(CP) International House of Prayer Kansas City continues to unravel amid founder Mike Bickle’s sex scandal as its Forerunner Church held a final service within the fellowship of about 1,000 worshippers Sunday, leaving some in tears.
The final service, streamed on YouTube, follows an announcement from the ministry to The Christian Post in April that it might shutter some elements of the operations this 12 months, including its school of ministry.
“Today as we’re celebrating the close of Forerunner Church, it is not anything that we expected to do,” Senior Pastor Isaac Bennett told the congregation. “It’s nothing that we were planning a 12 months ago, like, ‘Hey, we got this wild idea, let’s close down Forerunner Church.'”
Bennett insisted that despite the fact that they didn’t plan on closing the church, “we consider that it must occur.”
“It must occur in order that we will move forward with a recent start. And this may mark the fresh start for a lot of individuals and many alternative areas of our community. Some will regather here, others the Lord goes to reassign to numerous communities and ministries, and we would like you to know that we bless you,” Bennett said.
Bennett clarified that IHOPKC’s flagship ministry, the 24/7 Prayer Room, will proceed to operate over the summer.
“And those that basically feel a way of the Lord drawing them, moving them to a different state or moving them to a different nation, we would like you to know that we bless you and we send you with the grace and the love of this house and asking the Lord to prosper you,” he added to a smattering of applause.
Citing a leaked recording from leaders at an internal IHOP University staff meeting and an email from IHOP University President Matt Candler, The Roys Report reported in April that IHOPKC was within the technique of shuttering for good resulting from the financial impact of Bickle’s sexual abuse scandal.
IHOPKC permanently cut ties with Bickle last December.
In its statement to CP, IHOPKC insisted that the ministry intends to proceed but will phase out certain elements of the ministry.
“We are NOT closing the 24/7 prayer room; it stays a predominant stay of our existence. We do intend to review the functionality of varied operational locations and can likely consolidate several. We have also decided to conclude the operation of IHOPU, our ministry school, after this 12 months’s graduation,” the ministry said.
Officials with the ministry also appeared to disclaim claims that they’re looking for to flee liability connected to the allegations of sexual abuse against Bickle.
“We have supported and can proceed to support any and all victims of abuse, sexual or otherwise, whether here inside IHOPKC, or anywhere in the neighborhood. To be clear, there have been no lawsuits filed against IHOPKC; the allegations of prior misconduct pertained to a person, not our organization,” the ministry said.
“As we seek to create a ‘bettered’ version of IHOPKC, we may close some windows of our mission while opening others, but once more, IHOPKC is NOT closing,” officials added.
In the leaked recordings cited by The Roys Report, leaders of IHOPKC, including Candler, revealed that the ministry was losing some $500,000 per 30 days due to the Bickle scandal.
“IHOPKC as a company is starting to wind down,” Candler said. “We’re going to be maintaining our prayer room and eventually starting a recent organization.”
In the meeting, Bennett said lawsuits from the victims alleging sexual abuse and misconduct by Bickle presented the ministry with “significant liabilities.”
“We’re the people to sue at the top of the day,” he said. “That produces significant liabilities.”
Boz Tchividjian, Billy Graham’s grandson, an attorney and longtime advocate of sexual abuse survivors who’s representing considered one of Bickle’s alleged victims, said if IHOPKC leaders consider the ministry can just shutter, then re-emerge as a rebranded organization to flee liability, they reside in “fantasyland.”
