New misconduct reports at IHOPKC ‘very swiftly dealt with and addressed,’ spokesman says

The International House of Prayer of Kansas City has received new misconduct reports in recent weeks, a spokesman said Sunday as the 24/7 prayer ministry continues to investigate sex abuse allegations against its founder.

“There have actually been a few new reports of misconduct that have come in in the last three weeks, and they were very swiftly dealt with and addressed,” said Eric Volz, updating followers about the case during IHOPKC’s Forerunner Church service in Grandview.

Volz did not provide details of the allegations or reveal whom they were against. He said IHOPKC was working with human resources experts on the issue.

“So moving forward,” he said, “no report will be ignored and no form of abuse will be tolerated.”

The global prayer movement with headquarters in south Kansas City has been in upheaval since allegations against founder Mike Bickle surfaced in late October. The allegations were presented to IHOPKC leaders on Oct. 24 by former leaders who described the incidents as “clergy sexual abuse” and said they found the allegations “to be credible and long-standing.”

But on Nov. 15, IHOPKC leaders released a report of their initial findings involving the case. The report discounted some of the allegations brought forth by the former IHOPKC leaders. Those former leaders responded, saying, “The truth is that multiple witnesses over the last 2+ years have brought concerns regarding wrongful contact with Mr. Bickle and women who are not his wife to the ELT (executive leadership team) and to the concerned leaders, which many eyewitnesses have corroborated.”

On Dec. 22, IHOPKC announced that it was “immediately, formally and permanently” separating from Bickle, saying it had confirmed “a level of inappropriate behavior” involving the well-known leader.

In that same announcement, IHOPKC revealed that Executive Director Stuart Greaves had resigned and also stepped down from the organization’s board of directors. Volz later told The Star that Greaves’ resignation “was a mutual, amicable decision made in the best interest of his family and the IHOPKC community.”

And on Jan. 3, IHOPKC announced that longtime leader David Sliker was leaving his position as president of IHOP University and stepping down from the ministry’s leadership team effective immediately. The announcement called it “a mutual decision made in the best interest of the IHOPKC community and David’s family.”

New church leadership steps in

Kurt Fuller, IHOPKC’s new executive director, told those at Sunday’s church service that in the three weeks since taking on the role, “I have tried to do a lot of listening.”

“...But I have heard you and I’ve learned a lot about the organization and some of the areas that need attention and improvement,” he said. “This is a beautiful ministry. And it’s full of incredibly dedicated and selfless people. And the fruit of it is here for us all to see.

“But there are a lot of things that we can improve on. And I’ve heard enough and seen enough to know that there are some issues here that need to be addressed, and some of them urgently.”

Fuller, a retired major general, said he and other IHOPKC leaders have been meeting daily and are mapping out “significant adjustments” to the ministry’s organizational structure that they will announce soon.

“I want to tell you that I’m committed to accomplishing three things,” he said. “The first is to get to the bottom of all these allegations, not just those about Mike Bickle, but also those that are now directed to the organization as a whole. Number two, I promise that I will leave this place better than I found it.”

He drew a round of applause when he mentioned the final item: “And number three, I’m committed to doing everything I can to ensure that day and night prayer continues.”

Volz said that Fuller immediately ordered a historic review of reported misconduct when he took over the leadership role on Dec. 22.

“That review is far from over,” Volz said. “But so far we can say that for an organization this size, with 25 years of operating history, over 20,000 staff who’ve served here, statistically speaking, the number of known incidents is actually quite low.”

But at the same time, he added, “we can confidently say that a few of those reported incidents, likely they were not handled properly. From what we can tell, most of those incidents happened under the watch of leaders who are no longer here. But that doesn’t change IHOPKC’s responsibility to thoroughly examine and address each case.”

Some of the cases are clear-cut, he said, and others are not.

“So we need to be very careful to not blur the lines between the two,” he said. “And it’s going to take some time to make those determinations. Regardless, on behalf of IHOPKC, I want to apologize in advance to anyone who has experienced harm here or whose reports were not handled properly.”

More sex abuse allegations surfacing

Over the weekend, the issue heated up when Michelle Seidler, a former member of IHOPKC’s leadership team in the prophetic ministry department, put a series of posts on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, that she said revealed how a man with longtime ties to the ministry had been sexually harassing and abusing women. The posts included stories of sexual abuse, along with videos and screenshots she said women had sent her in which he made sexually explicit comments and offered to pay to have sex with them.

