Bakkers Move Out of Palm Springs Home, Head East

Pulling out of the driveway of their sprawling hacienda here in a white Cadillac convertible, followed by a yellow moving van, fallen televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker left California Tuesday for their new home in Tennessee.

“Bye bye! We love you!” Tammy Faye Bakker shouted to reporters and onlookers from the back seat as the car drove away. A silent Jim Bakker simply waved.

Well-wishers, television camera crews and news reporters waited most of the day in 100-degree heat for the expected departure of the Bakkers, who have been packing their belongings for days.

The couple retreated to their resort home here four months ago when Jim Bakker was forced to resign as head of the multimillion-dollar PTL television ministry in Fort Mill, S.C. The resignation stemmed from Bakker’s revelation that he had an extramarital sexual encounter with a former church secretary and then arranged for payment of $265,000 in PTL funds to keep it quiet.

In the months since, the Bakkers have emerged for periodic news media appearances and have vowed to re-establish their ministry.

Meanwhile, PTL, which stands for Praise the Lord and People That Love, has filed for bankruptcy under its new leader, the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Federal investigators are probing Bakker’s operation of the PTL.

Some of the true believers were on hand when the couple motored off into the desert Tuesday.

Charles Clark, a slim, 15-year-old with sandy brown hair and tinted glasses, said he waited five days in a row for a meeting with the Bakkers.

Earlier that day he was invited into the house and got his wish.

“Jim shook my hand. Tammy hugged me,” Clark said. “Together, they said, ‘God bless you.’ ”

Earlier, Tammy Faye Bakker talked briefly with two reporters who followed her into a bank.

Wearing a brown pants suit with a plunging neckline, a jewel-encrusted gold watch and far less makeup than usual, she withdrew $500 in cash for gasoline and food on the road to their new home in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

“We are having to be very careful (about money),” Tammy Faye Bakker said.

“We’re driving back. . . . It’s a long haul,” she added, misty-eyed.

What lies ahead is a new life in an 1,800-square-foot, $150,000 home on a heavily wooded hill overlooking a valley in Tennessee.

“Of course, we have fallen in love with Palm Springs,” Tammy Faye Bakker said. “But it’s always sad to change. Ladies don’t make changes well. Ladies like things to stay the same.”

Tammy Faye Bakker, who was well-known here for her frequent shopping sprees in the resort’s posh clothing and jewelry stores, insisted that the prospects of having to live in more modest environs was not a problem.

“Things don’t make a difference to us,” she said. “We’ve lived in small houses and big houses, and we were just as happy.”

The Bakkers have said they decided to put their desert home up for sale when PTL officials recently moved to cut off their annual salary of $1.6 million.

Real estate agent and family friend Emma Howard said at least 30 potential buyers have toured the home in recent weeks. Thus far, there have been no takers, she said. The asking price was reduced from $700,000 to $650,000 Friday.

Proceeds of the sale of their four-bedroom house, which includes a swimming pool and guest house and comes furnished with “Haitian white sofas,” a satellite dish and a wet bar, will be used to help pay for the Tennessee house.

Meanwhile, the Bakkers plan to complete a book about their lives.

“It’s partially finished,” Tammy Faye Bakker said. “We haven’t chosen a writer yet. Jim and I have been working on it ourselves.”

They have not ruled out the possibility of starting a new ministry.

“It’s our calling,” she said.