Worthy Christian News > Christian > Evangelical Leader Mike Bickle ‘Abused 17 Women’ Report Claims (Worthy News Investigation)

Evangelical Leader Mike Bickle ‘Abused 17 Women’ Report Claims (Worthy News Investigation)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Mike Bickle, the charismatic founder of U.S.-based International House of Prayer-Kansas City (IHOPKC), a global evangelical missionary group and church, was involved in sexual and spiritual abuse for decades, investigators say.

His misconduct, including rape, impacted at least 17 women, according to a new report reviewed by Worthy News.

The report on Bickle’s alleged wrongdoing was conducted by investigative firm Firefly and overseen by Tikkun Global, a Messianic Jewish network with previous ties to Bickle and IHOPKC, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tikkun was asked to oversee the report by the so-called Advocate Group of former IHOPKC leaders who raised concerns about the reported abuse.

“Bickle, as a pastor and leader, was entrusted with the care of his congregation’s spiritual wellbeing; however, he betrayed this trust by misusing his position of authority to engage in sexual misconduct with multiple victims,” the report claimed. “His actions not only violated the sanctity of his role but also caused profound harm to those he was meant to guide and protect.”

The report’s authors said it was based on reviewing over 6,000 documents and interviewing 210 individuals. IHOPKC’s current board of directors and Bickle did not respond to Firefly’s attempts to contact them.

However, in a previous statement obtained by Worthy News, Bickle, 69, admitted wrongdoing but also asked for forgiveness. “With a very heavy heart, I want to express how deeply grieved I am that my past sins have led to so much pain, confusion, and division in the body of Christ in this hour.”

ADMITTING SIN

He added: “I sadly admit that 20+ years ago, I sinned by engaging in inappropriate behavior—my moral failures were real.”

However, he stressed that “I am not admitting to the more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting.”

The Firefly report claimed Bickle groomed and isolated many of his victims, who, in most cases, were at least two decades younger than him.

The report noticed that by targeting younger people, he could “exploit his authority and influence over them.”

Investigators said he would single out victims, give them gifts and attention, and position himself as their “spiritual father.”

Eventually, he would isolate his victims, in some cases exerting control over their eating habits and lifestyle, according to the report.

Firefly stressed that “a culture of idolizing” Bickle and other leaders led to a lack of accountability at IHOPKC and that Bickle routinely touched people inappropriately, normalizing the practice.

“Witnesses would often see Bickle, during church services and prayer meetings, grab girls by their throats, kiss them on their faces, and ruffle their hair,” the report claimed. “This behavior, masked as innocent affection, was a calculated tactic to desensitize his victims to physical contact, gradually pushing boundaries until they were normalized.”

WOMEN MENTIONED

The report named three women who were allegedly sexually assaulted by Bickle, two of whom were minors at the time.

The report said that he sometimes used prophetic words to suggest that his actions were “guided by a higher power.”

One survivor claimed that Bickle would have her “pray the Bible’s Psalm 51,” a psalm of repentance, after the abuse occurred, “distorting her perception” of the situation.

Brief overviews of several other instances of alleged abuse involving 16 IHOPKC staff members appeared in the report, which recommended how IHOPKC can “improve” its response to abuse.

“(T)his report finds a deliberate indifference by BICKLE and the ELT (Executive Leadership Team) in minimizing reports of sexual abuse, requiring victims to confront their offenders, and discouraging victims from seeking law enforcement assistance,” the report stressed.

Gracia, the founder of a group called Recovering From IHOPKC, said she appears anonymously in the report and wishes to be identified only by her first name.

She called the report a “really good first stepping stone” as it provides “compelling evidence” that certain IHOPKC leaders, including Bickle, “participated in an environment that not only contained abuse but allowed that abuse to thrive.”

‘IMPORTANT ERRORS’

However, she felt the report failed to go far enough and included some “important errors” she hoped would be addressed in a future version.

“I feel like the report really put so much of a focus on Mike’s survivors, and then kind of spent the last half of it giving very, very little detail on the other survivors, and didn’t necessarily do justice by the intensity of those stories,” added Gracia.

She claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a colleague while on IHOPKC staff and was pressured not to go to the police.

The Firefly investigation followed an earlier report from Lathrop Group, which IHOPKC hired in December 2023 to investigate allegations against Bickle.

The Lathrop report, published last February, found Bickle engaged in “inappropriate behavior” with one primary victim and had “sexual contact” with a second victim.

The primary victim and a group of IHOPKC whistleblowers declined to participate in the investigation, citing concerns about its independence.

Attorney and abuse advocate Boz Tchividjian said in published remarks that he hopes investigations will extend to other leaders. “Let that be a warning to those in leadership now who are engaged in this same or similar conduct, who have also bought the lie that rules don’t apply to them,” he added. “Because ultimately, the rules will apply to them. It may take a while, but it will catch up to them at some point.”

GROUP CULTURE

Tchividjian suggested that the current leaders at IHOPKC will never change the group’s culture nor learn from the report. “If I was king for a day, I’d shut them down,” he said. “Sometimes church doors can close, and that’s not the worst thing that can happen.”

In a statement posted online, the Advocate Group expressed thanks for the report and the investigation while acknowledging some of its limitations.

“As former leaders, we are coming to terms with the reality that we dedicated years of our lives to a system that, while doing good in some ways, also caused significant harm,” they wrote. “We grieve alongside those who have been wronged and humbly ask for forgiveness for the role the institution played — and continues to play — in perpetuating harm.”

Bickle, who has not yet been convicted in court over the alleged wrongdoing, said, “For an extended season, I will not engage in my public preaching ministry (conferences, social media, zooms, etc.)—I see this as God’s “delayed” loving discipline on my life…”

Bickle is one of the most influential charismatic Christians in the United States and a leading figure in the so-called New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to make “prophecy” and the “leadership of apostles” a major part of modern evangelical practice. However, there is discussion within the evangelical world about the role of “prophets” and “apostles” outside the context of the Bible.

A former pastor in the Vineyard church movement, Bickle led his Kansas City-based congregation to break away from that denomination in the 1990s after conflicts with other leaders, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The IHOPKC movement he oversaw inspired churches from a wide range of denominations around the United States to set up 24-hour, 7-day-a-week prayer rooms. Since it began its own prayer room in the 1990s, IHOPKC has about 2,000 volunteers, “intercessory missionaries,” who raise their own financial support, according to the group’s website.

Bickle said he hopes people won’t remember him only as the man involved in wrongdoing: “I hate my sin, and I see it as serious and grievous before a holy God. I take all sin seriously, so on those occasions. I quickly and sincerely repented in a way that resulted in receiving assurance from God followed by a daily resolve to live holy in all of my ways.”