Another Accuser Comes Forward Alleging Abuse by Mike Bickle
Tammy Woods says Bickle groomed and abused her in the 1980s starting when she was 14.
Mike Bickle, the founder and former pastor of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, has been accused of abusing his children’s babysitter in the 1980s.
This latest allegation against Bickle is another in a string of abuses he has allegedly committed in the past four decades. In early December 2023, Bickle confessed he had sinned sexually but denied “the more intense sexual activities” he was being accused of at the time. Bickle was fired from the church just before Christmas when details of multiple incidents of sexual misconduct surfaced and were corroborated by church leadership.
This latest accusation against Bickle came to light when the Kansas City Star ran a story about Tammy Woods, who claimed to be the Bickle family babysitter in the 1980s when Bickle was a pastor in St. Louis. Woods said she met Bickle at church and their relationship quickly grew from a mentorship to an emotional affair.
Woods said the relationship grew physical when she was 14 and he was 25. They kissed in secret, and that progressed to fondling and sexual touch. She told Kansas City Star, “He moved my hand to touch him sexually. And he did touch me in return.”
Woods said the two remained in contact in the years that followed, seeing one another in ministry settings occasionally. She says she texted with Bickle when the first wave of allegations against him became public in October 2023. In that text exchange she said Bicklke told her, “I know you said this over the years that you’ve forgiven me, but I just want to say it again. Please forgive me. I was clueless. I could have gone to jail.”
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IHOP released a statement last week strongly condemning Bickle and his actions. “We believe that Mike Bickle sexually abused and manipulated Jane Doe and Tammy Woods, who was a minor at the time,” the statement reads. “His predatory and abusive actions are sick and violate the Word of God, the marriage covenant, and holiness; we condemn them in their entirety.”
The church has cut off the livestream feed for its 24-7 prayer room that has defined the church for years, and they say that the church is entering “a season of prayer and repentance.”
Bickle has not publicly responded to Woods’ accusations.
Main photo: Pastor Mike Bickle in 2015. (Photo © Shelley Paulson, courtesy of IHOPKC)
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