International House of Prayer founder Mike Bickle accused
of sexual misconduct by multiple women
International House of Prayer Kansas City founder Mike Bickle has agreed to step away from public ministry as he is investigated for “serious allegations including sexual immorality” that have been made against him by multiple women.
Leaders of the charismatic Evangelical Christian movement and missions organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, made the revelations of the allegations Sunday at the 11 a.m. service of the ministry’s “local church expression,” Forerunner Church, where Isaac and Morgan Bennett serve as lead pastors.
“We are heartbroken to share that we have recently become aware of serious allegations including sexual immorality directed against Mike Bickle, the founder of IHOPKC. Our leadership team takes these allegations very seriously and we are laboring for truth, light, redemption, and righteousness. We are engaging with outside parties to assess and arbitrate these allegations,” the church’s leadership team announced on Facebook Sunday.
“Our priority is to love and serve our IHOPKC community during this moment. This news is unsettling for our spiritual family as well as our entire leadership team. Please pray for all involved, including the ones who have come forward, those who have experienced trauma, and for the Bickle family,” it continued.
“We are asking for patience as we work through this complex and very difficult situation. Secondly, we ask that our spiritual family refrain from using prophetic spiritual language that can be interpreted as dismissive of the pain of the traumatized.”
Bickle, IHOPKC leaders further noted, agreed on Thursday that he would not preach or teach from the church’s platform, engage with the public on social media or participate in the church’s well-known 24-hour prayer room on Red Bridge Road in south Kansas City “while we work with others to assess this situation.”
“As difficult as this is for many, we are trusting in Jesus' wise and good leadership to help and strengthen us as we anchor our hope in Him,” the church leaders added.
Dwayne Roberts, a founding member of the IHOPKC, Brian Kim, a former IHOPKC executive leadership team member, and Wes Martin, a former pastor of Forerunner Church, said in a joint statement published on Saturday that they were the ones who first confronted leaders of the ministry with the allegations that span “several decades.”
“A few days ago, we made the leadership team of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City … aware of serious allegations spanning several decades concerning its founder, Mike Bickle. Without going into details to protect the privacy of the victims’ identities, we have found these allegations of clergy sexual abuse by Mike Bickle to be credible and long-standing,” they began in their statement. “The credibility of these allegations is not based on any one experience or any one victim, but on the collective and corroborating testimony of the experiences of several victims.”
They allege that before meeting with IHOPKC’s leadership team, they attempted to discuss the allegations with Bickle directly “in the spirit of Matthew 18:15-17” but they were rebuffed. Bickle also attempted to intimidate, isolate, manipulate and discredit his victims.
“When these allegations were brought to our attention, we were shocked. We could never have imagined that inappropriate conduct with women as something we would ever need to be concerned about,” the former IHOPKC ministry workers said. “The allegations seemed out of character to the man we thought we knew, but they were so serious we could not ignore them.”
Bickle, they explained, allegedly used his position of leadership over the women to manipulate them.
“We believe that Mike Bickle’s actions were not above reproach and fall short of biblical standards for leaders in the church. To be clear, the allegations made about Mike Bickle’s misconduct were sexual in nature where the marriage covenant was not honored. Furthermore, the allegations made also reveal that Mike Bickle used his position of spiritual authority over the victims to manipulate them.”
Caedmon’s Call singer Derek Webb wears dress,
flanks drag queen Flamy Grant at Dove Awards
Correction appended
Derek Webb apparently really enjoys wearing dresses.
So much so, in fact, the on-again off-again Caedmon’s Call singer decided he would wear one to the Dove Awards, the biggest night in Christian contemporary music (CCM) — and invite a drag performer to join him.
While Webb is no stranger to the Dove Awards, with 10 nominations and three wins, he said this year would be the first time he attended in person.
Webb shared an image of himself wearing a woman’s dress, pearls and black stockings with the caption, “despite having won a few over the past 20+ years, tonight will be my first ever trip to the dove awards, in the company of some very good friends (@FlamyGrant and @gracebaldridge, among others). i hardly ever dress up, but this feels like a very special occasion.”
A short time later, he tweeted another image of himself along with Matthew Blake, a former worship leader who wears makeup and women’s clothing and performs under the name Flamy Grant, and Grace Baldridge, who performs as “Semler.”
Webb's ex-wife, artist Sandra McCracken, was nominated at this year's Dove Awards for her album Light in the Canyon. In 2014, Webb and McCracken divorced after 13 years of marriage after he admitted to an extramarital affair. The duo have two children together.
While Webb attributed his wardrobe to the “special occasion” of the Dove Awards, the “Jesus Hypothesis” singer hasn’t shied away from wearing women’s clothing on multiple occasions in recent months.
On the same day as the Dove Awards photos, he posted another image of himself in the same dress in an anniversary message to his wife, Abbie Parker.
Earlier this week, he also promoted print-on-demand merch, including a cup with an image of Webb wearing — you guessed it — a white skirt, along with the lyrics, “but I say unto you, you’re beautiful & free” from the song “God in Drag.”
In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly used the phrase “But I say unto you” to proclaim Himself as a higher authority than the scribes, according to the Christian apologetics website Got Questions.
When asked about his intentions in attending the Dove Awards despite not being nominated, Blake said he sees the appearance as “a sort of banner-wielding, exploratory scouting expedition.”
“We’re not going to stir up trouble or demand a single thing,” he told Baptist News Global earlier this month. “We’re simply going to be present, to express our queer joy, and to celebrate in our little corner of the room.”
Blake said he hopes to make “queer Christians” more visible simply by showing up at the Dove Awards.
“I am interested in representation and taking up space and providing an option for Christians who believe in a God that redeems the whole world, not just the heteronormative parts of it,” he was quoted as saying.
Webb and Blake made headlines earlier this year when the male pair both donned makeup, colorful wigs and women’s clothing while standing in front of a cross for a music video.
The video for “Boys Will Be Girls” includes the lyrics, “I heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those who/ Were abandoned by proud and fearful men/ So if a church won’t celebrate and love you/ They’re believing lies that can’t save you or them/ Cause you’re so beautiful by any name.”
He also wrote a song titled “God in Drag,” in which he appears to mock the biblical notions of Heaven and Hell:
“You’ve heard it said/ Oh, God so loves but he’ll reject you/ If you so choose he will respect you/ And for all time, he’ll disconnect you/ From his love and those who’ve left you/ And in the skies live on without you/ While the devil’s flames surround you/ In the place that he designed to/ For eternity remind you/ Of the choice that’s now behind you/ Either way, I bet you’ll break a sweat.”
In a July interview with Sojourners, Webb said he wrote the song “for a dear person in my life who came out to [him] just a few years ago” and compared performing in drag for the “Boys Will Be Girls” video to the Incarnation of Christ.
“There is something about the experience of being put in drag by Flamy Grant that did feel incarnational to me,” he was quoted as saying. “And I think that’s a great analog to the work that Jesus did, and the power that incarnational risk has.”
The Dove Awards are set to air on TBN on Oct. 20.
Correction: The original version of this article, published on Oct. 19, 2023, reported that Derek Webb is a former member of Caedmon’s Call. However, he is a current member of the band. Webb's participation in the band has not been constant over the decades, and he once left for a time to embark on a solo career.
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