(CP) After months of deliberation, the board of the embattled Worldwide Home of Prayer Kansas Metropolis has determined that the vaunted 24/7 prayer home won’t be operated underneath the auspices of any church. The choice follows the suspension of a number of branches of the ministry, together with the Forerunner Church, within the wake of a intercourse abuse scandal involving founder Mike Bickle.
The council introduced the choice Wednesday in an e mail replace on the division's restructuring despatched to members of the IHOPKC group. A duplicate of the e-mail was shared by The Roys Report.
“One other supply of confusion was the method of evaluating whether or not to maneuver the administration of the prayer corridor underneath the church construction and whether or not it needs to be relocated to our Grandview Plaza facility,” the board stated in an e mail.
“It’s the choice of the board of trustees that the home of worship will stay impartial of any outdoors church and can proceed to be the guts of IHOPKC. Moreover, the home of worship will stay in its present location on the Crimson Bride Heart.”
Though the 24/7 prayer room won’t function underneath church administration, the board famous that it’s going to nonetheless require administration. The board is engaged on a plan to function it independently of the church.
“We acknowledge that the long-term well being and well-being of a home of worship requires a proper administration construction for oversight, accountability and religious power,” the e-mail stated. “We’re exploring essentially the most applicable options and are dedicated to making sure that the techniques are in place for sound decision-making and accountable management.”
In April, IHOPKC introduced that the ministry could be restructured, together with closing some points of operations this yr, together with the IHOPKC Faculty of Ministry and the Forerunner Church, led by Isaac Bennett.
“In April, after a lot prayer and consideration, we introduced that we might be discontinuing lots of IHOPKC's ministries and trainings, together with IHOPU, Forerunner Church, CEC, and internships, a course of that ended on Could 24. Since then, our focus as a ministry has been 24/ 7 Home of Prayer and Intercession for Israel,” the board's e mail reads. “Throughout the strategy of planning and implementing these adjustments, incorrect statements had been made about the way forward for IHOPKC and the explanations for the termination of varied ministerial statements. As we've stated earlier than, IHOPKC will not be closing.”
Roys' report, citing a leaked recording from executives at an inside IHOP College workers assembly, in addition to an e mail from IHOP College President Matt Candler, stated earlier this yr that IHOPKC was within the strategy of closing completely because of the monetary influence of Bickle's. sexual abuse scandal. IHOPKC completely minimize ties with Bickle final December.
In February, a 3rd girl claimed she was groomed and sexually abused by Bickle within the Eighties when she was 14 years previous.
Tammy Woods, now a 57-year-old mom and grandmother, used her maiden title and advised The Kansas Metropolis Star that Bickle abused her in St. Louis, the place he led the church earlier than transferring to Kansas Metropolis and founding IHOPKC in 1999.
Woods stated Bickle abused her in his automobile, her house, church and his workplace. She stated the abuse, which started when she started babysitting his two sons, included sexual contact however not intercourse. She revealed that the founding father of IHOPKC additionally advised her a number of occasions that his spouse Diane would die younger and recommended that she may very well be the mom of his sons.
Final yr, a girl recognized as Jane Doe, in accordance with The Roys Report, alleged that Bickle paid for her condo and gave her a key to his workplace and that she had sexual acts with him between 1996 and 1999, earlier than he based IHOPKC. She claimed that Bickle wooed her with Scripture on the age of 19 when he was 42.
Bickle initially agreed to go away the ministry final October when an advocacy group dropped at gentle allegations of sexual abuse towards a number of girls. Bickle admitted to partaking in “consensual sexual contact” with a girl linked to the 24/7 prayer service along with a beforehand admitted relationship with Jane Doe, who claimed to have been his mistress for a number of years, in accordance with an impartial investigative report. launched in February.
In December, he admitted to “inappropriate conduct” on Fb, however to not the “extra intense sexual actions that some counsel.” The division completely minimize ties with Bickle two weeks later, saying its investigation had confirmed “a degree of misconduct”.
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