KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
December 18, 2023
By Julie Roys
On Oct. 31, Christian author and speaker Francis Chan and former International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) board member and pastor, Sam Storms, arrived at the home of their friend—embattled IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle. Yet, instead of meeting with them, Bickle had a fellow preacher meet them at the door and turn them away, Storms said in an interview with The Roys Report (TRR).
Just three days prior to the planned meeting, several former IHOPKC top leaders had published a letter, accusing Bickle of clergy sexual abuse with multiple women over several decades. And as Storms explained in a call with The Roys Report (TRR), he and Chan were concerned about Bickle and wanted to speak with him face-to-face.
But when Chan and Storms arrived, charismatic preacher Chris Reed of Morningstar Ministries told them Bickle was in an important meeting and couldn’t meet, Storms said.
Storms added that Bickle told him separately that IHOPKC Executive Director Stuart Greaves was in the meeting that day and was leading the process. Storms said he also later learned that Eric Volz, IHOPKC’s new spokesman, was in the meeting, as well.
Volz has repeatedly maintained that his firm, the David House Agency, is not an “advocate” for Mike Bickle and represents IHOPKC, which is “completely separate and distinct from Mike Bickle.”
TRR reached out to Volz today to explain why he was at Bickle’s house on Oct. 31 and the nature of his involvement, but Volz did not reply.
TRR also reached out to Greaves to explain his involvement, but Greaves has not replied either.
However, early this evening Volz posted on Twitter that he and Greaves met with Bickle on Oct. 31 “to confront him and question him about the allegations,” not “to protect him.”
Volz said that when Storms and Chan came to Bickle’s home, “we were in the middle of a meeting with Mike Bickle, and I simply recommended that our meeting not be interrupted.”
Volz said he has been “falsely accused of being a ‘spin doctor,’ assisting in a ‘cover-up,’” but “(n)othing could be further from the truth.”
TRR contacted Chan’s assistant a couple weeks ago seeking comment from Chan on his visit to IHOPKC, but has not heard back.
However, Storms and Michael Sullivant, a former colleague of Bickle’s and director at Life Model Works, posted a blog today saying they believe “Jane Doe.”
Doe is one of Bickle’s alleged victims who told her story exclusively to TRR. Doe maintains that Bickle used prophecy to sexually abuse her over for several years and engage in everything but intercourse.
Storms and Sullivant also wrote that Bickle’s statement confessing “inappropriate behavior” with Doe 20+ years ago, “while potentially a step in the right direction, is woefully inadequate.
“What is most lacking in it is explicitly owning the sin he committed against Jane Doe(s), repenting, and asking for forgiveness. Regrettably, Jane Doe is nowhere mentioned in the written statement he released.”
The post calls on Bickle to “search his heart” for other sins he committed. And it urges him to “find the spiritual courage to confess such sins, wholeheartedly repent, face the consequences, and humbly pursue the restoration and healing of anyone he has wounded.”
Chan declines to speak at IHOPKC
Prior to Chan’s arrival on Oct. 31, IHOPKC sent an email to faculty and staff, announcing a special service that evening featuring Chan, Morningstar’s Chris Reed, and Jason Hubbard of the International Prayer Connect.
However, Chan mysteriously did not show up at the special service, according to IHOPKC staff member, Jason Carr. Instead, Carr told TRR he found Chan in the IHOPKC prayer room during the service.
Carr said he asked Chan why he hadn’t been in the service that night, and Chan explained how Bickle had refused to meet with him earlier in the day.
Chan added that he was hoping to encourage the staff at IHOPKC but had envisioned a smaller meeting, Carr said. Chan said when he learned IHOPKC had planned a special, livestreamed service, Chan consulted with his elders and they advised him not to do it, Carr said.
Storms also confirmed with TRR that Chan’s elders had advised him not to speak at IHOPKC on Oct. 31.
Reed spoke at the special service in Chan’s absence.
IHOPKC staff member Gabriel Hancock told TRR that Reed’s message was traumatic for him and most of his friends, who walked out in the middle of it. Hancock said everyone at IHOPKC was in shock over the allegations against Bickle, which had just become public, and the mood that night was like a “funeral.”
Yet, Reed treated the service like a “pep rally,” Hancock said. The dissonance was so unnerving, Hancock said he “started sobbing uncontrollably” after hearing it.
Both Hancock and Carr told TRR they are leaving IHOPKC at the end of the year.
Video of Reed’s message was posted on IHOPKC’s Forerunner Church’s website at time of publication.
At the beginning of his message, Reed stated, “I am here to stand in solidarity with this community, and with this executive leadership led by Stuart Greaves.”
Reed added, “This is not the end. This is a new beginning, a fresh start. . . . I’m excited about your future. I’m excited about your present. The Bible says we’re washed by the water of the Word. So, I’m not here tonight to set anything straight. I’m here tonight for you, to encourage you, to edify you, to build you up, because I know there’s more ahead of you than that’s behind you.”
Reed encouraged people not to become disillusioned with “everything that’s being said all over the news” but to fix their “eyes on the hope.” He then preached about Lot’s wife and encouraged people not to “look back” like she did and turned into a pillar of salt.
“God’s about to bury what’s chasing this ministry, chasing this movement,” Reed said. “What you feel is on your tail, God is about to come through for you—for you! You let matters be taken care of. You focus on keeping that hope.”