Since allegations surfaced in late October that Mike Bickle sexually abused multiple women over several decades, Bickle has not spoken publicly. But he has confessed privately to making “bad judgments and bad mistakes” with a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct, according to a ministry leader connected to the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC).

Dan Bohi, founder of Becoming Love Ministries, told TRR that soon after the allegations became public, Bickle “made a private confession to me based on James 5.” (James 5:16 exhorts believers to confess their sins to each other “so that you may be healed.”)

Bohi speaks regularly at IHOPKC. And according to a video of a 2021 IHOPKC service, Bohi’s ministry gives $100,000 or more to IHOPKC a year. IHOPKC also encourages its community to give to Bohi’s ministry, as is also shown in the 2021 video.

Bohi said Bickle’s confession involved the same woman who told TRR in an exclusive interview that Bickle had sexually abused her from 1996—1999, when she was 19-22 years old and Bickle was in his 40s.

At first, Bohi told TRR he didn’t want to say anything about the confession because it was private. When TRR noted that Bickle was serving in public ministry and might be disqualified from ministry if the allegations are true, Bohi said: “He’s disqualified himself.” Bohi added that Bickle said he’s not going to minister again until everything is “made right.”

Bohi said he didn’t want to talk about the specifics of Bickle’s confession. But when pressed, Bohi said Bickle admitted “he made bad judgments and bad mistakes that he’s repented of.” When specifically asked if Bickle confessed to sexual misconduct, Bohi said no. 

TRR reached out to Bickle through his attorney, Patrick A. McInerney of Spencer Fane LLP, asking for comment about Bickle’s alleged confession to Bohi. McInerney did not respond.

According to Bohi, after hearing Bickle’s confession, Bohi reached out to the husband of the woman who accused Bickle of clergy sexual abuse, called “Jane Doe” in TRR’s article. Bohi said he and Doe’s husband had several phone conversations about meeting with Bickle to try and resolve things, but nothing came of it.

As TRR reported previously, Bickle and Doe’s husband met in early October—before the allegations became public. During that meeting, Bickle denied the allegations, according to Doe’s husband.

Bickle then followed up with an email, saying if Doe went public with the allegations, it would be “the greatest betrayal of my life.” Bickle also said he would have to remove financial support from Doe and her husband’s ministry if Doe went public.

TRR reached out to Doe’s husband for comment about his conversations with Bohi but did not receive any on-the-record response.

Bickle allegedly confessed to top IHOPKC leader

Jason Carr, a section leader in IHOPKC’s 24/7 prayer room, told TRR that IHOPKC Executive Director Stuart Greaves told Carr that Bickle had also confessed to him.

In a private meeting on Nov. 9, Carr said he asked Greaves whether Bickle had confessed to the allegations. Greaves objected to the question, Carr said. But Carr said he kept pressing, and Greaves finally said, “Do you want to know what Mike said? Mike said ‘Yes,’” Carr told TRR. “And (Greaves) was kind of like, ‘Are you happy and satisfied?’ And I’m like, ‘No, but that wasn’t the point of me asking.’”

Carr said Greaves then asked him not to tell anyone what Greaves had just divulged. Carr said he initially complied. But several weeks later, Carr said he learned that Greaves had told worship leaders in a meeting about the confession from Bickle, so Carr felt at liberty to talk about it.

TRR spoke with a worship leader who was at that meeting, who did not want to be named. The person confirmed that Greaves had told the group that Bickle had confessed to some allegations but the details were a bit different than what was being alleged publicly.

TRR asked Bickle’s attorney, Patrick McInerney, about Bickle’s alleged confession to Greaves but did not receive a response.

TRR also reached out to Greaves through IHOPKC’s press email, asking about Bickle’s alleged confession.

IHOPKC replied, “All communications and inquires to or for Mr. Bickle regarding the Jane Doe you asked about should be addressed to Mr. Bickle’s legal representation, Patrick A. McInerney at Spencer Fane LLP.”

