13 Facts About Jay Bakker

Jamie Charles "Jay" Bakker was born on December 18,1975 and is an American pastor, author, and speaker.

Jay Bakker is the son of televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner.

Jay Bakker later adopted a much more liberal form of Christianity and became a co-founder of Revolution Church, which was created in 1994 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jay Bakker then preached at Revolution's Atlanta location before pastoring the New York City branch of Revolution Church, which held services at the bar and venue Pete's Candy Store, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn until Jay Bakker relocated to Minneapolis in 2013 and began pastoring another iteration of Revolution Church there.

Much of Jay Bakker's story was retold in a documentary on Sundance Channel called One Punk Under God: The Prodigal Son of Jim and Tammy Faye.

The trauma of his father's imprisonment, combined with the subsequent ostracism by others in the Church and religious community, led Jay Bakker to engage in a period of substance abuse and partying during his young adult years.

Jay Bakker has advocated for an open, inclusive Christianity that embraces those with alternative lifestyles and encourages doubt and uncertainty.

Jay Bakker has endorsed gay marriage and has been an advocate for the church's acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

Jay Bakker has questioned traditional interpretations of the atonement and salvation.

Jay Bakker decries the influence of politics in religion, saying that it prevents civil discussion of topics such as homosexuality and abortion.

Jay Bakker's church used rainbow-colored communion bread to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in Minnesota.

In 2001, Jay Bakker wrote the book Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows which is an autobiography that details his youth, relationship with his parents, the PTL scandals, his anguish at his father's imprisonment, and the founding of Revolution Church.

Jay Bakker has appeared on Larry King Live and The Joy Behar Show and has been featured in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Time, The Economist, FHM and New York Magazine.