Keep The Faith magazine - Britain's leading publication about Black faith

Bishop TD Jakes is one of the world’s most popular preachers and influential Black church leaders. He met with Keep The Faith editor, Marcia Dixon, when he was in the UK recently. Here’s her report …

If the pulpit is a stage, then Bishop T D Jakes is its biggest star. He is, without doubt, one of the world’s most famous preachers. He has utilised every mode of communication – books, movies, the Internet and speaking - to fulfil his calling to spread the Gospel. 

Bishop Jakes preaches life-enhancing sermons in a fiery, entertaining, spellbinding style that has mesmerised millions, as well as empowered, encouraged and enlightened. Very few subjects are out of bounds in his sermons, many of which are preached at his 30,000-member church, the Potter’s House, based in Dallas, Texas, and broadcast throughout the world on satellite TV and on YouTube.

Aside from preaching, Jakes has written over 50 well-received books, produced three popular films, released successful music CDs, and has staged major conferences, including ‘Woman, Thou Art Loosed’, ‘MegaFest’ and ‘Manpower’, which attract thousands. Furthermore, any church that invites him to preach is guaranteed a capacity congregation. This was the case when he was a guest speaker at Hillsong’s annual conference at The O2 in London. As you can imagine, it was packed.

Bishop Jakes’ ministry has greatly impacted my life, so you can imagine my excitement when I learned that he agreed to be interviewed by Keep The Faith.
He looked exactly as he does on screen, except he is taller, a little rounder and is friendly, open and warm, and the voice is rich, with a preacher’s resonance.
Throughout our conversation, Bishop Jakes came across as a man full of wisdom, who was comfortable with his calling to preach the Gospel, and determined not to allow anyone’s perceptions of what he should be or do restrict his desire to express himself through his many talents.

There is no doubting that Bishop Jakes is a spiritual heavyweight. In 2001, Time magazine described him as the world’s greatest preacher, and anointed him as successor to world famous evangelist, Billy Graham. It’s not an accolade he takes lightly. However, Jakes makes it clear he is not a ‘new Billy Graham’. “Those references to me being the ‘next Billy Graham’ - though meant in a very positive way - are not correct, because I don’t think that God ever duplicates anybody. My goal as an individual is to be the best TD Jakes that I can be.”

“When you think of the era Billy Graham came up in, it was during the big tent era. I’m living in the age of the Internet, so the way that we communicate has drastically changed. There are now many ways to go around the world and never leave your living room. Our methodology of how we communicate with people has advanced. Our ministry has been enhanced as well. I think that’s a good thing, and it will continue to evolve as world conditions change.”

In his native US, Jakes is considered one of Black America’s most influential people, due to his success in the world of entertainment and media as well as in the Church. He has influence in political circles too, as one of several spiritual advisers to President Obama, America’s first Black President. He also officiated at the church service held prior to Obama’s inauguration. It was a momentous occasion for Bishop Jakes. “I felt it was amazing that the White House would now have a Black President, when most of its stones were laid by Black slaves. I wished that all of the slaves who had brought the stones up to the White House could have been there at that moment. I think it was beyond their wildest dreams, not only them, but even my parents would have not believed it possible.”

Some of Jakes’ aunts and uncles were present at the service he presided over, and he states that, like much of the world, they were overawed at Obama’s election. “It was significant to see that America had come so far that a Black President could be elected, and it was not Black people alone that voted for President Obama, but millions of White people and Muslims and Christians from all walks of life, who looked to him as a solution to the ills of the place.”
Obama is the third US President Jakes has had the privilege of serving. He was also spiritual adviser to George Bush and Bill Clinton.

He cleared up any misconceptions people might have of his role. “I think they really do think the President calls you up and says, “Let’s get a Big Mac and some fries and talk.” It’s not like that at all. It’s not frequent; it is not the result of a deep, personal relationship as much as it is a shared concern for the country, and my contribution to the relationship is from a spiritual perspective. Theirs is from a political perspective, so this is an opportunity for the spiritual and political to collide without damaging each other, because sometimes the association between religion and politics is to the detriment of each.”

