Bishop T.D. Jakes Profile

Pastor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, songwriter, playwright, conference speaker, broadcaster, and movie producer, Bishop T.D. Jakes has committed more than 30 years of his life to ministry.  Thomas Dexter Jakes was born June 9, 1957, in South Charleston, W. Va., and from a young age was devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In 1979, Jakes founded and served as pastor of  Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith, a small storefront in Montgomery, W. Va., that originated with only 10 members.

More than a quarter of a century later, Bishop Jakes pastors one of America's largest and fastest-growing churches.  The Potter's House is a multiracial, nondenominational church with more than 50 active outreach ministries.  Since relocating from West Virginia to Dallas in 1996, The Potter's House has dominated church growth records, swelling from 50 families to more than 30,000 members.

In the Pulpit...
TIME magazine featured Bishop Jakes on its Sept. 17, 2001 cover, naming him "America's Best Preacher."  In February 2005, Bishop Jakes was again distinguished by TIME when the magazine named him as one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals" in the United States.  On Sept. 16, 2005, Bishop Jakes served as the official homilist at the National Cathedral in Washington for the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance service for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

In the Arena...
Much of Bishop Jakes' national and international acclaim can be attributed to his popular conferences, Woman, Thou Art Loosed, ManPower, and The Pastor's and Leadership Conference.  Woman, Thou Art Loosed began as a simple Sunday school curriculum, and grew into a best-selling book, a widely-acclaimed stage play, a GRAMMY®-nominated CD, a national conference that has drawn more than 500,000 women since 1992, and an award-winning feature film in 2004 honored with the NAACP Image Award for best independent or foreign film in 2005.

In 1993, Bishop Jakes created a conference just for men called ManPower, which helps men of all races and backgrounds address specific needs, hurts, and struggles from a biblical perspective.  ManPower enjoyed tremendous growth, from 2,500 attendees in its first year to more than 44,000 men in 2003.

Building on the success of these events, Bishop Jakes hosted the first-ever MegaFest in Atlanta in 2004.  An unprecedented family event that drew 140,000 people from all over the world, MegaFest combined, for the first time ever, Woman, Thou Art Loosed and ManPower with high-energy events designed specifically for youth and children.

At MegaFest 2005 in Atlanta, Bishop Jakes introduced the Mega Youth Experience, an empowering, high-voltage event for young people ages 13 to 21, and MegaKidz, developed to provide children ages 5-12 with a fun place to play while also learning important lessons about responsibility, respect, and community involvement.

Out of a desire to speak and teach more intimately into the lives of men and women in their efforts to become and achieve their personal best, in 2006 Bishop Jakes introduced and hosted the first For Men Only conference following in 2007 with the first-ever For Ladies Only conference, co-hosting with his wife, Serita.

In 2008, Bishop Jakes announced the return of MegaFest this time hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The two-day event, which included concerts, seminars and inspirational speakers, also brought free health and wellness events to the people of South Africa and Swaziland.  Doctors and medical teams from both the United States and South Africa provided thousands of South Africans with services such as general health screenings, HIV counseling and testing, and dental and ophthalmic care. 

The 2004 recipient of the NAACP President's Award, Bishop Jakes is often referred to as a "Shepherd to the Shattered," having made great strides in Dallas to help change the lives of the homeless, substance and alcohol abusers, and others in life-altering circumstances by way of 50-plus, church-based outreach ministries. 

Around the Globe...
The Potter's House's global outreach department, which began in 1997, was formally named Terra Cotta International (TCI), in 2003.  This non-profit, humanitarian branch of The Potter's House makes missionary trips to cities, villages and townships around the globe.  Bishop Jakes traveled to Kenya in January and September 2005 to dedicate fresh water wells sponsored by The Potter's House for the benefit of the West Pokot tribal people.

In the fall of 2005, Bishop Jakes led more than 300 African Americans on a humanitarian mission trip to Kenya to dedicate additional fresh water wells and provide much needed medical assistance and supplies.

In the Prisons...
A devoted advocate of religious outreach to prison inmates, The Potter's House initiated The Texas Offenders Reentry Initiative (T.O.R.I.) in 2005, a program designed to offer former offenders substance abuse education, family and marriage counseling, pre-employment counseling, and help to enroll low-income families in state and federal support programs.

On the Airwaves...
Bishop Jakes preaches the gospel on his weekly television program, The Potter's House, broadcast nationally and internationally.  He and his wife, Serita, also host The Potter's Touch, a weekly 30-minute talk show that focuses on many of the pressing topics of concern for Christians around the world.

In the Arts...
A prolific author of more than 30 books, Bishop Jakes has numerous best sellers, including his most recent book, Before You Do (Atria, 2008), which reached No. 3 on The New York Times Best Sellers list and remained on the list for eight weeks.

Bishop Jakes also operates Dexterity Sounds, which has produced more than a dozen projects, including the GRAMMY® Award-winning A Wing and a Prayer.

Touchdown Concepts, Jakes' theater production company, created and produced the Christian plays Woman, Thou Art Loosed and Behind Closed Doors.  In October 2004, Woman, Thou Art Loosed: The Movie, developed in collaboration with Reuben Cannon Productions, became a box office top-10 hit. The movie won a 2005 NAACP Image Award for best independent or foreign film, and was released on DVD in March 2005.

In January 2009, Sony Pictures released Not Easily Broken, Jakes second novel to be made into a motion picture. 

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