KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
February 4, 2025
By Rebecca Hopkins
A newly released report on abuse at the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) found that leaders at the 24/7 prayer ministry “shielded perpetrators and minimized victims” in what was a “systemic” leadership failure.
As reported yesterday by The Roys Report (TRR), the investigative report also found that IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle sexually abused 17 women, including minors, and the abuse included rape.
The report is the result of a months-long investigation by Firefly, which was commissioned by the Messianic Jewish network Tikkun Global. In addition to Bickle, survivors also accused 16 other IHOPKC staff of sexual misconduct, the report said. The report did not name the other accused staff.
Firefly stated in the report that high-level leaders knew of the allegations but “shielded perpetrators” from legal accountability, allowing many to continue to work there.
It added that “certain members of the ELT (Executive Leadership Team) at IHOPKC were more focused on suppressing and minimizing reports of sexual abuse, misconduct, and rape rather than supporting the victims or staff who reported these incidents,” the report stated.
And the pattern of “abuse, cover-ups, and failures within the leadership” is systemic, the report stated.
“(T)he systemic nature of this misconduct cannot be overlooked,” the report stated. “Patterns of behavior that shielded perpetrators and minimized victims’ experiences were embedded within the organizational structures.”
Bickle contributed to the abusive culture, the report said, using his “prophet” status to manipulate women and witnesses into trusting him. Leaders covered for him, as well.
“He used his authoritative position to create an environment where questioning his actions was seen as questioning divine will,” the report stated.
An Advocate Group, composed of 16 former IHOPKC leaders, who confronted IHOPKC’s leaders with allegations against Bickle in 2023, affirmed the integrity of Firefly’s investigation today in a public statement.
“We recognize that Mike Bickle and IHOPKC may continue to challenge the legitimacy of this report,” the Advocate Group stated. “Therefore, we wish to affirm the integrity of the investigative process.”
The 68-page report, informed by more than 200 interviews, has hit the IHOPKC survivor community hard. Some grieved the news.
“Oh God, be with hs (sic) as we grieve our own stories and those of others,” wrote former IHOPKC staffer Sarah Markman on Facebook. “Every Story Matters. While we grieve, we educate.”
Some claimed the report was full of mistakes and misrepresentations of victims’ testimonies.
“Standing with the advocacy community this morning, as we grieve the disappointment of the #IHOPKC report,” former IHOPKC staff Gracia Nope posted on X. “Survivors deserved accurate representation and decisive action, but instead, many stories had errors, and the gavel of justice felt gently set down rather than slammed.”
But Nope added in a statement to TRR that the report is still important for naming Bickle and former ELT members Stuart Greaves, Lenny LaGuardia, and Dave Sliker for mishandling sexual abuse allegations. She also said she believes investigator Jim Holler is essentially “trustworthy” and she’s hopeful that corrections will be made.
“While I don’t think they did right by the individuals, when you add all the stories together, it paints a very compelling picture against Mike, Stuart, Lenny, and Dave. And I’m thankful for that,” Nope said.
TRR reached out to Bickle, Greaves, LaGuardia, Sliker, and IHOPKC’s press office for comment, but received no response.
TRR also reached out to Firefly’s investigator Jim Holler for comment about allegations of possible mistakes and misrepresentations, but he did not immediately respond.
Ron Cantor, from Tikkun’s senior advisory team for the investigation, said he’s heard of “minor facts” that need correcting and hopes to see Firefly make any necessary major or minor changes soon. He also expressed grief over the trauma survivors have endured.
“Our hearts are broken for those who were abused and manipulated,” Cantor said. “(Bickle’s) abuse ruined families and scarred children, and we’ve seen no expression of remorse over that.”
‘You are holy if you don’t talk’
The 16 IHOPKC staff members accused of sexual abuse had victims as young as 14, the report states. Yet witnesses told investigators that at IHOPKC, there was a “code of silence” that spiritualized speaking out as morally wrong, the report stated.
One witness characterized the culture as, “You are Holy if you don’t talk. If you talk, you are toxic,” the report stated. “This statement was made many times throughout the investigation by other victims.”
One staffer was accused of raping a 16-year-old boy. According to the report, the accused staffer would take teen boys to the gym, where he encouraged them to disrobe, shower, and answer questions about their sexuality.
Yet, when a witness asked ELT Member Lenny LaGuardia to remove the staffer from contact with kids, LaGuardia reportedly responded, “No one could be banned.”
An IHOPKC intern reported to Firefly that another IHOPKC staffer sexual assaulted her several times from 2010-2011.
When she told ELT Member Dave Sliker, Sliker surprised her with a meeting with her alleged abuser, the report states. She was told not to tell anyone, including her parents, about the assaults.
The report said that Sliker told her, “Jesus doesn’t go spreading all of our sins, so we shouldn’t spread the sins of others.”
The report also found that IHOPKC leaders that often “silenced” alleged victims by using prophecies and Christian principles, such as pushing victims to forgive and apologize to their abusers in “Matthew 18” meetings. They also “interrogated” victims, discouraged them from reporting to police, and retaliated against them.
“In many cases, leadership employed tactics such as victim-blaming, gaslighting, and coercion to suppress allegations,” the report stated.
This pattern by leaders continued for years because no one held these leaders accountable, the report stated.
“(T)he lack of external oversight and accountability allowed these practices to continue unabated,” the report states.
Leaders also had the support of Bickle, who created a Purity Covenant that said, among other things, “We hope to never expose one’s sin publicly.”
Leaders seemed to follow this principle regarding Bickle’s behavior, the report states.
Bickle gathered several 18- to 19-year-old women for his “Friends of the Bridegroom” celibacy and fasting program, the report found. He showered them with gifts and used prophecies to create a culture of secrecy.
In other instances, Bickle touched women in public and sometimes in front of other IHOPKC leaders. He kissed women’s faces in IHOPKC’s prayer room, rubbed their legs in restaurants, and grabbed their throats during church services, the Firefly report found. Though witnesses reported his concerning behavior to IHOPKC leaders, many ignored and enabled him, the report stated.
For example, when a witness told IHOPKC’s Forerunner Church Pastor Isaac Bennett about how Bickle slowly ran his finger along the chin and jaw of an IHOPKC singer, Bennett reportedly said, “That’s just the way Bickle is.”
Next steps
The report made several recommendations for changes at IHOPKC, though the ministry didn’t participate in the investigation. Neither Firefly nor Tikkun have a way to hold the prayer ministry accountable, Tikkun stated last week.
IHOPKC should do background checks, require all staff to be trained in recognizing abuse and reporting it to authorities, Firefly stated in the report. IHOPKC should also establish clear ways for staff to report abuse and temporarily suspend an accused until an investigation is completed.
IHOPKC should also provide counseling help for survivors. And it should call for an external review of its policies, the report stated.
Tikkun has established an eight-member Pastor Recommendation Team (PRT) to review the report and make recommendations to IHOPKC.
The Advocate Group stated they hope with time, IHOPKC leaders will listen and change.
“It is our sincere hope that this moment marks the beginning of a new chapter—one of repentance, restitution, and meaningful reform,” the Advocate Group stated. “Processing the findings of this report will take time, but we pray that IHOPKC’s current leadership will engage with these revelations with humility and a commitment to necessary change.”