Jakes deems it a privilege to be a spiritual adviser. “At critical moments in their lives I’ve been able to pray with them. There’s really no difference between the three (Presidents), when it comes to what you pray about. There have been times with the three of them that they’ve asked for prayer, and there have been times when we’ve asked them whether we can pray with them.”

Jakes has come a long way since his birth in 1957 in Charleston, West Virginia. His father, Ernest Jakes Sr, was a janitor and entrepreneur. His mother, Odith, an educator. He grew up in a Christian family and has preached from a young age. As a child, he was known as the ‘bad Bible boy’. His father died of kidney failure when he was 15 and, as a result, he has a deep understanding about suffering, death and loss.

In 1979, Jakes started his first church with just 10 members, and maintained a job digging ditches until his church could afford to support him. He became a full-time minister in 1982, and by 1989 the church had grown to 1000 members. By 1995, Jakes had started his TV ministry, and in 1996 he left Charleston, Virginia and moved to Dallas, where he founded Potter’s House, the mega church over which he currently presides. Aside from its popular services, Potter’s House runs several ministries addressing various issues, including divorce, single parenthood, AIDs and post traumatic stress.

In recent years, Bishop Jakes has moved into the world of film. He’s produced three to date: ‘Woman, Thou Art Loosed’, ‘Not Easily Broken’, and his latest endeavour, ‘Jumping The Broom’, released in the summer, has grossed $16million in its first week of release. It cost $6million to make.

Jakes has a film-making contract with Sony, and has their go-ahead to produce several films. Some Christians are uneasy about church leaders working in Hollywood. Jakes has no such qualms. He shared, “It’s a wonderful opportunity for me and for all Christians. We have a choice about Hollywood. We can either scream at the darkness or we can light a candle. And for me, to light a candle and to be able to express myself is very important.”

When asked whether he thought it was appropriate for church leaders to be filmmakers, his response was this: “I don’t know, because I didn’t do it as a Christian leader; I did it as a person. I don’t like to be restricted, and people say ‘TD Jakes is a preacher’. I am a person first and foremost, and I have other interests, so I didn’t do it as an extension of my ministry brand. I did it because I, as a person, like drama and creativity, and it’s a way of expressing and communicating myself. The continuity is not my Christianity; the continuity is communication.”

“Think of this, and this is my dilemma, if the Bible were a movie, look at the scenes you would have to delete – a whole lot of the Bible could not be put on screen, because the Bible is graphic and in some ways less pretentious than the people who read it. That’s my dilemma as a filmmaker. If I were to put Bible stories on film, I would have to edit them for Christians to be able to watch them. Sometimes I think we are so religious, we are asphyxiating.”

Jakes is keen that preachers do not become restricted by the rigid boundaries of others. He said, “Give people back life. Let us be people. Let us think and laugh and get things right, and get things wrong. When people idolise you, they limit you. They make you to be something that you are not. I’m not a superhero; I’m not just here to serve people. I’m a person. I encourage ministers to have a life, and then dedicate that life to ministry and have a life. It makes that ministry more interesting when you read something other than just the Bible; when you sing something other than just crosses and pulpits. You have greater points of reference, whereby you can reach a wider array of people when you’re not so narrow in your scope.”

The next few months are busy ones for the Bishop. He will be co-hosting his world-famous conference, Woman, Thou Art Loosed Conference with his wife Serita, and is set to release another book called ‘Forgiven’, which he is excited about. “I think it’s going to be a very impactful book, because we know we’re supposed to do it, but we don’t know how to let things go that really hurt us. And if we don’t let the things go that really hurt us, we’re not going to be available for the things that are promised to us.”

For more information about Bishop Jakes’ ministry, visit www.tdjakes.com