However, earlier this week, IHOPKC’s ELT released a statement about Doe’s allegations to the Christian Post (CP).

“To date, IHOPKC has not been presented with any evidence that substantiates sexual abuse allegations against Mike Bickle,” the ELT told CP. “Facts matter, and Mike, like anyone else, should be considered innocent of the charges until evidence establishes the contrary.”

More red flags

Carr said his private conversation with Greaves on Nov. 9 raised several other red flags.

Carr said he pressed Greaves about hiring a third party during the conversation. Carr said Greaves said he had no intention of hiring a third party like GRACE or Guidepost Solutions at that time because those firms would want to investigate everything at IHOPKC, not just the allegations related to Bickle.

Carr noted that when IHOPKC published its report on initial findings November 15, the ELT claimed it had reached out to GRACE about conducting an investigation on Nov. 9—the same day Carr talked to Greaves. According to the report, the ELT discovered the next day that GRACE had a conflict of interest, which disqualified it as an objective third party.

“I think it’s interesting, because I’m talking to (Greaves) at night on November 9, about this very issue. . .” Carr said. “The fact that he said, ‘No, we’re not going to use any of those types of ministries, because we’re not ready for that,’ but then their initial finding said, ‘We’ve been reaching out and found out we couldn’t’—You know, that’s a tough one.”

As TRR reported earlier, GRACE told TRR it “never received any inquiries” from current IHOPKC leaders.

TRR reached out to Greaves for comment about statements he allegedly made, regarding hiring a third party like GRACE or Guideposts. Greaves did not respond to our questions.

Carr’s wife, Chris Carr, also spoke with TRR. She said when IHOPKC was still working with the law firm, Stinson LLP, to investigate the allegations, she asked Greaves whether IHOPKC would release the complete report of Stinson’s investigation.

Carr said Greaves told her that the ELT would review the report and release whatever is “appropriate.”

Carr said she replied, “So you’re not making a blanket statement that you’re going to release the whole report?”

Carr said Greaves replied, “No.”

Yet on the morning IHOPKC announced it had hired Stinson, well-known charismatic Christian Michael Brown stated on stage at Forerunner Church that IHOPKC had committed to publishing Stinson’s findings.

Another IHOPKC staff member who spoke with TRR said he’s observed similar contradictions between the ELT’s private and public statements.

Gabriel Hancock, a prayer room musician and IHOP University (IHOPU) faculty member, said he spoke privately with Greaves on Nov. 1 and urged him to hire a third party to investigate.

Hancock said Greaves claimed IHOPKC was hiring a third party, but that doing so was “unbiblical.” Hancock said he continued to press Greaves on the matter, and Greaves told him to back off and emphatically stated, “I didn’t know about this till Tuesday (Oct. 24)!”

Yet, Hancock said several days later, a friend told him that Doe’s husband had met with Greaves and IHOPKC Senior Ministry Advisor Marci Sorge at the beginning of October and shared Doe’s allegations with them.

This was also confirmed by Doe’s husband in our prior report.

Hancock, who’s been at IHOPKC for nearly 20 years, said he began weeping when he heard the news. Hancock said he then realized that Greaves had knowledge of the allegations when he allowed Bickle to preach for two weeks on betrayal in October.

In a Nov. 9 email to ELT member Isaac Bennett, which was shared with TRR, Hancock wrote, “(O)ur brothers are claiming these allegations were brought forward to Mike and others weeks before that Tue with ELT Oct. 24. Yet our community is under the impression from the ELT that Tue was the first whisper any of us heard of it. And this has divided us deeply ever since.”

Bennett replied, “I think the nuance is there was small portion 1% of allegations (toward the beginning of Oct) but the full spectrum was brought Oct. 24 . . .”

“Only problem is I think that one percent is pretty intense,” Hancock replied. “And if it was my wife, I would be unhinged . . .”

