IHOPKC’s board says 24/7 Prayer Room will no longer be connected to a church

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, July 25, 2024

After months of deliberation, the board of the embattled International House of Prayer Kansas City has decided that the vaunted 24/7 Prayer Room will not be operated under the umbrella of any church. This decision follows the shuttering of several arms of the ministry, including the Forerunner Church, in the aftermath of a sexual misconduct scandal involving founder Mike Bickle.

The board announced the decision Wednesday in an email update on the restructuring of the ministry sent to members of the IHOPKC community. A copy of the email was shared by The Roys Report.

"Another source of confusion has been the process of evaluating whether to move the governance of the Prayer Room under a church structure, and if it should be relocated to our Grandview Plaza facility," the board said in the email.

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"It is the decision of the Board of Trustees that the Prayer Room will remain independent of any external church and continue to be the heart of IHOPKC. Further, the Prayer Room will remain in its present location at the Red Bride Center."

While the 24/7 Prayer Room won't function under the governance of a church, the board noted that it will still require governance. The board is working on a plan to operate it independently of a church.

"We realize that the long term health and wellbeing of the prayer room requires a formal governance structure for oversight, accountability, and spiritual strength," the email said. "We are exploring the best fit moving forward and are committed to ensuring systems are in place for solid decision making and responsible leadership."

In April, IHOPKC announced that the ministry would be restructured, including the shuttering of some aspects of operations this year, including the IHOPKC school of ministry and Forerunner Church, led by Isaac Bennett.

"In April, we announced that, after much prayer and deliberation, we would wind down many of IHOPKC's ministry and training expressions, including IHOPU, Forerunner Church, CEC, and internships, a process which concluded May 24th. Since that time, our focus as a ministry has been the 24/7 Prayer Room and Intercession for Israel," the board's email reads. "During the process of planning and carrying out these changes, incorrect statements were made about IHOPKC's future and reasons for shutting down various ministry expressions. As we said earlier, IHOPKC is not shutting down."

The Roys Report, citing a leaked recording from leaders at an internal IHOP University staff meeting as well as an email from IHOP University President Matt Candler, reported earlier this year that IHOPKC was in the process of shuttering for good due to the financial impact of Bickle's sexual abuse scandal. IHOPKC permanently cut ties with Bickle last December. 

In February, after a third woman alleged she was groomed and sexually abused by Bickle in the 1980s when she was 14.

Using her maiden name, Tammy Woods, who is now a 57-year-old mother and grandmother, told The Kansas City Star that Bickle abused her in St. Louis where he pastored a church before moving to Kansas City and starting IHOPKC in 1999.

Woods said Bickle abused her in his car, at her home, in the church and his office. She said the abuse, which began when she started babysitting his two sons, involved sexual contact but not intercourse. She revealed that the IHOPKC founder also told her several times that his wife, Diane, would die young and suggested that she could be the mother to his sons.

"He would kiss my neck, he would kiss my cheeks, he would kiss my forehead," Woods told the Star, recalling the first time Bickle kissed her at her house when she was 14. "The first, like, 'kiss' kiss was in my house. He kind of pulled me into my bathroom. And he kissed me like a man kisses a woman."

Last year, a woman identified as Jane Doe by The Roys Report alleged that Bickle paid for her apartment, gave her a key to his office and engaged in sexual acts with him from 1996 to 1999 before he founded IHOPKC. She claimed Bickle wooed her with Scripture at age 19 when he was 42.

Bickle initially initially agreed to step away from the ministry last October when allegations of sexual abuse involving mutliple women were brought to light by an advocate group. Bickle confessed to engaging in "consensual sexual contact" with a woman connected to the 24/7 prayer ministry in addition to a previously confessed relationship with the Jane Doe, who alleged she was his kept woman for several years, according to an independent investigation report released in February.

In December, he admitted on Facebook to engaging in "inappropriate behavior" but not "the more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting." The ministry perminantly cut ties with Bickle two weeks later, saying its investigation confirmed "a level of inappropriate behavior."