The following is the continuation of the story of Texas evangelist TD Jakes TD Jakes’ ability to craft a message that resonates with hurting people has helped to propel his ministry beyond the walls of the African-American church into the global marketplace.

Lee says that this demonstrates the genius of the man. “That is the genius of Jakes. It’s this overwhelming compassion he has for people in pain and that’s going to generate the energy it takes to find solutions.

“And then juxtaposed to that compassion is his tremendous business savvy that looks for opportunities to expand his market share and Jakes has found a way to blend these two things together with his focus on women.”

On the other hand, Lee claims that Jakes’ penchant for addressing the existential needs of his large female constituency, when viewed within the broader, historical context of black preacher/black female relationships, has been a source of some resentment among African-American men.

“I think it’s very significant, the context in which black preachers have always stirred up controversy in the black community, especially, among men who felt threatened that their wives were investing emotionally, or bonding emotionally, with their pastors.

“And this resentment explains why the black church has been predominately populated by women. I think that someone like Jakes exacerbates this because he’s actually more effective at targeting these needs.

“Jakes has developed the psychological savvy to actually be in tune with these existential crises that black women face.

“So he’s connected with black women on a level way beyond the average black preacher historically and that may be another reason why there’s resentment.”

Lee, who is presently conducting research on black clergywomen, says that this resentment also extends to a number of Jakes female colleagues in the ministry.

“People who even like Jakes, some of these female preachers, there’s resentment in that they feel that they’ve been doing this all along.

“And that here comes Jakes now and it seems like he’s the first preacher to deal with the existential needs of women.

“No, well these women preachers like Ernestine Cleveland Reems, Iona Locke, Jackie McCullough, they have been doing it all along. And so there’s this resentment that a lot of women won’t sit at the feet of another woman.

“They have to hear the same things from another man for it to be something they’ll apply to their lives. I’ve seen it as a definite source of tension.”

While Jakes has been criticised for his teaching on prosperity, Lee claims that Jakes has responded to his critics by reinventing his message.

“He’s not an unabashedly prosperity preacher like Fred Price. But that movement was so pervasive during the eighties and nineties that Jakes was early on tremendously impacted by the teaching.

“And you see the teaching as he’s trying to defend the avarice that took place in his life in West Virginia when his ministry started to explode.

“He buys a house with an indoor bowling alley and an indoor swimming pool and the reporters have a field day with him.

“To the degree that you want to call him a prosperity preacher, that’s subjective. But I honestly think that he’s taken a turn away from it now, a slow turn, or he understands the controversy that came from that label.

“So he doesn’t want to brand himself that way. He uses this language, ‘I’m not preaching prosperity. I’m preaching empowerment’.

“So his thing is now, ‘I’m preaching business principles, personal empowerment, financial planning’.

“He’s a genius at reinventing himself. It’s almost like he’s got this uncanny sensor that adjusts to criticism and allows him to make himself more palatable to more people.

“And I actually think that’s smart. The more he takes steps away from that and the more he nuances that to say ‘we’re human beings, we struggle’ that’s just better for his overall message.”

Although there are critics who contend that Jakes is the product of the African-American church that places a low priority on doctrine to focus on more pressing socio-economic issues such as poverty, inadequate health care and lack of upward mobility within a racially polarised society, Lee argues that Jakes is a part of a tradition dating back to the 18th century that proclaims a more practical message.

“Americans historically have not been that much into doctrine, in that the most popular revivalists since the 18th century have been those individuals who didn’t emphasise doctrine, but had a practical message of spirituality.

“They preached a personal God and showed in plain language how that personal God could make your life better.

“Jakes is part of that tradition of preaching a populist message that’s light on doctrine and heavy on practical implications of the faith.”

Lee claims that Jakes uniquely American brand of Christianity is not without its contradictions, however.

“He is profoundly American. His message goes back to Benjamin Franklin’s pragmatic teachings on life. It goes back to Booker T. Washington’s ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’.

“It’s a personal message that says, ‘it’s not society that dictates your future, but it is your own personal ability to transcend any situation’.

“But he blends a focus on personal agency with a focus on God’s sovereignty in a contradictory way that never seems to befuddle anyone.

“So it’s like a fusion of Reformed theology with an Armenian theology in a way that is profoundly American.”

Given his unparalleled status as the most influential African-American preacher of his generation, Lee believes that Jakes is a primary mover and shaker behind the emergence of the new black church in America.

“I think that Jakes is the metaphor of this new black church and I see this as the turn the church is making.

“I see the new black church as becoming like Wal-Mart; mega churches drawing lots of people.

“There always will be those smaller churches, but these big mega churches that are not singing traditional hymns, that have praise and worship, that emphasise personal empowerment, that emphasise a vibrant experience with the Holy Spirit and that have a practical message of uplift.

“These types of churches that are willing to experiment, that are business savvy, high on technology. They’re the future of the black church,” Lee explains.

“I see this new black church gaining more power, gaining more prestige, gaining a greater place in contemporary popular culture, and it’s going to be hard for these traditionalists to compete.

“I don’t think it’s going to create as many problems because more and more black people are being socialised to this new black church.

“That’s all they know and pretty soon this other stuff is going to sound pretty strange to a lot of people.”