KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star [Kansas City MO]
May 19, 2024
By Judy L Thomas
The International House of Prayer-Kansas City’s Forerunner Church held its final worship service in Grandview on Pentecost Sunday as the fallout continues over the sex abuse scandal involving the global prayer movement’s founder.
The building was filled to capacity at the 10 a.m. service, with leaders saying their goodbyes and thanking those who have been part of the church, from the musicians to the youth teachers to those who served coffee and cleaned the restrooms.
“This morning our heart is really to just express gratitude to the Lord and gratitude towards those that have served and been a part of this community over the years,” senior pastor Isaac Bennett told the congregation. “We’re so grateful for this community and what the Lord has done and what the Lord is going to do in your lives. Even in the days ahead. “ …
There’s no easy way to do this. How do you bring a close to something like this, the Forerunner Church? And so I appreciate your grace and your patience and your sensitivity during this time.”
IHOPKC has been in upheaval since sex abuse allegations against founder Mike Bickle surfaced in late October, accusing him of using prophecies to groom, sexually abuse and manipulate women over multiple decades. Bickle did not attend Sunday’s service.
Bennett said Sunday he recognized “that this has been a very painful season. “…
We are in a season of expressing gratitude to the Lord, but there’s a real loss that many have expressed and are experiencing and that loss includes relationships. And I just want to acknowledge that for our spiritual family, and I’m so sorry for the pain and the difficulty that you’ve been through.”
He also apologized to “those that have moved on.”
“I’m so sorry for that,” he said. “I really hope that this next season for you is one of comfort and of healing from the Lord.”
Bennett said the decision to shut down the church and other IHOPKC ministries was excruciating, but the right thing to do. “
Closing various ministries across the IHOPKC missions base and today as we’re celebrating the close of Forerunner Church is not anything that we expected to do,” he said. “It’s not anything that we were planning a year ago, like, ‘Hey, we got this wild idea. Let’s close down Forerunner Church.’ That’s just never been in our heart to do at all. But we believe that it needs to happen. It needs to happen so that we can move forward with a new start.
“And this will mark the fresh start for many individuals in many different areas of our communities. Some will regather here; others, the Lord is going to reassign to various communities and ministries.”
WHAT’S THE FUTURE OF IHOPKC?
It remained unclear on Sunday, however, what the future holds for the organization.
“This is not only an end, we believe but a new beginning,” Bennett said. “ … The Lord is going to clarify this vision more and more to us. This transition is going to last a few months, and we see this summer as a time of new beginning — the ministry expression in the fall that will be robust, including discipleship and children’s ministry and youth ministry. And we’ll be communicating those things.”
The 24/7 prayer room, on Red Bridge Road in South Kansas City, will continue to operate over the summer “in the midst of this transition,” Bennett said. “
We invite everyone that desires to be a part of the future of this ministry as its birth in the coming months,” he said. “We know that the Lord is releasing a new wineskin and that he’s going to give strategic insight of how to construct that wineskin because there is a new wine, there is a new anointing that the Lord wants to release upon this people — not because we deserve it, but because he’s that faithful and that kind to us.”
He encouraged people to worship together in the prayer room at IHOPKC’s “missions base” over the summer and to fellowship together in homes and in small groups. “
I want to remind you that we’re going to be hosting Wednesday community nights right here in this room beginning on May (29) to worship together and seek the Lord together,” he said. “We’re honored to partner with Jesus in what he is birthing through this people and in this season, and we want to invite you to join, if it’s in your heart to as a fellow pioneer, as the Lord leads us and guides us into the next season.”
As the two-hour service wound down, Bennett invited the worship team to come on stage. Several of them spoke, including Mike Bickle’s sister, Tracey Bickle. She thanked God for Bennett and his wife, Morgan.
“We thank you, God, that you gave us a leader of deep humility,” she said. “We thank you for his leadership over our lives, in this hour, in this season … unwavering in his love and devotion to prayer. … We thank you for this family, Father.”
HOW THE ALLEGATIONS UNFOLDED
Mike Bickle, 68, issued his first public statement about the allegations on Dec. 12, admitting that he had “sinned” and “my moral failures were real.” He said his “inappropriate behavior” occurred more than 20 years ago, but he did not admit to engaging in any sexual misconduct.
On Dec. 22, IHOPKC announced that it was “immediately, formally and permanently” separating from Bickle, saying it had confirmed “a level of inappropriate behavior” on his part.
But confusion erupted last month after a leaked recording of a staff meeting revealed that IHOPKC planned to close its doors and open a new, smaller organization. That was followed by a statement from IHOPKC attorney Audrey Manito saying IHOPKC was not closing but going through a “transition and reorganization process.” She said the 24/7 prayer room was not shutting down, but IHOP University would close after graduation.
The day after Manito’s statement, IHOPKC executive director Joseph Taylor said in a news release, “We have come to the conclusion that we will wind down many of the ministry and training expressions of IHOPKC.” Those included IHOP University, Forerunner Church, the Children’s Equipping Center, and the organization’s internships, Taylor said.
IHOP University held its final graduation ceremony on Saturday in Grandview.
On Wednesday, IHOPKC leaders told The Star in an email that “Mike Bickle’s duties ceased, and privileges were revoked at all IHOPKC entities as of October 26th, 2023.”
“The separation in December formalized the permanent status of those conditions,” the response said. “Our leadership has no contact or communication with Mike.”
The leaders added that because IHOPKC was founded by Bickle, “it can be difficult to reference important stories from our past without mentioning our founder.” However, they said, “This does not change our formal and permanent separation from him as a ministry.”
Sunday’s church service was just four days after The Star revealed that a decades-old prophecy promoted by Bickle that has been repeatedly recited by charismatic leaders to rally believers was based on information that isn’t true.
The story Bickle has told over the years is that Anna Cain, the mother of Bickle’s good friend, Paul Cain — a man then highly regarded as a prophet in charismatic circles — died at 4:18 p.m. on April 18 (4-18) and gave the Bible verse Luke 4:18 to her son just before she passed. Bickle has captivated listeners with his dramatic retelling of her final moments and the astonishing recurrence of the numbers “4” and “18.”
But Anna Cain’s death certificate shows that the time and date Bickle cited were wrong.
The discovery infuriated former staff and followers and calls into question the credibility of IHOPKC’s prophetic history, a vital component of the 24/7 prayer ministry.
In an emailed response Wednesday to questions from The Star, IHOPKC said:
“Mrs. Cain passed away 34 years ago, nearly a decade prior to the founding of IHOPKC. We do not have any information regarding the timing or details of her passing. Unfortunately, Paul Cain is also deceased.
“As a result of revelations and accusations against Mike, we are examining all elements of the ministry culture and foundations he influenced. This includes each element of the Prophetic History. With help from trusted elders in the body of Christ we will determine which prophecies to hold fast and which to discard.”