NATION : Bakker Ministry Kicked Out of Rundown Florida Shopping Mall

ORLANDO, Fla. — The ministry of imprisoned swindler Jim Bakker has been evicted from the decrepit shopping mall where he and his wife, Tammy Faye, tried to rebuild their evangelical empire.

“My plan is that they will move immediately. I should think they would be headed in that direction by Sunday,” said Stewart Gilman, owner of the nearly defunct Shopper’s World outdoor mall.

The Bakkers and their followers occupied 30,000 square feet in May when they moved into the crumbling plaza littered with trash. In the weeks since Bakker’s conviction, ministry workers have boxed up belongings and withdrawn into just 8,000 square feet.

Gilman said the eviction has nothing to do with Bakker’s conviction or rent payment but rather at the way the workers have pulled back into a much smaller area in the hope of paying less rent.