A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE OF THE PUNK VARIETY.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

Growing up the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker must have been, to put it mildly, a fairly surreal experience, but Jay Bakker appears to have survived, sanity relatively intact. He has even gone into the family business, running a church that will never be mistaken for his parents' glitzy, almost campy PTL Club.

After his father was disgraced by the disclosure of an affair and a conviction for fraud in the late '80s, Jay found acceptance in the punk subculture, to which he has wedded his Christianity to form a struggling church called Revolution. With the requisite tattoos and piercings, Jay preaches in bars -- ``Tip your waitresses,'' he drolly advises his flock -- and anywhere, actually, that will have him.

Sundance Channel's six-part documentary series ``One Punk Under God'' follows Jay's quixotic mission, as well as his troubled relationship with his long-divorced parents -- Tammy Faye is dying of cancer, while Jim seems reticent to remain in contact with his son.

Jay's ministry has a difficult balancing act to perform. As he puts it, ``With some groups, we're too Christian, and with some Christians, we're not Christian enough.'' Stickers advertising his church read, in part, ``As Christians, we're sorry for being self-righteous judgmental bastards.''

And judgmental is something Jay assiduously strives to avoid being. He grapples with biblical edicts against homosexuality, deciding, ultimately, to advocate gay marriage, even though doing so could pull the plug on a major source of funding for his church.

Jay's a lot more tolerant than more mainstream, higher-profile evangelists, but also seems to divine Christ's example more closely.

In one sequence, Jay visits Heritage USA, the evangelical Disneyland created by his parents, to find it now in ruins. The series also depicts tensions with his wife, Amanda, who, despite sporting a large tattoo of Jesus on her right biceps, would prefer her husband find another line of business; her aspirations of attending New York University's pre-med program could likewise threaten Jay's Atlanta-based church.

Jay's halting reunion with his father -- on Jim's Branson-based TV show -- is an emotional moment for all involved. And since Tammy Faye's not Tammy Faye if her mascara doesn't run due to a gush of tears, we're treated to that spectacle.

Editing in ``One Punk Under God'' is kind of spastic -- conversations in particular feel put through a Cuisinart -- but the series remains an intriguing portrait of a very complicated guy doing his best to make sense of, and improve, the world around him.

David Kronke, [phone]

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ONE PUNK UNDER GOD - Three stars

What: Six-part documentary miniseries about the alternative ministry of Jay Bakker, son of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker.

Where: Sundance Channel.

When: 9 tonight.

In a nutshell: Decent portrait of a complicated, fascinating man.

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The son of disgraced televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay Bakker and his alternative church, Revolution, are the focus of ``One Punk Under God,'' a six-part documentary beginning tonight on the Sundance Channel.