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IHOPKC Report: Leaders ‘Shielded Perpetrators and Minimized Victims’ Experiences’ in ‘Systemic’ Failure

por Rebecca Hopkins
ihopkc
On October 29, 2023, leaders of the International House of Prayer-Kansas City — left to right, Lenny LaGuardia, David Sliker, Stuart Greaves, and Isaac Bennett — addressed allegations against IHOP-KC founder Mike Bickle. (Video screengrab)

A newly released report on abuse at the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) found that leaders at the 24/7 prayer ministry “shielded perpetrators and minimized victims” in what was a “systemic” leadership failure.

Como reported yesterday by El Informe Roys (TRR), the investigative report also found that IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle sexually abused 17 women, including minors, and the abuse included rape.

The report is the result of a months-long investigation by Firefly, which was commissioned by the Messianic Jewish network Tikkun Global. In addition to Bickle, survivors also accused 16 other IHOPKC staff of sexual misconduct, the report said. The report did not name the other accused staff.

Firefly stated in the report that high-level leaders knew of the allegations but “shielded perpetrators” from legal accountability, allowing many to continue to work there.

It added that “certain members of the ELT (Executive Leadership Team) at IHOPKC were more focused on suppressing and minimizing reports of sexual abuse, misconduct, and rape rather than supporting the victims or staff who reported these incidents,” the report stated.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive a copy of “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities’ by Dr. Andrew Bauman, haga clic aquí.

mike bickle
Mike Bickle leads prayer alongside a worship team led by Misty Edwards at the International House of Prayer-Kansas City, in Grandview, Missouri. (Courtesy Photo)

And the pattern of “abuse, cover-ups, and failures within the leadership” is systemic, the report stated.

“(T)he systemic nature of this misconduct cannot be overlooked,” the report stated. “Patterns of behavior that shielded perpetrators and minimized victims’ experiences were embedded within the organizational structures.”

Bickle contributed to the abusive culture, the report said, using his “prophet” status to manipulate women and witnesses into trusting him. Leaders covered for him, as well.

“He used his authoritative position to create an environment where questioning his actions was seen as questioning divine will,” the report stated.

An Advocate Group, composed of 16 former IHOPKC leaders, who confronted IHOPKC’s leaders with allegations against Bickle in 2023, affirmed the integrity of Firefly’s investigation today in a public statement.

allen hood
Allen Hood of the Advocate Group (Courtesy Photo)

“We recognize that Mike Bickle and IHOPKC may continue to challenge the legitimacy of this report,” the Advocate Group stated. “Therefore, we wish to affirm the integrity of the investigative process.”

The 68-page report, informed by more than 200 interviews, has hit the IHOPKC survivor community hard. Some grieved the news.

“Oh God, be with hs (sic) as we grieve our own stories and those of others,” wrote former IHOPKC staffer Sarah Markman En facebook. “Every Story Matters. While we grieve, we educate.”

Some claimed the report was full of mistakes and misrepresentations of victims’ testimonies.

“Standing with the advocacy community this morning, as we grieve the disappointment of the #IHOPKC report,” former IHOPKC staff Gracia Nope posted on X. “Survivors deserved accurate representation and decisive action, but instead, many stories had errors, and the gavel of justice felt gently set down rather than slammed.”

But Nope added in a statement to TRR that the report is still important for naming Bickle and former ELT members Stuart Greaves, Lenny LaGuardia, and Dave Sliker for mishandling sexual abuse allegations. She also said she believes investigator Jim Holler is essentially “trustworthy” and she’s hopeful that corrections will be made.

“While I don’t think they did right by the individuals, when you add all the stories together, it paints a very compelling picture against Mike, Stuart, Lenny, and Dave. And I’m thankful for that,” Nope said.

TRR reached out to Bickle, Greaves, LaGuardia, Sliker, and IHOPKC’s press office for comment, but received no response.

TRR also reached out to Firefly’s investigator Jim Holler for comment about allegations of possible mistakes and misrepresentations, but he did not immediately respond.

Ron Cantor, from Tikkun’s senior advisory team for the investigation, said he’s heard of “minor facts” that need correcting and hopes to see Firefly make any necessary major or minor changes soon. He also expressed grief over the trauma survivors have endured.

