association with P Diddy
On 21st December 2023, unsubstantiated claims emerged on X-formerly twitter-claiming TD Jakes had relationship with men.
Diddy, who was recently been accused of various sexual abuse allegations, has in the past praised TD Jakes for helping him through tough times.
Recently, MYEi$HiA played a video of Tik Tok user alleging that Cassie Ventura handed over tapes to the FBI incriminating Diddy.
The evidence included tapes of Diddy’s parties and Kim Porter’s (Diddy’s ex-girlfriend’s) burner phone. Porter, who passed away in 2018, at age 47, raised four children with Diddy.
Her burial was presided over by TD Jakes. It is alleged that these depraved parties included prominent people, like,TD Jakes who supposedly slept with multiple men.
