Cerullo to Move San Diego Ministry to Ex-PTL ‘Heritage USA’ Park

Morris Cerullo, the San Diego-based evangelist who is buying the Christian theme park Jim Bakker built in Ft. Mill, S.C., said Wednesday that he plans to move his entire ministry to the site by the middle of next year, when the park is scheduled to reopen.

Cerullo estimated that his operations in San Diego employ 150 full- and part-time staffers, but he said plans for relocation had not been discussed with them yet.

He said the 2,200-acre “New Heritage USA” site, which Jim Bakker built up as the cornerstone of the now defunct PTL Club, “will be a clean, wholesome atmosphere” and operated strictly as a business and kept separate from the ministry.

“I’m going to continue to take the lead in running the ministry,” he said.

Cerullo said his son David will run the ministry’s TV network, which will broadcast over the former PTL satellite network. Cerullo has put $7 million into escrow to buy the network but is still awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Cerullo introduced three men who will help him run Heritage USA. One, Bill Lund, worked for Walt Disney in the initial stages of developing both Walt Disney World and Epcot Center. Lund is a trustee of Occidental College.

Also working with Cerullo will be Hal Tysinger, a North Carolina native who specializes in rejuvenating slumping real estate developments, and Dennis Kohan, who has more than 25 years experience in financial management.

“Funding for New Heritage USA has been committed by established financial institutions here in the United States,” said Cerullo, who didn’t specify which banks. Cerullo has until Nov. 2 to find $45 million needed to finance the theme park.

The money will go to pay off the secured creditors owed money by PTL (which stands for Praise The Lord).

Alan Elias, a Cerullo spokesman, said a “package of benefits” will also be arranged for those who purchased “lifetime partnerships” from PTL while it was run by Jim Bakker, now serving a 45-year prison term in Minnesota for fraud and conspiracy.

Elias also said the buying of Heritage USA is the culmination of two years of planning and research into the purchase.