“Our hearts are broken for those who were abused and manipulated,” Cantor said. “(Bickle’s) abuse ruined families and scarred children, and we’ve seen no expression of remorse over that.”

David Sliker (left) and Stuart Greaves are former members of the Executive Leadership Team at International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Mo. (Video screengrab)

‘You are holy if you don’t talk’

The 16 IHOPKC staff members accused of sexual abuse had victims as young as 14, the report states. Yet witnesses told investigators that at IHOPKC, there was a “code of silence” that spiritualized speaking out as morally wrong, the report stated.

 One witness characterized the culture as, “You are Holy if you don’t talk. If you talk, you are toxic,” the report stated. “This statement was made many times throughout the investigation by other victims.”

One staffer was accused of raping a 16-year-old boy. According to the report, the accused staffer would take teen boys to the gym, where he encouraged them to disrobe, shower, and answer questions about their sexuality.

lenny laguardia
Lenny LaGuardia (Photo: Facebook)

Yet, when a witness asked ELT Member Lenny LaGuardia to remove the staffer from contact with kids, LaGuardia reportedly responded, “No one could be banned.”

An IHOPKC intern reported to Firefly that another IHOPKC staffer sexual assaulted her several times from 2010-2011.

When she told ELT Member Dave Sliker, Sliker surprised her with a meeting with her alleged abuser, the report states. She was told not to tell anyone, including her parents, about the assaults.

The report said that Sliker told her, “Jesus doesn’t go spreading all of our sins, so we shouldn’t spread the sins of others.”

The report also found that IHOPKC leaders that often “silenced” alleged victims by using prophecies and Christian principles, such as pushing victims to forgive and apologize to their abusers in “Matthew 18” meetings. They also “interrogated” victims, discouraged them from reporting to police, and retaliated against them.

“In many cases, leadership employed tactics such as victim-blaming, gaslighting, and coercion to suppress allegations,” the report stated.

This pattern by leaders continued for years because no one held these leaders accountable, the report stated.

“(T)he lack of external oversight and accountability allowed these practices to continue unabated,” the report states.

Leaders also had the support of Bickle, who created a Purity Covenant that said, among other things, “We hope to never expose one’s sin publicly.”

Mike Bickle IHOP
mike bickle

Leaders seemed to follow this principle regarding Bickle’s behavior, the report states.

Bickle gathered several 18- to 19-year-old women for his “Friends of the Bridegroom” celibacy and fasting program, the report found. He showered them with gifts and used prophecies to create a culture of secrecy.

In other instances, Bickle touched women in public and sometimes in front of other IHOPKC leaders. He kissed women’s faces in IHOPKC’s prayer room, rubbed their legs in restaurants, and grabbed their throats during church services, the Firefly report found. Though witnesses reported his concerning behavior to IHOPKC leaders, many ignored and enabled him, the report stated.

For example, when a witness told IHOPKC’s Forerunner Church Pastor Isaac Bennett about how Bickle slowly ran his finger along the chin and jaw of an IHOPKC singer, Bennett reportedly said, “That’s just the way Bickle is.”

Next steps

The report made several recommendations for changes at IHOPKC, though the ministry didn’t participate in the investigation. Neither Firefly nor Tikkun have a way to hold the prayer ministry accountable, Tikkun stated la semana pasada.  

IHOPKC should do background checks, require all staff to be trained in recognizing abuse and reporting it to authorities, Firefly stated in the report. IHOPKC should also establish clear ways for staff to report abuse and temporarily suspend an accused until an investigation is completed.

IHOPKC should also provide counseling help for survivors. And it should call for an external review of its policies, the report stated.

Tikkun has established an eight-member Pastor Recommendation Team (PRT) to review the report and make recommendations to IHOPKC.

The Advocate Group stated they hope with time, IHOPKC leaders will listen and change.

“It is our sincere hope that this moment marks the beginning of a new chapter—one of repentance, restitution, and meaningful reform,” the Advocate Group stated. “Processing the findings of this report will take time, but we pray that IHOPKC’s current leadership will engage with these revelations with humility and a commitment to necessary change.”

Rebecca Hopkins es una periodista radicada en Colorado.

