IHOPKC Leadership Suspends Mike Bickle From Platform During Sex Abuse Investigation
The leadership team at the International House of Prayer has released a formal statement about the clergy sex abuse allegations against founder/ prophet Mike Bickle, saying that he’s been suspended from their platform and may not preach, teach, be active on social media, or attend their 24/7 prayer room while a third party investigates these matters.
“We are heartbroken to report that we recently became aware of serious allegations, including sexual immorality, directed against Mike Bickle, the founder of IHOPKC. Our leadership team takes these allegations seriously and we are working for truth, light, redemption and justice. We are working with third parties to evaluate and arbitrate these allegations.
Our priority is to love and serve our IHOPKC community during this time. This news is upsetting to our spiritual family as well as our entire leadership team. Please pray for everyone involved, including those who have spoken out, those who have experienced trauma, and the Bickle family.
We ask for your patience as we work through this complex and very difficult situation. Second, we ask that our spiritual family refrain from using prophetic spiritual language that could be interpreted as a rejection of the pain of the traumatized.
On October 26, the IHOPKC Executive Leadership Team asked Mike Bickle and he agreed not to preach or teach on the IHOPKC platform, attend our 24-hour prayer room, or interact with its social media channels while we work with others to assess this situation.
As difficult as this may be for many, we trust in the good and wise leadership of Jesus to help and strengthen us as we anchor our hope in Him.”
Bickle has been accused of longstanding sexual abuse and predation by former senior leaders of the organization, citing “credible,” “longstanding,” and “serious allegations spanning several decades” that are “not based on any one experience or any one victim, but on the collective and corroborating testimony of the experiences of several victims.”
Bickle, closely associated with the New Apostolic Reformation and the Latter Rain Movement, founded IHOPKC in 1999, where prayer intercessors and musicians have been worshiping and praying 24/7 for nearly 15 years. The group and ministry ethos has a focus on apostles, prophecies, tongue speaking, visions, dreams, signs, and wonders, with the rotating teams frequently whipping up folks into an ecstatic state with repetitive, droning songs that can last for hours. Along with IHOPKC, Bickle founded the International House of Prayer University, which includes full-time ministry, music, and media schools and boasts over 2000 students, staff members, missionaries, and volunteers.
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