T. D. Jakes

Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes Sr. (born June 9, 1957) is an American pastor of the The Potter's House, a 30,000 member church in Dallas, Texas. It is a non-denominational megachurch.

His church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcast on The Potter's Touch, which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Television and The Word Network, . Other aspects of Jakes' ministry include an annual revival called "MegaFest" (which draws more than 100,000 people during that period of time), an annual women's conference called "Woman Thou Art Loosed", and gospel music recordings.

Thomas Dexter Jakes was born on June 9, 1957 in South Charleston, West Virginia to Ernest Jakes, Sr., a janitor and entrepreneur , and Odith, an educator. Even as a child he was known in his West Virginian neighborhood as "the Bible boy." He was also told he would never be able to preach because of his bad lisp. Shortly after his father's death from kidney failure, Jakes decided to go into ministry. In 1979, with very little funds of his own and with only ten initial members, he founded Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith as a storefront church in Montgomery, West Virginia. Jakes maintained his day job digging ditches in order to support his ministry until the church was able to support him. During its first 10 years, the church grew to over 1,000 members. In 1982, Jakes turned to full-time ministry.

More...