The Power Team is a group of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

s, based in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas. They incorporate their preaching with displays of strength and

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

skills. They were founded in the late 1970s by John Jacobs. Their performances, usually taped at large

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

es, were broadcast on TBN (and other Christian television stations in the United States) in the late 1980s.

History

The Power Team often conducts performances in churches and venues, such as schools, to encourage audiences from outside

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

communities. When performing in public schools, they are not permitted to discuss religion, instead promoting social responsibility and abstention from drugs and alcohol. The group's promotional material indicated that it presented a "message that strengthens and restores the family". In May 2000, original Power Team leader John Jacobs divorced his wife Ruthanne. This was followed by numerous members leaving the Power Team to form a new ministry called Team Impact. In 2002, the Power Team filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

protection. Todd Keene has been the president since 2003.

TV appearances

In 1999, The Power Team portrayed themselves in "The Principal" episode of ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...

'' (motivating a high school of wayward students). The Power Team briefly appeared in a July 22, 2008 episode of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

'', performing stunts including: running through 2x4s bursting into flames and running into an 8-foot wall of ice head and shoulders first. Host

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

remarked, "You must be bonkers." The team was not selected to go on to the semi-finals. They also appeared during ''

The American Bible Challenge ''The American Bible Challenge'' is an American biblical-themed television game show created by Game Show Network. The series is hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, with gospel musician Kirk Franklin joining Foxworthy as co-host and announcer in ...

'' on GSN. An animation Power Team appeared on ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...

'' during

season 15 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, in the "Railroaded" episode. A similar group called the God Squad, which appears in Season 2 of the HBO series ''

The Righteous Gemstones ''The Righteous Gemstones'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Danny McBride that premiered on August 18, 2019, on HBO. The series follows a famous and dysfunctional family of televangelists. McBride also stars in the serie ...

'', was based on the Power Team.

Documentary

In 2004, an independent team of documentary filmmakers began filming The Power Team. The film, titled "Born Again: The Power Team Story", chronicles the 30-year history of the team. It details the familial, emotional, spiritual and physical sacrifices they make to preach the gospel. It was directed by Matthew Luem, produced by James L Reid & Scarlett Lam, filmed by Chaz Zelus, and written by Greg Fiering. The feature-length documentary was slated for release in 2015. However, as of May 2018, the film has not yet been released.

Media

*''John Jacobs & The Power Team'' – 1990

Frontline Records Frontline Records was a Christian rock record label, founded in 1986 by James Kempner in Santa Ana, California. The label focused primarily on modern rock, rap, dance-pop and hip-hop. The label closed in the early 1990s, and then resurfaced in ...

, 1 hour

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

video (V09085) *''John Jacobs & The Power Team'' – 1990 Frontline Records, CD (CD09085) &

Cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

(C09085)

References

External links

*
Official documentary website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power Team, The Organizations based in Dallas Evangelical organizations America's Got Talent contestants American artist groups and collectives 1970s establishments in Texas Christianity in Texas