International House of Prayer
International House of Prayer
The International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri
LocationKansas City and Grandview, Missouri
CountryUnited States
DenominationNon-denominational
ChurchmanshipEvangelical Charismatic
MembershipOver 2,000
Websitewww.ihopkc.org
History
FoundedMay 7, 1999 (1999-05-07)
Founder(s)Mike Bickle

The International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) is a charismatic evangelical Christian movement and missions organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, and the nearby suburb of Grandview that focuses on the inerrancy of scripture, and biblical prayer with worship.[1]

It is best known for the prayer room which has run 24/7 with live worship teams since September 19, 1999, and simultaneously broadcast via its website and YouTube. Doctrinally, IHOPKC is evangelical, charismatic, post-tribulational, and affirms historic premillennialism.[2] IHOPKC places great importance on the practices of bible study, prayer, worship, fasting, and works of justice.[3][4][5]

Overview

History

The International House of Prayer of Kansas City (IHOPKC) was founded by Mike Bickle on May 7, 1999. The organization began in a small building off Grandview Road in Kansas City, Missouri, as a prayer room dedicated to worshiping Jesus night and day. Since that time, IHOPKC has grown and spread out over several different locations throughout south Kansas City and Grandview, Missouri. As of November 2010, the church had over 1,000 staff and a student body of another 1,000 individuals.[6]

Lou Engle is a co-founder and senior leader of IHOP.[7][8][9]

On September 14, 2010 the International House of Pancakes announced that they were suing the International House of Prayer for trademark dilution and infringement.[10] The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court and[11] the International House of Prayer began abbreviating itself as IHOPKC.

Prayer Format

IHOPKC is best known for its prayer meetings based on its "harp and bowl" worship model which have been held 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since September 19, 1999.[12] These prayer meetings, which are streamed live on the internet and through GOD TV,[13] alternate regularly between music and prayer in two hour sets through all hours of the day and night.[14] The prayer meetings are held at IHOPKC's 'global prayer room' in Grandview.

Teaching

IHOPKC staff regularly teach on themes that include prayer, worship, the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, eschatology, understanding God's spiritual purposes for Israel, spiritual gifts, nazirite consecration, and various other charismatic themes.[6][13]

IHOPKC provided advice and financial support to anti-trafficking organization Exodus Cry, and listed them as a "related tax-exempt organization" on their 2018 tax filings.[15]

International House of Prayer University

The International House of Prayer University is an unaccredited Bible college with a campus at Grandview, Missouri. As of 2010, there were 1,000 full-time students enrolled. The educational process centers on prayer.[6]

In 2010 the school invested $6 million to renovate part of a strip mall in Grandview for use as a new campus.[16]

Controversies

Ernie Gruen controversy

In early 1990 (9 years prior to the start of IHOPKC) Mike Bickle and the Kansas City Fellowship were highly criticized by Pastor Ernie Gruen in sermons and a well circulated 130-page document titled "Documentation of the Aberrant Practices and Teachings of Kansas City Fellowship". In the sermons and document, Gruen criticized Bickle's teachings on eschatology and documented alleged cases of manipulative uses of prophecy at the Kansas City Fellowship. In 1993 Ernie Gruen and Mike Bickle released a joint statement declaring that the conflict was resolved.[17]

Trademark infringement

The International House of Prayer was one of the seven defendants named in a lawsuit filed by IHOP, the Glendale, California-based restaurant chain, in September 2010, alleging trademark infringement.[18] The restaurant dropped the lawsuit in December 2010.[19]

Death of Bethany Deaton

On October 30, 2012, former IHOPKC intern Bethany Leidlein Deaton was found dead in an apparent suicide.[20] Days later, IHOPU student Micah Moore came forward to Grandview police, and was subsequently charged with Deaton's murder.[21] In statements to police, Moore stated that he was part of a religious group with Bethany and her husband, Tyler Deaton.[22] Moore also stated, while in custody, that Tyler Deaton had used his apparent influence over the group to initiate homosexual experiences with several male members of their social-religious circle, primarily with Moore, himself. He explained that he and Deaton were involved in a sexual relationship, but justified it under “religious experiences”.[23] It was allegedly through the coercion of this relationship that Moore claimed group leader (and IHOPU graduate) Deaton ordered his wife's murder, to prevent her from revealing sexual assaults to her therapist from other men (Tyler excluded) within the group.[24] While IHOPKC materials and website listed Tyler Deaton as a division coordinator for IHOPKC friendship groups until five days after Bethany's death, IHOPKC officials said that Tyler's group was not connected to IHOPKC or known about by IHOPKC leadership.[25][26][27] Melanie Morgan, one of Moore's lawyers, said in early December 2012: "The facts suggest Bethany Deaton’s death was an unfortunate suicide and Micah Moore had nothing to do with that suicide."[28]

On October 31, 2014, the Jackson County, Missouri prosecutor dismissed murder charges against Moore.[29]

God Loves Uganda documentary

The 2013 documentary film God Loves Uganda suggests that North American evangelicals in general, and IHOPKC specifically, were responsible for Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.[30]