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9 Respuestas

  1. Should we forgive who hurt us? Absolutely , but that doesn’t mean excusing their behavior. What he did was illegal. When David raped Bathsheba & had Uriah killed The Prophet Nathan confronted about this.

    When he correct others we should do it in this manner

    Gálatas 6:1

    Versión King James

    6 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

    1. Michelangelo, the Greek word used in Galatians 6:1 is NOT the word used in the NT for sin!
      Instead, it refers to an unintentional error.
      Rape and abuse are NOT unintentional.
      They are wicked acts borne of a depraved and 100% UNregenerate heart.
      It’s an insult to God to imply that His Holy Spirit indwelling (which defines true believers: Romans 8:9) makes them criminal and worse than most lost people.

    1. I think you can forgive without repentance being expressed. Jesus did so on the cross.

      We forgive in obedience to God. But it certainly looks different for each person and circumstance. Most of the time it’s a process, too.

      1. My question was not about offering forgiveness, but for forgiveness to be effective or effected there needs to be a confession of repentance.

      2. Two problems with that example.

        1- Jesus forgave His murderers because they were ignorant of their sin: “they don’t know what they are doing.” When sinners knowingly sin – especially professed followers of Jesus who knowingly sin – then we have Paul’s clear instruction to exclude him from our midst:
        “I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person… not even to eat with such a person…. Remove the evil person from among yourselves.” (1 Cor. 5)

        2- Jesus forgave those who had sinned against Him. This report is about leaders demanding forgiveness for their colleagues who had sinned against others. They not only failed to protect the flock under their care, they failed to obey the NT as mentioned above.

        If the IHOPKC leaders had followed Paul’s instructions and removed Mike Bickle when the first victims approached them, who knows — he might have already repented by now and been restored. We will never know.
        We only know that they didn’t, and so what was “a little leaven” back then was free to grow, until it took over “the whole lump of dough” at IHOPKC.

  2. I have been following blogs like this one for over 10 years now. Something that I have absolutely learned is that predators never, ever, ever repent. Language by ex-cult members and lawyers pleading for such is a fantasy. Read Matt. 23 and meditate on it. What does Jesus say today about hypocrite religious leaders? Jesus pronounced judgment on them saying that some things alone that we would consider to be very minor, like altars and what is on the altar, that condemns to hell. So where does sexually abusing the Bride: Jesus’ Body, fall on that list? Paul also warned against false leaders and publicly named them. The scriptures order us to be discerning and to judge them, not by how their words make us feel, but by their fruit. When are we going to stop the nonsense and call a white-washed septic tank for what it is? These are not our brothers! They are anti-Christs standing in the way as fraudulent middle-men between Jesus and you! They lust for unrighteous gain and power. They set themselves up as idols. They will not recognize the real Jesus when He falls on them and crushes them. The grave is the place for their predecessors, and it is already wrapped around their feet pulling them down into perdition. So do not be surprised to wake up one morning and find them gone without ever giving a real apology to anyone. Such as this never knew Christ, they only leveraged His Holy authority to manipulate you in order to abuse you.

  3. There are many horrible and sad parts to this whole saga. The absolute pain and wreckage in people’s lives, especially the survivors and those closely connected to them!

    I have spent tons of time at IHOP. Two of my children did 6 month internships there.

    As a pastor I often contemplated Bickle’s wisdom in situations. I esteemed him too much.

    While many had their prayer lives rooted in biblical and spiritual realties BEFORE ever hearing of IHOPKC, how about all those who’s very lives of prayer and devotion were rooted in the ministry and purpose of IHOP? Will they simply give it all up?

    Oh to God that there would be POWERFUL healing and redemption; and that the intercessions of His children would truly shift and shake the heavenilies. That instead of 1000’s of people giving up in offense and cynicism we would dig in our heels even deeper and not let the enemy win.

    It still is true and always will be true, that the history of great revivals have been rooted in deep intercessory prayer, no matter what comes out of IHOP.

    And many people, including myself, have received much spiritual blessing and wisdom from a place that is now in the middle of horrifying and painful controversy.

  4. When will Christians start going to the police? Just take it the courts and let rulings come against these men. The courts will NOT care about their “prophetic” gifting! 🙄

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Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive a copy of “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities’ by Dr. Andrew Bauman.