IHOPKC says it banned youth group leader accused of abuse. He was still there years later
International House of Prayer-Kansas City leaders scrambled to respond this month when a man went public with allegations that he was sexually abused as a teen by his volunteer youth group leader.
IHOPKC denied that Larry Lucky had led a youth group or had any key role in its Student Ministries program. It said Lucky had been playing bass guitar on a worship team in the organization’s 24/7 Prayer Room and was dismissed in 2010 after a parent reported he was having inappropriate contact with teen boys, alleging that he was showering with them at a local gym.
But evidence is stacking up that contradicts IHOPKC’s description of Lucky’s involvement with the global prayer movement. Facebook posts in 2008 and 2009 indicate that Lucky indeed was leading a youth group of boys. And social media posts and archived videos show that Lucky was playing in the all-night Prayer Room in south Kansas City years beyond the date IHOPKC said he was terminated, leaving many to question whether he ever was dismissed at all.
Even IHOPKC says it doesn’t know who made the decision to ban Lucky or who was told about it. In a response to The Star on Friday afternoon, IHOPKC said leadership was still seeking answers to many questions about the allegations against Lucky.
“Regarding Mr. Lucky performing in the Prayer Room beyond that date (2010), we have recently learned that in 2018, new Prayer Room leaders, unaware of Mr. Lucky’s removal, allowed him to play bass,” IHOPKC told The Star. “He was removed from that worship team as soon as a leader with knowledge of the allegations became aware.”
But that still doesn’t explain the documentation — including videos and Facebook posts — that shows Lucky also performed at IHOPKC events in 2011, 2020 and 2021.
IHOPKC didn’t have answers for those questions in Friday’s response. It noted that even some former leaders said they didn’t know Lucky was ever banned.
“Some former leaders do recall and others do not recall him being banned,” it said. “We are working to uncover who made the banning decision and to whom it was communicated.
“With respect to your other questions about Mr. Lucky’s involvement, we are working on confirming time and involvement from our records and other sources, but do not have full answers yet. Trying to determine the accuracy of different accounts of his involvement will be part of our investigation.”
In Friday’s response, IHOPKC said it is committed to handling the challenges that come with running an organization that has thousands of annual attendees and volunteers across several campuses.
“In recent years we have made updates to procedures and technology to detect and prevent individuals who have been banned from gaining unauthorized access to our facilities,” it said. “This includes our security team intercepting and removing banned individuals from the premises, formally trespassing them, and ensuring they are arrested by police if they return.”
On Aug. 9, The Star reported allegations by Justin Werner, publicly saying for the first time that Lucky sexually assaulted him in early 2010 when he was 16. At the time, Werner alleged, he was attending Lucky’s small youth group and seeing him for private counseling. The Star also reported that Werner and other former IHOPKC youth said Lucky would take boys to the gym, then ask them to shower nude with him, telling them he needed to cleanse them of their sins.
Werner filed a police report with the Kansas City Police Department in July 2022, and the case is under review by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. Lucky called the allegations “fabrications” and said in an email to The Star that Werner was not 16, but 18, at the time of their meetings. The legal age of consent in Missouri is 17. Lucky did not respond to follow-up questions last week.
‘Passing the buck and splitting hairs’
Reaction to the story has been intense, with former IHOPKC staffers, leaders and supporters expressing outrage at the responses of current leadership as well as those who were in charge of youth programs at the time of the alleged abuse.
“All of this passing the buck and splitting hairs is a form of image management,” Ally Henny, an author and speaker, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Just be clear and say that y’all didn’t adequately monitor who worked in Student Ministries, you didn’t have clear policies or training in place to make sure that staff and community members understood parameters with working with minors, and you didn’t have adequate HR policies to make it clear which leaders were responsible for folks.”
Current IHOPKC leaders, still dealing with the aftermath of a sex scandal involving founder Mike Bickle that surfaced last fall, told The Star this month that it was the first they’d heard of the allegations involving Lucky.
After checking their records, they said Lucky had no official role in IHOPKC’s Student Ministries department, did not lead any youth groups and had volunteered a few hours a day for just six weeks in January and February 2010.
They said Lucky played music sets in IHOPKC’s 24/7 Prayer Room and worked in the IT department for four months. After a parent reported inappropriate contact “alleging that he met up with teen boys at a local community center where they showered together,” they said, Lucky was “terminated” from the Prayer Room and IT positions on Feb. 28, 2010. And two former leaders told The Star that Lucky was banned from the entire missions base.
But archived videos from the Prayer Room show Lucky performing there years later. In one, dated Sept. 3, 2018, Lucky is playing bass guitar.
Another video shows Lucky playing on stage during IHOPKC’s 2011 Onething conference, an annual event that was held every December at Bartle Hall, drawing thousands of young adults. And Lucky’s fiancee — who later became his wife — posted on Facebook in 2020 and 2021 that he was playing in the Prayer Room.
“My fiance, Larry Lucky, is about to play live with a band at the international house of prayer, where they have 24/7 prayer and worship in Missouri,” she wrote on Oct. 17, 2020. And on Jan. 30, 2021: “Husband is playing tonight at the International House of Prayer if you want to tune in live right now and worship.”
Musician Gabe Hancock said the Prayer Room staff was never told about the allegations or about Lucky being terminated.
“I played with Larry on sets during this time … talked with him before and after sets,” Hancock wrote Aug. 10 on X. “As a core, full time staff musician, I had no idea of these allegations.”
More former staff and leaders spoke out on social media over the weekend.
“I was a leader in student ministries at this time,” Justin Todd wrote Saturday on X. “Was in the staff meetings. This was never mentioned. Larry was allowed around kids and we were never given an ounce of warning from leadership about him. He was actively involved through at least 2011.”
Hancock quickly responded: “Bro. This has unearthed a whole new level of fury.”
‘I just see the Lord all over you’
As for IHOPKC’s contention that Lucky did not lead any youth groups, Facebook posts in 2008 and 2009 indicate otherwise.
Just ask Ethan Salyer.
On Sept. 20, 2009, Lucky posted a message on the then-13-year-old’s Facebook wall.
“Its all true Ethan, you are a young man of God even when u don’t feel u are,” it said. “But the JR high small group meets after the Jr high service for about 45 min (they all do at the moment) And I also have all nighters every month and half too for my small group were we seek the Lord for an extended time. Lots of cool happens … ”
And in a second post that day, Lucky wrote: “The reason I ask is because I just see the Lord all over you and would looove to have you around in Jr. High and in my small group so we can run after the Lord together. If you’re ever free and are able to come sometime … you are welcome to come you young man of God!”
When The Star article was published this month, Salyer said, several friends sent him screenshots of those posts.
“I definitely remember Larry,” he said. “He was someone who was a pretty prominent figure in a lot of my friends’ lives.”
Salyer said he wasn’t “super involved” with IHOPKC’s Student Ministries back then, but many friends were. He said he didn’t go to any of the sleepovers that Lucky had for the boys.
“I had friends that did,” he said. “And I almost felt, you know, kind of jealous. I wanted to experience it, because it sounded fun.”
Salyer said he’d heard the talk about Lucky and the showers, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw the story.
“But I was a little bit surprised that people have started talking about it, you know, years later.”
Now, Salyer said, he believes Lucky was likely grooming him at the time.
“Big-time,” he said. “I had no idea then. But my mother did. She always had a concern about Larry, and so she wouldn’t let me go to any of his youth groups, or really be involved with him that much.
“Honestly, looking at it now, I feel really lucky.”
