Leaders of Church Challenge Bakker Version of Scandal

Leaders of the Assemblies of God denomination on Wednesday challenged Jim Bakker’s account of a sex scandal that has toppled the popular television evangelist, saying eight hours of testimony convinced them that Bakker was neither the victim of blackmail nor of a rival’s plot to seize control of his PTL ministries.

Moreover, a witness at the closed session told reporters afterward that “the entire account of Jim Bakker’s actions has not been made public.” He refused to elaborate.

The extraordinary hearing, conducted at the Assemblies of God headquarters here, was only the latest installment in a public drama that has engulfed the nation’s leading television evangelists in a bitter maelstorm of accusation and denial.

Public Furor Triggered

Bakker admitted last week that he had engaged in a single sexual encounter with a church secretary in 1980 and ceded his PTL authority to fellow evangelist Jerry Falwell. The admission served only as an opening salvo in a highly public struggle between some of the biggest names in the television evangelism field.

Central to the controversy has been the allegation that Jimmy Swaggart, a fiery Southern preacher whose television star is among the brightest at present, plotted last summer to use Bakker’s then-undisclosed dalliance to discredit his colleague and gain control of PTL. Swaggart has denied this.

Bakker and his representatives also have contended that he paid $115,000 in blackmail in an attempt to keep the affair quiet.

But Everett Stenhouse, assistant general superintendant of the church, said late Wednesday that the 13 directors of the Assemblies of God had heard “a great deal of evidence which leads us to conclude that, as far as PTL is concerned, there has been no conspiracy whatsoever and no blackmail whatsoever.”

He said that the North Carolina district of the church would expedite a formal disciplinary process that could lead to revocation of Bakker’s ordination as a minister. The board credentials 30,000 Pentecostal ministers in the United States.

The board has no authority over the PTL (Praise the Lord) ministries, which Bakker created and nurtured to include a wealthy and powerful Christian telecast network and a $172-million South Carolina family amusement park.

John Ankerberg, a Tennessee evangelist and Swaggart ally, was one of three witnesses known to testify at the hearing. Afterward, he said that Bakker had resigned his ministry only after a top PTL official received a letter requesting a meeting that was signed by himself, Swaggart and Falwell. He said the letter detailed some but not all of the allegations.

Ankerberg said Bakker’s claims of takeover and blackmail were “false and will be proven false,” adding for reporters: “You still don’t know the full story.”

Ankerberg said more details of the allegations, which were provided in full to the church leadership, will be made public after the date for a formal hearing is announced. Assemblies of God rules call for a minister accused of wrongdoing to be first investigated by his local district, and then by the church leadership here.

Disclosure Called God’s Work

“If there has been wrongdoing,” he said, “God can’t bless that ministry. I believe that God is the one who uncovered the information and brought it out.”

Another witness at the hearing was Paul Roper of Orange County. A colleague said Wednesday that Roper, who has previously worked with troubled churches, had been approached in 1984 by Jessica Hahn, the woman with whom Bakker had the sexual liaison.

“After numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact Mr. Bakker and PTL leadership about the allegations, Mr. Roper asked me to assist him in drafting a complaint on behalf of Miss Hahn,” attorney John Stewart, co-host of a Christian radio program out of Orange County, said at an Irvine press conference.

The draft lawsuit was sent to PTL officials, Stewart said. After a meeting, the PTL hired an attorney, and a settlement was arranged. Stewart said published reports that the settlement was for $115,000 were in error, but he declined to provide a specific figure. Hahn has said she got only a “few dollars” of the settlement money, and attorneys involved would not comment about how much they received.

This money has been characterized by Bakker as “blackmail,” but others have suggested that it was paid as an attempt to “cover-up” his affair.

Stewart said Swaggart has received a “bum rap” from such evangelists as Oral Roberts, who have scolded him for pressing the Bakker matter,

“Jimmy Swaggart had no intentions of taking over PTL either through a friendly takeover or a hostile takeover,” said Stewart, a law professor.

Falwell, head of the Liberty Foundation (formerly known as the Moral Majority), said in a speech Wednesday that he was concerned about what impact the “unholy war” would have on people who are undecided in their religious beliefs.

“They are now beginning to believe the non-religious that all religions are bad,” he said.

New Directors

Falwell was to meet today with the new directors of the PTL’s Heritage Village USA in Fort Mill, S.C.

Bakker was ensconced in his residence in Palm Springs. His wife, Tammy, a high presence on his television shows, is with him and undergoing treatment for substance addiction at the Betty Ford Center.

The Rev. Robert Schuller, head of the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, told reporters that he talked to Bakker Sunday morning.

“I asked him what the score was. He trusts me enough to tell me the truth.

” . . . What he (Bakker) said to me was the whole thing was such a crazy idea, that ‘the 15 minutes I spent in the room with this girl, I was so scared I couldn’t have done it anyway.’ ”

Schuller expressed sorrow that the uproar came at such an awkward time for Bakker, given his wife’s troubles.

Asked whether such public disputes are inevitable in a time when television ministers fight for audiences with millions of dollars at stake, Schuller said: “I suppose you can never avoid the possibility of human ambition or ego or greed coming into the picture. Ministers are not perfect people.”

Bob Secter reported from Springfield, Mo., and Peter H. King from Los Angeles. Also contributing were Times staff writers Mark I. Pinsky, Heidi Evans and Leslie Berkman in Orange County and John Dart in Fort Mill, S.C.