The old is gone-the new has come (Heritage USA/PTL property again is thriving with more to come)

Rock Hill Herald ^ | March 19, 2007 | Rebecca Sulock

[Between the Lines]

Two years ago, they came with the keys and opened the door to the old Heritage Grand hotel.

It smelled rotten. Ceiling tiles had fallen. Debris littered the floor.

In just a few months, 333 volunteers had cleaned and renovated the hotel, said Trevor Tiessen, conference administrator for MorningStar Fellowship. MorningStar Ministries bought 52 acres of the former Heritage USA property from developer Earl Coulston, and has been working since then to renovate and restore the salvageable buildings.

The group's hope is to bring new life to the land that once was home to evangelist Jim Bakker's religious empire. The property built up by Bakker between 1977 and 1987 included a theme park, television studio, hotel and residences. Twenty years ago this month, Bakker resigned amid sex and money scandals that eventually brought down the ministry and park.

Now the hotel plays host to Christian conferences and gatherings. The old Main Street USA is lined with a bookstore, an art gallery and schools for students from kindergarten to college.

"The most exciting thing for me about the restoration has been to see the joy so many people have had in this," said MorningStar founder and director Rick Joyner. "Especially a large number of local citizens who moved here to be a part of the former ministry and suffered so much disappointment at what happened then, but now seem so encouraged to see it coming alive again."

At an open house last month, Joyner played host to neighbors in the Regent Park area to present plans and answer questions about building projects, such as the proposal to turn the unfinished 21-story Towers building into a retirement and hospice center.

Many former PTL partners came to that meeting and tour, sharing memories of music in the conference center and meals in the cafeteria.

Joyner has said he's not looking to revive PTL, but also acknowledges that PTL supporters convinced him to look into finishing the Towers building, which had been slated for demolition.

"You wouldn't believe the scrutiny we're under just because we're on that property," he told the York County Council.

MorningStar began as a Christian publishing company some 20 years ago, and has grown into an international ministry. It holds Sunday services in the lobby of the former Grand hotel. A sign outside reads, "MorningStar Fellowship Church at Heritage International Ministries."

MorningStar joins a handful of other ministries already operating on the former Heritage property. Developer Coulston's wife operates the Flames of Fire Ministry, Zadok House of Prayer is at the site and anti-abortion groups such as The Cause are headquartered there.

MorningStar members talk of turning the former Heritage property's stigma into a positive, of restoring the property to the body of Christ. They'll do it without Bakker, who served five years in prison and is now a minister in Branson, Mo.

Still, some neighbors have been publicly opposed to MorningStar's plans, in particular the restoration of the Towers building, which many consider an eyesore. MorningStar is currently working on detailed plans for the structure, which the York County Council will have to approve.

The specter of PTL is still very much present on the property.

"Shortly after Jim's prison sentence in the late '80s, many Christian leaders began to prophesy that the property would not only 'die,' but it would also be resurrected and used for ministry purposes once again," says MorningStar's Web site. "Many hundreds of Christians, including former PTL members, were praying for all those years for the very same thing."

"This is the basic message of the Gospel, that regardless of how badly we have messed up we can have another chance," Joyner said.

[caver]

I was at Heritage USA in the late 80's. It was just prior to Bakker's whole empire collapsing. A lot of little old ladies money sure made the place look nice.