Falwell May Resign From PTL if ‘Partners’ Take Over Board

PTL chairman Jerry Falwell may resign if a federal bankruptcy court stacks the ministry’s governing board of directors with “lifetime partners,” according to a spokesman for the fundamentalist leader.

“It’s non-negotiable. It’s out of the question,” said Falwell aide Mark DeMoss.

Dissident PTL contributors, some of whom support disgraced PTL founder Jim Bakker, are pushing for a new board of directors to govern the ministry, including seven lifetime partners. The current Falwell-picked board includes five Falwell backers and two charismatics who may support the lifetime partners.

The partners reportedly have the support of William Robinson, the court-appointed examiner assigned as an overseer for PTL case by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbia, S.C.

Falwell met Thursday in Lynchburg, Va., with the executive committee of his hand-picked PTL board to discuss the possible leadership change and has scheduled a meeting of the entire board next Tuesday.

“I would say he is poised and prepared to discuss that option (resigning) with the board on Tuesday,” DeMoss said by telephone from Lynchburg. “I don’t want board members to read that he plans to quit without them having heard from him.”

Falwell’s possible resignation, along with the addition of seven probable Bakker supporters, would give control of PTL to pro-Bakker forces. Bakker turned the ministry over to Falwell when he resigned in a sex scandal in March.

Falwell reportedly will seek assurances that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Rufus Reynolds will not allow Bakker supporters to gain control. “If we are going to be held responsible for that awesome task, we’re going to do it with our board,” he said.

PTL spokesman Don Hardister said news of Falwell’s possible departure has set off a panic among the staff of the ministry and its Heritage USA Christian retreat.

“It’s panic city out there,” Hardister said. “I don’t think the staff here would sit back and take it on the chin.”