Bishop T.D. Jakes will, no doubt, pack a full house into Marietta's 3,400-seat Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal church Saturday.
 
Bishop T.D. Jakes, neo-Pentecostal preacher of the famous mega-church Potter's House in Dallas, during a revival sermon.
 
"It is a big event for us. We are absolutely excited," said the Rev. Kenneth Marcus of the church. "Bishop Jakes is major."

Jakes will be one speaker at the BEST Leadership and Empowerment Conference, which also features talk show host Tavis Smiley and Detroit based financial advisor Glinda Bridgforth.

BEST stands for Black Economic Success Training, Jakes' spokesman Curtis Coats said in an E-mail. It teaches success in business and personal finances.

Jakes' Dallas church claims 30,000 members, and his stirring preaching and self-help pop spirituality have attracted a huge following across the nation.

He sponsored MegaFest at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta from 2004 to 2006. It was a glitzy four-day conglomeration of Christian music and entertainment coupled with Bible study, financial seminars and sales of everything from religious books to SUVs.

He put the convention on hiatus after 2006; crowds had dwindled over the years but still were in the 100,000 range.

Coats said there are no immediate plans to revive MegaFest.

Marcus said the seats in Turner Chapel will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The doors will open at 10 a.m. and the seminar begins at noon. There is no charge.

The church recently was studying one of Jakes' books, "Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits."

A church member who owns a business was also having his employees read the book. They decided as a consequence to ask Jakes to come teach, and he agreed, Marcus said.

By CHRISTOPHER QUINN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution