The Ripple Effects of Ministry

West Virginia, with just ten members. Over the next few years, the church grew,
drawing an integrated congregation that helped increase Jakes's renown as a speaker
and pastor. He moved the church twice: from Montgomery to Smithers and then to
South Charleston, where the congregation grew from about 100 members to over 300.
During this time, he began a radio ministry, The Master's Plan, which ran from 1982 to
1985. He also became acquainted with Bishop Sherman Watkins, founder of the Higher
Ground Always Abounding Assembly (an association of over 200 Pentecostal
churches). Watkins ordained Jakes as a minister of the Higher Ground Assembly and
encouraged him to start a church in the Charleston, West Virginia, area. Jakes also
used this time to continue his education by studying through correspondence courses
from Friends International Christian University, an unaccredited, online university. Jakes
completed a B. A. and M.A. in 1990, and a Doctor of Ministry in Religious Studies from
Friends International Christian University in 1995.
After the 1990 move to Charleston, as his congregation grew, Jakes began to focus on
the spiritual needs of the women in his church who had been abandoned and abused in
their lives. He began a Sunday School class for them, "Woman, Thou Art Loosed," in
which he encouraged them to use their past pain as a foundation for new growth. He
later started a similar class for men, which he called "Manpower." In 1993, Jakes selfpublished
his first book, drawing on his experiences working with the women of his
congregation. Woman, Thou Art Loosed would become Jakes's signature work and a
national, religious bestseller. He also began a new television ministry, Get Ready, which
aired on Black Entertainment Television and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Also in
1993, Jakes moved his church yet again, to Cross Lanes, West Virginia.
Jakes's ministry continued to expand, prompting the founding of the T. D. Jakes
Ministries organization to oversee his work beyond the church itself. He continued to
write and publish, spreading his message of spiritual healing to new audiences. In 1994,
he held the first of what would become a series of conferences for ministers and their
spouses, "When Shepherds Bleed."
In May 1996, Jakes moved his family and his ministry again, along with fifty other
families involved in his work, to Dallas, Texas. There he purchased the former facilities
of Eagle's Nest Church, a large Dallas church pastored by W. V. Grant (who at the time
was facing prison time for fraud). Renaming the church The Potter's House, Jakes
continued his work. The Potter's House, with a 5,000-seat auditorium and a 34-acre
campus, had a congregation of 30,000.
Career
In 1980, at age 23, Jakes became the pastor of Greater Emanuel Temple of Faith, a
storefront church in Smithers, West Virginia, with ten members. The congregation grew
to encompass 100 members and was notable because it was racially integrated.
In 1990, Jakes moved to South Charleston, West Virginia, and his congregation grew
again, to 300 members. In 1993 he moved to Cross Lanes, West Virginia, where the
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