Prayer movement’s founder under fire

Mike Bickle, the founder of an international aroundthe-clock prayer movement and charismatic minister, apologized recently for past misconduct that caused “pain, confusion, and division in the body of Christ.”

“With a very heavy heart I want to express how deeply grieved I am that my past sins have led to so much pain, confusion, and division in the body of Christ in this hour,” Bickle said in an online statement.

“I sadly admit that 20+ years ago, I sinned by engaging in inappropriate behavior — my moral failures were real,” he wrote.

In late October, former leaders of the Kansas Citybased International House of Prayer publicly accused Bickle of clergy sexual misconduct, based on allegations from several women about misconduct that allegedly

went on for decades.

“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,” the former leaders said in their initial allegations.

Last month, current IHOP leaders released a report of an internal investigation,

which they said cast doubt on the credibility of the allegations against Bickle. They also resisted calls for an independent investigation.

In his statement, Bickle gave few details and said many of the allegations against him were false. He also said he was not confessing to “the more intense sexual activities” he had been accused of.

“There are many misrepresentations of my words and actions in these communications, including statements that are out of context, greatly exaggerated or blatantly false,” Bickle said in his statement. He also said he thought his past misdeeds were “dealt with and under the blood of Jesus.”

Leaders of IHOPKC announced recently that they had brought on crisis manager Eric Volz to serve as the organization’s spokesman.

Volz told the congregation at Forerunner Church, where members of the IHOPKC movement worship, that he had been brought on to help IHOPKC get to the truth.

Volz also lauded IHOPKC leaders for their work in responding to the allegations about Bickle and announced the church had hired an independent firm to look into the case.

Mike Bickle App/Religion News Service IHOP’s Mike Bickle admits some “moral failures.”