In her posts, Seidler called the man “a supposed prophetic leader in the KC IHOP community.”

“The reason I am doing this is because the church needs to be aware of him,” she said. “Some of the things I will be revealing are only days old! And he has been doing this for years. (2017 it started that I’m aware of). The fathers in the church know he has been doing these things. And using the prophetic!!! Nothing has been done.”

She said the information she has received “reveals manipulating women for sex, as well as offering money for sex.”

“I will show enough evidence to make the church aware. However, I do want to say that there (are) many others, with even more evidence, that do not want it released. And do you know why??!! They’re afraid of not being believed, and harassed by the church!! This is absolutely sickening, and should not be!”

Volz responded on X at 5:25 p.m. Saturday: “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This is being looked into and taken very seriously.”

And at 12:59 p.m. Sunday, Volz posted: “This individual has been informed he is not allowed to pray from the microphone in the GPR (Global Prayer Room) while this is being looked into. Please share any additional info that emerges via email to appeals@ihopkc.org where it can be formally documented and examined. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.”

Seidler responded later that afternoon, saying IHOPKC leadership had known about his behavior for years: “Sad that it had to come to this point for something to be done.”

Investigation ongoing, while contentious

Volz told those at Forerunner Church on Sunday that the outside investigation into the allegations against Bickle was moving along.

“IHOPKC’s independent investigator has been hard at work for six weeks,” he said, referring to Rosalee McNamara of Lathrop GPM law firm. “She has been retained to conduct a truly independent investigation, and she has the qualifications to find out the truth.”

He said McNamara has conducted numerous interviews with people who say they have information related to the allegations against Bickle.

But he said she has not been permitted to speak to any of the alleged victims or members of the so-called “advocate group” — former IHOPKC leaders and others who are supporting those who have come forward with abuse allegations — because of the group’s concerns with the investigation process.

“And as a result, IHOPKC still has not been able to verify the allegations that were presented by the advocate group last October,” he said. To get to the truth, Volz said, all parties involved must be comfortable that the investigation is truly independent.

“But the advocate group does not feel comfortable with our approach and we want them to feel comfortable. We cannot verify the allegations against Mike Bickle without their cooperation. And this community cannot find rest until it has the truth about those allegations.”

In December, IHOPKC leaders announced the hiring of Lathrop as a third-party firm to conduct an “independent and impartial investigation” into the allegations against Bickle. But that investigation has been bogged down in controversy, with alleged victims and their advocates questioning the firm’s impartiality. They pointed to a list of accomplishments on the firm’s website, saying it “proudly touts its representation of defendant organizations (including but not limited to the Catholic Church) in sexual abuse related litigation.”

Volz later released a statement from McNamara.

“In my personal practice, I have never been involved in the litigation defense of allegations of clergy sexual abuse,” she said. “In fact, in my decades of conducting investigations, I have found violations more often than not.”

Volz said Sunday that Fuller has met with key members of the advocate group multiple times “in an effort to hear their concerns and establish trust.” And Volz said his crisis management company, the David House Agency, has been working privately with a consultant of the advocate group on an approach toward a mutually agreed upon investigation.

“To be clear, we have not yet reached an agreement but we are hopeful that we will,” he said. “IHOPKC’s focus remains a thorough and complete investigation of the reported allegations. And IHOPKC pledges to then implement any and all policy changes, procedures and cultural changes to ensure that IHOPKC does not travel down this difficult road again.”

Volz said a final report of the investigation will be released directly from McNamara.

“That means that IHOPKC is not going to have the ability to see the report first and edit the content before it gets released,” he said.

Boz Tchividjian, the consultant hired to help the advocate group navigate the situation, told The Star on Monday that he has communicated with IHOPKC.

“We have had a very preliminary conversation with them about what we have been requesting all along...a genuine independent investigation into abuse allegations involving Mike Bickle and others associated with IHOPKC,” Tchividjian said in an email. “We have also communicated to them the importance that any such investigation include how IHOPKC leadership has responded to abuse allegations made known to them.

“Time will tell whether the current leadership will earnestly agree to embrace such a pivotal process. We remain hopeful.”