<\/p>\n
Bishop T.D. Jakes speaks during The Sound of 50, celebrating Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n
Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
As clips of Bishop\u00a0T.D. Jakes <\/a>preaching across five decades played Sunday inside The Potter\u2019s House<\/a>, the congregation heard the sermons that made the 69-year-old pastor one of the country\u2019s most recognizable religious leaders<\/a>.<\/p>\n For Jakes, the recordings also brought back what he had been thinking and enduring when he delivered them.<\/p>\n An overview off the church during The Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Parishioners duringThe Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Parishioners duringThe Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins sits in the crowd during The Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News A woman gets emotional during The Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Cowboys Hall of Famer Michael Irvin sits in the crowd during The Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Sarah Jakes Roberts, the daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes, sits in the crowd during The Sound of 50, celebrating Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Performers duringThe Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News The Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News Nigerian minister Paul Adefarasin speaks during The Sound of 50, celebrating Bishop T.D. Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you all play those little messages, you hear what I said, but I hear what I thought,\u201d he said. \u201cI hear what I had to go through to preach it.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The clips, he said, reminded him of struggles that were never captured on camera.<\/p>\n He described beginning with a small West Virginia congregation and traveling to preach when the offering sometimes did not cover the trip. Money was so tight, he told the crowd, that he would put his car in neutral and coast downhill to conserve gasoline.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not matter where you start,\u201d he said. \u201cIt only matters where you finish.\u201d<\/p>\n The remarks came during \u201cThe Sound of 50,\u201d a service tracing Jakes\u2019 path from a 19-year-old preacher in West Virginia in 1976 to a nationally known pastor, author, film producer and entrepreneur.<\/p>\n The program mixed archival footage, music and testimonials with video tributes from public figures including Oprah Winfrey, filmmaker Tyler Perry and civil rights leader and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Winfrey said Jakes\u2019 influence could not be measured solely through institutions.<\/p>\n \u201cLegacy is one thing. It\u2019s every life you\u2019ve touched,\u201d she told him. \u201cYou\u2019ve touched mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Jakes redirected much of the praise toward relatives, ministers, staff members and congregants. He asked his children and grandchildren to stand and thanked them for the sacrifices they made during his decades of travel.<\/p>\n \u201cYou sacrificed,\u201d he said. \u201cYou put up with it while I traveled around the world, often helping other people, and you needed me to be at home.\u201d<\/p>\n Jakes described his wife, Serita, as essential to building and sustaining the ministry. He thanked her for getting up at 3 a.m. to cook when he was sick and making sure he had his medication. Over the years, he said, they took turns caring for one another.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Jakes experienced a medical emergency while preaching in November 2024. He later said he had suffered a \u201cmassive heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n In April 2025, he announced he would leave the day-to-day leadership of The Potter\u2019s House. His daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and son-in-law, Tour\u00e9 Roberts, were installed as co-senior pastors on July 6, 2025. Jakes remains chairman of the church\u2019s board and its spiritual overseer.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Potter\u2019s House was never just Mr. Jakes,\u201d he said Sunday. \u201cIt never was, and it never will be. What we built is more than one man.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Bishop T.D. Jakes is handing Potter’s House leadership to daughter, son-in-law<\/a><\/p>\n From West Virginia to Dallas<\/p>\n Bishop T.D. Jakes listens to speakers during The Sound of 50, celebrating Jakes\u2019 five-decade impact, at The Potter\u2019s House in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, September 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Jakes preached his first sermon in 1976 and was ordained in 1979, according to The HistoryMakers, an archive documenting prominent Black Americans.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He later led a storefront church in West Virginia before moving to Dallas in 1996. About 50 families formed the core of The Potter\u2019s House, and more than 2,000 people attended its first service, according to the church\u2019s history.<\/p>\n The nondenominational congregation grew into a megachurch as Jakes\u2019 work expanded through conferences, books, gospel music, television and film.<\/p>\n In 2001, Time\u00a0placed\u00a0Jakes on its cover and asked, \u201cIs This Man the Next Billy Graham?\u201d The magazine described him as a religious \u201cpolymath\u201d whose books, broadcasts and conferences carried his influence beyond Dallas.<\/p>\n Jakes later produced or executive-produced films including Jumping the Broom, Heaven Is for Real and Miracles from Heaven. He also served as an executive producer of Lifetime\u2019s Seven Deadly Sins anthology.<\/p>\n Jordan A. Hora, executive director of public relations and communications for the T.D. Jakes Group, said those projects reached people who might never walk into a sanctuary.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cPeople might not come to the church, but they\u2019ll watch a movie,\u201d Hora said. \u201cPeople might not come to a Wednesday night Bible study, but they\u2019ll listen to an album.\u201d<\/p>\n Jakes also appeared with political leaders from both parties. In 2005, President George W. Bush publicly thanked him for mobilizing religious communities to help people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Jakes later preached at a national prayer service after the storm.<\/p>\n On Jan. 20, 2009, he delivered a sermon at a private service at St. John\u2019s Episcopal Church before President Barack Obama\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n Hora said that willingness to appear with leaders from both parties widened Jakes\u2019 reach.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not afraid to bring everybody together, Democrats, Republicans,\u201d Hora said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n