Group to ‘clarify’ report on IHOPKC sex abuse scandal after backlash over recommendations
A report that recommends International House of Prayer-Kansas City founder Mike Bickle be banned for life from public ministry but leaves the door open for his return in an “informal” role has been pulled for “clarification” after strong pushback from critics.
Tikkun Global, the organization that commissioned a third-party investigation into sex abuse allegations against Bickle and others associated with the 24/7 global prayer movement, announced the action on its website over the weekend.
“Since the release of the Pastoral Recommendations Team (PRT) Report, we have received some excellent questions and feedback concerning its content,” the statement said. “We believe that the issues are weighty enough to request the PRT to make some clarifications. They will have the freedom and authority to edit and clarify as they see fit.
“In the meantime, we have decided to remove the PRT report from this forum. We plan to post the updated report once we receive it from the PRT.”
Tikkun convened the Pastoral Recommendation Team — a group of eight church leaders and professional therapists — to provide suggestions in response to the findings of the independent investigation. Tikkun released the PRT’s nonbinding recommendations on March 3, saying Bickle “should be removed from ministry of any kind until a process of repentance, counseling, healing, and restoration has taken place” and “should be barred for his lifetime from ever holding a paid, professional, public ministry again.”
But the document also laid out steps Bickle needed to take in order to return to “informal” ministry.
The recommendations drew harsh criticism from sex abuse survivors and former IHOPKC leaders and followers.
The report by the Pastoral Recommendation Team is in response to the recent findings of a third-party investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Bickle and others associated with the movement. That investigation, conducted by Firefly, found that Bickle committed sexual abuse or misconduct against 17 women — some when they were minors — over decades, amid a thriving culture of systemic abuse and cover-up.
“The FIREFLY Report provided evidence indicating that Mike Bickle is a long-term and chronic sexual predator who used his leadership position to obtain power and control to groom, manipulate and intimidate his victims into being spiritually, emotionally and sexually abused for his personal gratification,” the Pastoral Recommendation Team said.
“Mike Bickle has confessed to some of these actions. The most egregious of his sins, however, is that Bickle pursued some victims who were minors and conspired to keep this hidden for many years. It appears Bickle’s ongoing sin and behavior during and before his time at IHOPKC was influential in the spread of abusive behavior through other staff members who then victimized more unsuspecting victims.”
The Pastoral Recommendation Team also called for IHOPKC executive director Joseph Taylor and several former leaders to be removed from all public ministry for at least two years and to be permanently banned from holding office again or working at IHOPKC.
Neither Bickle nor Taylor responded to requests for comment.
Bickle issued his only public statement on the allegations on Dec. 12, 2023, admitting that he had “sinned” and “my moral failures were real.” But he was vague on details. In the lengthy statement, he said his “inappropriate behavior” occurred more than 20 years ago, but he did not admit to engaging in any sexual misconduct.
IHOPKC announced in December 2023 that it was “immediately, formally and permanently” separating from Bickle, who founded the organization in 1999.
In its 17-page document, the PRT said it made dozens of recommendations based on the information in the Firefly report, which was released on Feb. 3. Firefly said it interviewed 210 witnesses, analyzed more than 6,000 documents and identified 32 survivors of Bickle and others associated with IHOPKC during its investigation.
A timeline issued by Firefly said 17 survivors it interviewed were victims of sexual abuse or sexually abusive misconduct by Bickle from mid-1970 to 2023. The abuse of the three survivors named in the report occurred in mid-1970; from 1980 to 1988; and from 1996 to 1999, the timeline said.
The other 14 survivors Firefly interviewed said that their abuse by Bickle took place between 2002 and 2023, according to the timeline.
Of those, four said the incidents occurred over various periods. One said the incidents occurred from 2004 to 2012. Another reported that incidents took place from 2005 to 2023, including one that occurred just before the allegations against Bickle became public in October 2023. One said her abuse was in 2012, and another reported incidents occurring from January 2023 to June 2023.
Recommendations for Bickle
The Pastoral Recommendation Team said the IHOPKC board of directors should appoint an Independent Council of Presbyters, or ICP, to help execute its recommendations. The council should be made up of five to 10 “seasoned pastoral figures” and clinical therapists not associated with IHOPKC, it said.
The team also said Bickle should take responsibility both publicly and in writing “for his years of inappropriate sexual misconduct, sexual abuse, manipulation, participation in minimizing and covering up his actions and the actions of other staff.” And, it said, he should apologize publicly and in writing “to the victims, their families, witnesses, and the body of Christ for his abusive behavior.”
In addition, the PRT report said Bickle should submit to recommendations set by the Independent Council of Presbyters regarding discipline, professional counseling for himself and his marriage, and his “restoration process.”
“Should he desire to return to informal ministry, there must be a full release in writing from the ICP with the approval of any therapists with whom he has received counsel,” it said.
The PRT recommendations should be overseen by the Independent Council of Presbyters, reported in writing to the IHOPKC Board of Directors and made available to IHOPKC followers and the public, the document said.
“This committee realizes these recommendations are completely subject to Mike Bickle’s willingness to submit to them and are not the sole responsibility of the present IHOPKC Board of Directors to complete,” the Pastoral Recommendation Team said. It added, however, “If he chooses not to comply, this information should be made public.”
The report also noted that “we are not a court and recognize that some recommendations may be questioned.”
