Double Duty: T.D. Jakes Makes History as TV Host
Watch a brief preview of the premiere of "T.D. Jakes."
After months of planning and preparation, Bishop T.D. Jakes, senior pastor of the Potter's House, makes his debut as the host of his own nationally syndicated TV talk show.
Described as empowering and uplifting, the "T.D. Jakes" show welcomes Army veteran Noah Galloway as Jakes' first guest.
Galloway has an inspirational story. He lost an arm and a leg in an explosion while serving in Iraq yet went on to compete in the finals as a contestant on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."
Bishop Jakes has doubled his duties serving as senior pastor and television host, traveling between Dallas and Los Angeles where the show is in production.
He rallied a 21-day prayer effort leading up to the show's premiere, encouraging members of the Potter's House to offer their prayers and support.
A key feature of his show is what the host calls "the village."
"My theme for my show is 'it takes a village,'" Jakes told his church audience. "It takes a village to raise all of us, and it takes a village of prayer to raise me. So keep the prayer going."
The popular megachurch pastor is no stranger to stepping onto platforms outside of the pulpit. He is a New York Times bestselling author and a movie producer whose film credits include "Miracles from Heaven," starring actress Jennifer Garner and "Sparkle," featuring the late Whitney Houston.
The talk show, currently cleared to air on 70 TEGNA stations in more 50 markets, airs weekdays. The series was "green lighted" after completing a successful trial run last summer.
In 2015, shortly after the test run, Jakes told CBN News about the experience.
"To be the first minister to have an opportunity to have a daytime talk show, it's exhilarating," Jakes told CBN's John Jessup. "For me, this is fun to get to sit down and reflect on all the experiences that I've had in and outside of the church, and to present them to the world in a form of solutions that they can use to galvanize them and reconstruct maybe how they feel about faith."
Watch Bishop TD Jakes explain how to "Step into Your Destiny."
In August, the Oprah Winfrey Network announced that it had bought the rights to air the new talk show program, a partnership that would allow Jakes to reach 85 million homes.
The "T.D. Jakes" show premieres on OWN on Sept. 19.
