T.D. Jakes : : America's New Preacher / / Shayne Lee.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Lee, Shayne,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2007]; ©2007
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource :; 3 black and white illustrations

T.D. Jakes has emerged as one of the most prolific spiritual leaders of our time. He is pastor of one of the largest churches in the country, CEO of a multimillion dollar empire, the host of a television program, author of a dozen bestsellers, and the producer of two Grammy Award-nominated CDs and three critically acclaimed plays. In 2001 Time magazine featured Jakes on the cover and asked: Is Jakes the next Billy GrahamT.D. Jakes draws on extensive research, including interviews with numerous friends and colleagues of Jakes, to examine both Jakes’s rise to prominence and proliferation of a faith industry bent on producing spiritual commodities for mass consumption. Lee frames Jakes and his success as a metaphor for changes in the Black Church and American Protestantism more broadly, looking at the ramifications of his rise-and the rise of similar preachers-for the way in which religion is practiced in this country, how social issues are confronted or ignored, and what is distinctly “American” about Jakes's emergence. While offering elements of biography, the work also seeks to shed light on important aspects of the contemporary American and African American religious experience.Lee contends that Jakes’s widespread success symbolizes a religious realignment in which mainline churches nationwide are in decline, while innovative churches are experiencing phenomenal growth. He emphasizes the “American-ness” of Jakes’s story and reveals how preachers like Jakes are drawing followers by delivering therapeutic and transformative messages and providing spiritual commodities that are more in tune with postmodern sensibilities.As the first work to critically examine Bishop Jakes’s life and message, T.D. Jakes is an important contribution to contemporary American religion as well as popular culture.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Humble Beginnings -- 2 Once in a Lifetime: Jakes Receives His Big Break -- 3 Prophetic Sign and Wonder: Jakes’ Ministry Explodes -- 4 A Virtuoso, a Prodigy: Jakes’ Appeal in the Spiritual Marketplace -- 5 A Message of Prosperity -- 6 “Woman Art Thou Really Loosed?” -- 7 Businessman and a Minister -- 8 The New Black Church -- 9 American Phenomenon: Summary and Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author