Mike Bickle controversy

On October 28, 2023, news broke that Mike Bickle faced allegations of sexual abuse from several women over a span of decades.[31][32][33] The next day, International House of Prayer announced that Bickle had been removed from leadership and that the church had contracted Stinson LLP to conduct an investigation.[34][35] Following a viral petition for IHOPKC to choose GRACE to lead the investigation, the church broke its contract with Stinson LLP and chose a local Kansas City law firm to lead the investigation.[36]

On December 10, 2023, it was announced that IHOPKC had hired a new third party firm that would be independent and impartial in its investigation of claims agains Mike Bickle.[37] IHOPKC also announced that they had hired Eric Volz, managing director of The David House Agency to be the official spokesperson on behalf of IHOPKC. Eric made international headlines as a result of his wrongful imprisonment in 2006.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bradley, Donald (July 26, 2009). "Entreaties never stop at the International House of Prayer". Kansas City Star. Kansas City, MO. pp. A1. Archived from the original on November 27, 2001. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Statement of Faith – About IHOPKC". ihopkc.org. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "About the International House of Prayer – About IHOPKC". www.ihopkc.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-23. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  4. ↑ "24/7 Works of Justice – About IHOPKC". www.ihopkc.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  5. ↑ "About – Exodus Cry". Exodus Cry. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  6. 1 2 3 Yoars, Marcus (1 November 2010). "We Won't Stop Praying". Charisma. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  7. ↑ https://www.charismanews.com/us/43916-ihop-and-lou-engle-falsely-accused-of-demonizing-homosexuals-in-Uganda
  8. ↑ https://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/inside-the-international-house-of-prayer-2
  9. ↑ https://julieroys.com/house-of-prayer-resigns-ecfa/
  10. ↑ Lateef Mungin, (September 16, 2010) Pancake house takes on prayer group Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine CNN
  11. ↑ Glendale News-Press, (December 29, 2010) Pancake versus prayer dropped Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Where Worship Never Pauses". www.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  13. 1 2 "This IHOP serves generous portions of prayer". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. McClatchy-Tribune. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  14. ↑ Gaines, Adrienne. "Ministry marks 20 years of nonstop prayer and worship". Charisma. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  15. ↑ Hitt, Tarpley (2020-10-17). "The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2021-02-20. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  16. ↑ Wood, Andrea, (17 August 2010) http://www.jcadvocate.com/2010/08/ihop-university-opens-at-former.html Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Jackson County Advocate
  17. ↑ "Ernie Gruen and Mike Bickle's Joint Statement from 1993". Press Center. 2018-01-26. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  18. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ↑ "IHOP drops suit against church over use of IHOP acronym". LATimes. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  20. ↑ International House of Prayer distances itself from murder victim's husband, Tyler Deaton Archived 2013-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. kshb.com.
  21. ↑ Bethany Deaton Suicide Now Considered A Murder; Police Arrest Micah Moore Archived 2016-03-31 at the Wayback Machine. Huffingtonpost.com.
  22. ↑ Allegations: Religious ‘Sexual Community’ Leads to Woman’s Murder Archived 2013-05-08 at the Wayback Machine. WDAF TV – FOX 4. fox4kc.com.
  23. ↑ Michelle Garcia (20 November 2012). "Police say ex-gay leader of cult prayer group conspired to kill wife"". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  24. ↑ Secrets of Tyler Deaton's prayer group emerge Archived 2012-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. KansasCity.com.
  25. ↑ Prayer group leader whose wife was murdered has Texas roots Archived 2020-09-20 at the Wayback Machine. Houston Chronicle.
  26. ↑ Tyler Deaton’s role at the International House of Prayer becomes clearer Archived 2012-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. KansasCity.com.
  27. ↑ Regarding the Death of Bethany Deaton Archived 2013-05-19 at the Wayback Machine | International House of Prayer University.
  28. ↑ "Disputed Murder Confession Casts a Spotlight on a Missouri Sect". The New York Times. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  29. ↑ Webster, Betsy. "Prosecutors dismiss charges against man in cult murder case". KCTV5. Archived from the original on 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  30. ↑ Montgomery, Peter (2014). "In Response To Uganda Documentary, IHOP Says It's 'Not Involved' in Politics | Right Wing Watch". rightwingwatch.org. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  31. ↑ Gibson, Carl (2023-10-30). "Far-right Evangelical leader accused of 'serious allegations spanning several decades". MSN.
  32. ↑ Thomas, Judy (28 October 2023). "International House of Prayer-Kansas City's founder faces allegations of misconduct". Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  33. ↑ Smietana, Bob (29 November 2023). "Mike Bickle, leader of IHOP movement, accused of sexual abuse". Religion News Service. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  34. ↑ Hopkins, Rebecca (6 November 2023). "International House of Prayer Announces Independent Investigation, But Victims & Advocates Remain Wary". The Roys Report. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  35. ↑ Martin, Stephanie (9 November 2023). "Church Members and Abuse Advocates Urge IHOPKC To 'Investigate With Integrity'". Church Leaders. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  36. ↑ Flener, Matt (10 November 2023). "International House of Prayer hires new law firm after calls for third-party investigation". KMBC News. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  37. ↑ Thomas, Judy (December 11, 2023). "IHOPKC says new firm will assure impartial investigation into sexual misconduct claims".
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