“Though the (Firefly) report left some questions unanswered, the PRT felt there was more than sufficient evidence to make recommendations,” it said. “We also recognize that the accused did not choose to testify. So, in the manner of due process, our recommendations are all qualified by this statement: ‘If these allegations are true, then we recommend that … ’”
Critics say recommendations weak
Many former IHOPKC staff members and supporters said language like that was disturbing and were furious at Tikkun for releasing the PRT report.
“Yes, Bickle should be banned from formal ministry,” former IHOPKC staffer Susan Tuma wrote on X. “But he didn’t abuse from the pulpit, he did so in informal ministry settings … This fundamentally misunderstands Bickle’s use of influence, and fails to address his manipulation of board members and leaders behind the scenes even after leaving IHOPKC.”
In a Substack post, Tuma said the PRT’s “overwhelming focus on leader restoration stands in stark contrast to the complete absence of meaningful justice for survivors.”
“Nowhere in this report is there a true reckoning with the harm done, the institutional betrayal, or the lifelong impact of abuse,” she wrote. “Instead, it casts doubt on the Firefly investigation — despite overwhelming corroboration — while leaving the door open for Mike Bickle to retain informal influence, ensuring he is never fully removed.”
Alyssa DeGraff, a survivors’ advocate and former IHOPKC worship team member, said the report wasn’t fixable.
“Nobody trusts whatever panel put out that awful statement,” DeGraff posted Saturday on X. “Because nobody foresaw this process as a discussion around the restoration or healing of the people who abused them. We thought it was about victims and THEIR healing, and that exposure could be a part of that.
“ … Every single part of this process has re-traumatized survivors.”
Ron Cantor, who was a member of the Tikkun team that coordinated the third-party IHOPKC investigation, appeared to contradict the report’s position on Bickle returning to “informal” ministry.
“My opinion is that Mike Bickle is a monster who used a Christian ministry system as an ideal breeding ground for him to groom and sexually abuse women,” Cantor said Wednesday on X. “… I believe he is wholly disqualified from any type of ministry ever again.”
Cantor said Bickle could serve “by putting out chairs, folding bulletins, or other non-communicative ways once he has repented, humbled himself, made restitution, and is restored to Jesus.”
“He should never preach, he should never give biblical commentary publicly, he should never write a Christian book (but he should write novels as he is proven to be a great creator of fiction), and he should never be invited to speak at a conference or church,” Cantor said. “There should be no informal or formal return to ministry in any way, shape, or form.”
Other leaders ‘knowingly and willingly’ covered up abuse
The Pastoral Recommendation Team also addressed the issue of IHOPKC staffers and leaders named in the Firefly investigation “who directly participated in sexual sin or who knowingly and willingly covered up these violations.”
“IHOPKC leadership team used biblical language and imagery to provide coverup for the victimizers versus helping and intervening on behalf of the victims,” the team said. “They used their positions of authority to preserve their leader, Mike Bickle, their organization, IHOPKC, rather than those who encountered unwanted sexual behavior.”
In many cases, the Pastoral Recommendation Team said, the accusations should have been reported to legal authorities.
Among the PRT’s recommendations: The leaders “should be removed from ministry, if still engaged on any level, until a process of repentance, counseling, healing, and restoration has taken place.”
The document named six leaders in addition to Taylor who it said “should step away from all public ministry for a minimum of two (2) years, be permanently disqualified from holding office at IHOPKC, be required to repent publicly, and receive accountability from outside counsel/auditing with the assistance of the ICP.” It also recommended that IHOPKC not rehire them in the future.
If those leaders want to return to ministry, the PRT said, they must obtain a full release from the Independent Council of Presbyters that is signed by an approved therapist whom they have seen for one-on-one counseling.
Those named were former leaders Stuart Greaves, Lenny La Guardia, Daniel Lim, David Sliker, Isaac Bennett and Marci Sorge. Sliker declined to comment when contacted by The Star. Greaves, La Guardia, Bennett and Sorge did not respond to requests for comment.
Lim, IHOPKC’s former longtime CEO, said he was taking the recommendations seriously.
“I consider it a privilege to have served alongside thousands of sincere and devoted Jesus-loving women and men at the International House of Prayer, who have tirelessly labored in prayer for the Gospel,” he told The Star in an email. “Many continue to love and serve Jesus in KC and around the world. Many of them are now leading voices in advocacy for CSA (child sexual abuse) survivors.
“As part of my ongoing journey in Christ, I am actively engaging in these healthy recommendations (found in this recently published pastoral recommendation) proactively, voluntarily, and with accountability to leaders and mental health professionals outside of IHOPKC. I am grateful for the team that worked diligently to compile these pastoral recommendations, aiming to build healthy Christian leaders and communities.”
The document also contained 18 recommendations for current IHOPKC leaders, staff and board members.
Those included: developing a clear and comprehensive policy on sexual abuse; requiring thorough background checks on all employees, staff members and volunteers having contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults; and creating a confidential system where church members can report abuse without the fear of retaliation.
IHOPKC also should train staff and volunteers as mandated reporters of abuse, the Pastoral Recommendation Team said. And when a report of abuse involves a staff member or volunteer, it said, “IHOPKC should create and follow a policy suspending the accused until the incident is investigated by authorities.”
In addition, the Pastoral Recommendation Team said, the current IHOPKC Board of Directors and leaders “should publicly apologize to the victims, their families, witnesses, and the whistleblowers, expressing their remorse for the pain, suffering and humiliation that has been experienced.”
“It is recommended that the IHOPKC Board of Directors should approve an allocation of up to $5000 per survivor for those who were directly abused by Mike Bickle and/or any leaders at IHOPKC for counseling/therapy if they so choose,” it said.
