Bishop T.D. Jakes, senior pastor of The Potter's House, shared with the powerful congregation that The Potter's House will not only migrate but also live entirely digitally in what he describes as "POP-UP Church" experiences to a multi-genre, multi-faith and multilingual viewers about the future of his church and his future. The move was announced during a heavily emotional service on April 27, only three months after Jakes made a miraculous recovery from a near-deadly heart attack.
As a humble 67, Jakes sat before his congregation and announced that he would pass the senior pastoral leadership baton of TPH to his Sarah Jakes Roberts and her husband, Touré Roberts.
"I cannot afford to let all the work of all the saints, those who are living and those who are dead, hold this so tight so long that I suffocate," he said to the crowd, his voice steady but full of emotion. "I am referring you to get Pastor Touré and Pastor Sarah."
"This elevation is not a contradiction but a rebirth," Jakes said. "We are not only passing a mantle, we are multiplying impact."
It's a heavy mantle that one; for decades, Jakes has laid the groundwork for what would become The Potter's House, one of the fastest-growing and most influential churches and ministries in the country, with millions tuning into his teachings to be blessed and inspired and gain confidence to pursue their dreams. His decision to leave that legacy to his daughter and son-in-law represents family faith and future vision.
The timing of this change is very personal, and Jakes went down in the middle of his sermon, felled by a heart attack he never saw coming.
"I just sort of drifted off to sleep. I didn't know what that was," he later explained.
Doctors discovered a blood clot that was blocking the right side of his heart. "Five minutes later, and I would have been dead on arrival," he said.
But in classic T.D. Jakes form, he wasn't done. By New Year's Eve, he was back in the pulpit with a revived sense of purpose and a message laced with gratitude. "I think I died, I think I did, but God, God… he brought me back," he told his congregation.
Now, months later, Jakes is opting for wisdom over wear, legacy over ego. But he is not disappearing even as he steps back from day-to-day duties. He will remain as Chairman of the Board and spiritual leader of The Potter's House.
"I am never going to stop preaching and going to minister," he said Thursday.
As Sarah and Touré come forward, they do so with the full blessing and mantle of a man with an extraordinary life call and steadfast faith. What follows isn't just a new season for The Potter's House but also a torch being lit for the next generation.
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