Hancock also told TRR that he frequently saw Bickle flirt with women in the prayer room, kissing them on the head and rubbing their backs.

He added that a friend once told him about a strange prophecy his wife said she had. The wife reportedly told her husband that he was going to die, and Diane Bickle was going to die, and the wife was going to marry Bickle. (As TRR previously reported, Doe claimed Bickle gave her a similar prophecy.)

Hancock said he observed that the wife seemed to have unusual access to Bickle and would come in and out of his office frequently—sometimes multiple times in one worship set.

So, in 2021, Hancock said his wife, Katie, told an IHOPKC leader about the woman’s alleged prophecy and her frequent interactions with Bickle, but the leader did nothing.

Resignations

Since the allegations against Bickle have been made public, several middle-management staff at IHOPKC and Forerunner Church, have resigned, given notice, or taken a leave of absence, Carr said.

Carr noted that because of their position, he and other managerial staff have been able to have direct conversations with the ELT, which have gone poorly. Other staff don’t have this kind of access, Carr said.

Those leaving the ministry include Josh Thompson, who was on pastoral staff at Forerunner Church. Thompson announced on Facebook that he and his wife will be gone by Jan. 1.

“At a later time, we will have more to say . . .” Thompson wrote. “To be clear, our decision to remain through December—though in a limited capacity—is for the sake of the young adults in the community. Let it be known—Josh and Megan Thompson believe Jane Doe.”

Another Forerunner pastor who’s given notice is Dane Mallarnee. His wife, Allee Mallarnee, confirmed with TRR that the couple is leaving at the end of the month.

Nathan Steel, who had just left a position leading internships at IHOP University (IHOPU) to start a missions arm with IHOPU, has also reportedly resigned. Nathan’s wife, Rachael Steel, wrote on Facebook:

If IHOPKC’s ELT would have thanked the friends who came to them with credible and long-standing evidence of clergy sexual abuse by Mike Bickle, then none of us would be put in the positions we currently are in.

If the ELT would have welcomed an agreed upon independent third party investigation, then it would not have become an ‘us verses them’ reality.

If the ELT would have stepped aside and allowed Mike Bickle and the organization of IHOPKC as a whole to be thoroughly investigated, then we could have been patient for the results from a trusted investigation.

These advocates (Allen Hood, Dwayne Roberts, Wes Martin, Brian Kim, etc.) did not create a division by shining light on decades of sin and abuse. No.

**How the ELT responded to the allegations concerning Mike Bickle is what created this chasm we are seeing.** . . .

Similarly, Sammie Lee, one of the most senior worship team members at IHOPKC and faculty member at IHOP University, wrote in a Facebook post, “At this point, there are serious unanswered questions that I’m now scared to know the answer to. I have met with several leaders over these few weeks. I trust their intentions and character. . . . But I fundamentally disagree with some of the philosophy behind the procedural decisions and the execution (or the lack there of [sic]).”

Jason and Chris Carr told TRR they are leaving at the end of December. Likewise, Gabriel Hancock said he and his wife, Katie Hancock, are leaving then too.

Both the Carrs and Gabriel Hancock told TRR that they deeply love IHOPKC and the people there. And prior to witnessing the duplicity of the ELT since October, they say they had planned to stay at IHOPKC for many more years.

“I actually love (the prayer room ministry) so much,” Hancock said. “That’s why (my wife and I) have been sobbing on and off all day for the last month. And then you just kind of run dry of tears . . . and just have this heavy ache on your chest and stomach.”

Similarly, Chris Carr said, “We’re so heartbroken. We don’t want to leave. And we just love what we do and we love the people. But we can’t in good conscience stay.”

*Correction: We changed “leaders” to “leader” in this sentence for accuracy. “Hancock said his wife, Katie, told an IHOPKC leader about the woman’s alleged prophecy and her frequent interactions with Bickle, but the leader did nothing.”

Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.