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Last summer, on a muggy Thursday evening, more than 40,000 men came to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta to hear Bishop T. D. Jakes. Millions more watched from home, as the event was broadcast live internationally in English and Spanish. In South Africa, men at Drakenstein Prison, where former President Nelson Mandela once was held, got up at 2 A.M. to see the show.

After more than an hour of prayers, gospel singing accompanied by an orchestra and an offering, Jakes appeared on a floodlit platform decorated with greenery and lion statues. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume sat on the stage, and celebrities such as Darryl Strawberry, the ex-baseball player and recovering drug addict, were in the audience.

Jakes preached for an hour and a half about how to be a good husband and father. And when it was over, the men rushed to the altar, overcome with emotion and falling to their knees as they made their way up the aisle.

Then Jakes asked them to "find another man. … Whisper in his ear something you want him to pray about. You will never see him again, so it does not matter."

Almost everyone did. And for the next 10 minutes, doctors, judges, factory workers, and ex-convicts cried together and comforted each other.

It was ManPower night at Mega Fest, a four-day spiritual event produced by the bishop and his Dallas-based Potter's House ministry. Jakes, a 47-year-old non-denominational minister who preaches in designer suits some days and athletic jerseys on others, has emerged as one of the most powerful religious figures in America, heading a church of 28,000 and commanding audiences of sometimes triple that size when his ministry goes on the road.

"These meetings do for the soul what vitamins do for the rest of the body. They are a supplement," Jakes told the Chicago Tribune after the conference.

Jakes's Mega Fest, which drew more than 130,000 people to the Georgia Dome for preaching, worship, and entertainment, was the largest gathering in Atlanta since the 1996 Summer Olympics. It included a concert featuring Patti LaBelle and India. Arie, a celebrity basketball game with Magic Johnson, and speakers such as financial adviser Suze Orman. There was a comedy show, a fashion show, and a circus for the kids. The event, which drew people of all races but mostly African Americans, included family counseling sessions and workshops on business ethics, home buying and health and fitness. A family expo offered everything from voter registration to beauty makeovers to artwork.

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