Loosed to Evolve | Bishop T.D. Jakes Passes the Torch to Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Bishop T.D. Jakes Passes the Torch to Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
In a momentous culmination of the Woman, Thou Art Loosed!: Homecoming, Bishop T.D. Jakes anoints and passes the torch to Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts as she continues the WTAL legacy with Woman Evolve.
Watch Bishop T.D. Jakes Passes the Torch to Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts below
At the culmination of this week’s Woman, Thou Art Loosed! The Grand Finale conference at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, T.D. Jakes, globally renowned businessman, faith leader and philanthropist surprised his daughter Sarah Jakes Roberts by calling her up to the stage and anointing her as the voice of a new generation of ministry.
Jakes Roberts took center stage as Jakes’ popular women’s conference was officially transitioned to Woman Evolve.
Jakes told her, “Sarah Jakes Roberts, when you walk onto this stage, you are walking into your destiny. After 30 years of Woman, Thou Art Loosed! and 45 years of preaching the Gospel, the time has come that I must decrease, and you must increase. This is not an inheritance; this is a calling. You are not standing on this stage for family legacy. This is not a favor, but a divine assignment that Woman, Thou Art Loosed! must evolve.”
Jakes remarked that this was not an ending, but a beginning as he directed his audience to join Jakes Roberts in picking up her mantle of ministry. Jakes professed it was not weak for a man to empower a woman. He instructed his daughter to not drop the mic as she picks up his.
Video of Jakes’ entire comments is available to view and download, in addition to photos.
As Jakes continues to lead as senior pastor of The Potter’s House church, chairman of the T.D. Jakes Foundation and T.D Jakes Real Estate Ventures along with other faith-based and business ventures, during the final Woman, Thou Art Loosed! conference—a conference that has run for more than 25 years to become a global movement— he symbolically passed the torch to his daughter to carry on his legacy of ministry and conference for women. Jakes Roberts will assume the role as leader of the next generation of women’s leadership events in addition to her own ministry and conference, Woman Evolve.
Anointing his daughter with oil, Jakes said, “With every drop of oil that falls upon your head, may the strength and power of the Almighty God rest upon your life.” He then commissioned each one of the 22,000 women present to go forth and evolve into their destiny.
Jakes Roberts then remarked, “We’ve just been loosed to evolve into the next dimension.”
Since 1996, Jakes has brought women together to find hope amid hopelessness, peace in the midst of turmoil and freedom in the midst of bondage. In addition to Jakes taking the stage, other distinguished headline speakers during the conference included:
- Serita A. Jakes, executive director of The Potter’s House women’s ministry
- Sarah Jakes Roberts, co-senior pastor of The Potter’s House OneLA
- Priscilla Shirer, founder of Going Beyond Ministries
- Carolyn D. Showell, Christian therapist and executive pastor of First Apostolic Faith Church in Baltimore, Maryland
- Fantasia Barrino Taylor, Grammy award-winning artist
- Connie Orlando, executive vice president and head of programming at Black Entertainment Television
In honor of this year’s final gathering and to pay homage to the conference’s original location, Coca-Cola partnered with the conference in support of T.D. Jakes Ministries and the T.D. Jakes Foundation to celebrate the deep-seated community roots in Atlanta.
For more information on Woman, Thou Art Loosed! The Grand Finale visit WTAL.org
