The Potter’s House

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Fact Sheet: The Potter’s House

About The Potter's House

Founded in 1996, The Potter's House is a 30,000-member nondenominational, multicultural church and humanitarian organization led by senior pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes. Consistently ranked among the largest and most influential churches in the U.S., The Potter's House has five locations: The Potter's House of Dallas, The Potter's House of Fort Worth, The Potter's House of North Dallas, The Potter's House of Denver and The Potter’s House of L.A. 

Deeply rooted in local and global communities, The Potter's House charter is to extend a "hand of help to the needy, a heart of compassion to the hurting, and a message of empowerment to the disenfranchised."

The Potter's House mission is carried out through four distinct channels: global humanitarian outreach, inspirational conference series, media and entertainment ventures, and thought leadership forums.


Global Humanitarian and Outreach Initiatives

Metroplex Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) 
A 501(c)(3) business development corporation, MEDC aids families and individuals in underserved communities. The MEDC provides practical programs from home ownership to credit development, financial literacy and entrepreneurial development initiatives.

Texas Offenders Re-Entry Initiative (T.O.R.I.)
Operating within five primary geographical re-entry points within the state of Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin) T.O.R.I. serves as an "after-care" program for former offenders transitioning back into society. For more than 13 years, the program has provided case management, family and marital counseling, and pre-employment assistance. More than 10,000 graduates have matriculated since T.O.R.I.’s founding. In 2013, T.O.R.I. received an EMMY award for a TV documentary recounting client success stories.

United MegaCARE
The humanitarian outreach arm of The Potter's House, United MegaCARE provides practical help to hurting people around the world, including in North, Central and South America; Africa; Asia; the Middle East; Europe; and the Caribbean. United MegaCARE teams are on the ground providing supplies, filtering systems, medical supplies and food after major disasters, such as the recent West Virginia water contamination catastrophe, Haitian earthquake, Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Florence. The group is also attuned to global issues such as AIDS awareness, sex trafficking, clean water systems, microeconomic development, healthcare and green initiatives. For example, in Kenya, United MegaCARE built the T.D. Jakes Wing at Melchizedek Hospital, provided medical care and recently averted tribal warfare by repairing life-saving well systems drilled by the ministry. United MegaCARE also provides ongoing medical screenings for Dallas-area residents, aid to the homeless, plus other acts of practical kindness through more than 120 auxiliaries. 


Inspirational Conference Series

MegaFEST
One of the most widely recognized events, the multiday, family-friendly entertainment forum has broken attendance records around the globe. Traditionally held in Atlanta, in 2008 the festival ventured to South Africa with outreach missions, excursions, entrepreneurial exchanges and special HIV/AIDS awareness programs. Occurring every other year, the event moved to Dallas in 2013 with featured headliners like Oprah Winfrey and Steve Harvey. MegaFest returned to Dallas in 2015 and 2017. National organizations such as Autism Speaks and St. Jude have been charitable partners in the past.

Woman, Thou Art Loosed! 
What began as a woman's Bible study in a storefront West Virginia church in 1992 has since burgeoned into a book, stage play, music album, popular conference and film franchise. Each year women gather to hear encouraging words of hope. Real talk sessions, powerful preaching, inspirational teaching, worship and health screenings are familiar staples at this women's empowerment conference.

ManPower @ MegaFEST
This conference integrates the public, private and spiritual lives of men and encourages transparency among brothers. With its infusion of topical messages by inspired leaders, worship and times of personal reflection, men leave this mentoring environment refocused, reenergized and reengaged across all areas of their lives.

International Pastors & Leadership
Proving the adage that "leadership is not just for pastors anymore," this forum brings top-down leadership principles for the entire church staff. Attracting some of the most successful pastors and marquee speakers, this international conference is training central for churches in all phases of development.


Media

Radio
Airing in more than 75 stations nationally, Empowering Moments are encouraging messages and daily spiritual thoughts from T.D. Jakes that offer nuggets of wisdom to listeners across top-rated syndicated stations.

Television
The Potter's Touch is a mainstay on Christian television offering powerful messages from Bishop T.D. Jakes. The program has aired on the Daystar, TBN, Word, Impact and BET networks.

Livestreaming 
The Potter's House church services stream live to millions of viewers each Sunday.

Bishop's Village:
Launched in 2017 in partnership with TAPP TV, an online subscription-based video content network, the Bishop's Village offers video-on-demand subscribers unique, behind-the-scenes insights into the workings of the T.D. Jakes' ministries. Viewers are treated to exclusive video and other online content including worldwide speaking engagements, conferences, business seminars, meeting preparations, sermon notes, etc. 


Thought Leadership

T.D. Jakes extends his influence in a number of prestigious forums around the world, sharing leadership principles from a faith perspective. He has lent his unique voice and intellectual insights to forums such as:

  • The Aspen Institute
  • The Willow Creek Leadership Forum
  • The Drucker Institute, CEO Forum
  • The Elephant Room
  • The SMU Tate Lecture Series
  • Conversations with America
  • The Reconciled Church
  • Dallas Festival of Ideas 

T.D. Jakes advised the last three presidents, was a featured speaker at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, gave remarks at a White House Easter Prayer Breakfast in 2011, and attended the state dinner for African leaders in 2014 and Pope Francis' 2015 White House visit.

Over the years he has met with leaders on the world stage including President Rawlings of Ghana and President Obasanjo of Nigeria. He was a guest of the King of Jordan, King Abdullah; the President of Trinidad, George Maxwell Richards; and the president of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri K. Museveni, among others. 

T.D. Jakes is a frequent commentator for cable news outlets CNN, MSNBC and Fox Business Network. Called "America's Treasure" by Oprah Winfrey, he was a welcomed guest on Oprah's Next Chapter, Lifeclass and Super Soul Sunday. He is a trusted advisor to Dr. Phil and serves on the advisory boards for the Soledad O'Brien + Brad Raymond Foundation and for producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey of Light Workers Media, creators of the wildly successful Bible series for the History Channel.

T.D. Jakes shares his opinions in thought-provoking op-ed articles for Time, CNN.com, The Washington Post, HuffPost and Bloomberg/BusinessWEEK, among others, and pens his own advice column for Essence. 

In 2015 Bishop Jakes launched "Conversations with America," a series of statistically based studies on the issues that impact broad cross-sections of Americans. In 2016 Bishop Jakes held a live forum to discuss criminal justice, economic reform, national security and racial polarization with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. The invitation-only event drew a crowd of 200 including members of Congress, the White House, journalists, lobbyists, and others and aired via Facebook Live with an audience exceeding 100 million. The platform also allowed Jakes to address that year's tragic killing of unarmed citizens and five police officers from the pulpit. "Conversations with America" has garnered five industry awards to date.  

Bishop Jakes' desire to mentor leaders also is evidenced in his annual intimate training forums:

  • Project Gideon—equips those under 40 to thrive within the pastorate through mentorship 
  • Mount Pisgah Experience—assists those above 40 looking to gain mastery in ministry

For more information visit ThePottersHouse.org or TDJakes.org. Follow Bishop Jakes @BishopJakes on all social platforms.

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