Everything coming out is hurting him.
Just prior to Tammy Woods coming forward in an interview with The Kansas City Star, alleging that International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) founder Mike Bickle groomed and sexually abused her when she was only 14 in the 1980s, her former pastor reportedly sought her counsel amidst mounting accusations from multiple women.
According to posts shared on X and Facebook by former IHOPKC staffer Ben Anderson, Bickle had drafted a script intended for himself and his wife, Diane, to address the allegations in a video slated for January 30. The script aimed to refute claims such as Bickle promising his alleged victims that his wife would pass away young, insinuating a potential future with them.
Anderson, who claimed to have received a copy of the script from either Woods or her family member, revealed that Bickle ultimately abandoned the video plan after Woods, now a 57-year-old mother and grandmother, advised against it.
“Tammy advised him against it, and he initially agreed to halt the project. Whether he has since reconsidered remains to be seen following the interview’s publication,” Anderson stated on X.
Using her maiden name, Woods disclosed to The Kansas City Star that the abuse occurred in St. Louis while Bickle served as a pastor before establishing IHOPKC in 1999. Woods detailed instances of abuse in various locations, including Bickle’s car, her home, the church, and his office. She clarified that the abuse, starting when she babysat his two sons, involved sexual contact but not intercourse. Furthermore, she recounted Bickle’s repeated assertions that his wife would die young and hinted at a potential parental role for her with his sons.
In Bickle’s alleged unused script, he refutes ever claiming that God informed him his wife would have an untimely death.
“I have never conveyed to any woman that ‘God told me that Diane would die, and that God told me to marry them.’ Diane herself expressed a belief that she might die young. During the early years of our marriage, she had a premonition of an early demise, a matter we discussed on several occasions,” Bickle stated in the script.
Anderson criticized Bickle in his analysis of the script, highlighting Bickle’s reluctance to seek input from external leaders but willingness to consult with one of his accusers.
Anderson argued, “He offers this explanation — ‘due to the suffering and burden my family endures’ — without expressing remorse for his actions or acknowledging the pain inflicted on numerous individuals. It mirrors a classic DARVO (deny, attack, reverse victim and offender) tactic, portraying himself as the victim.”
Woods’ testimony surfaced following the release of an independent report on January 31 by attorney Rosalee McNamara. In the report, Bickle admitted to engaging in “consensual sexual contact” with a woman associated with the prayer ministry. Another woman, identified as “TH,” corroborated Bickle’s alleged misconduct, claiming he began grooming and sexually abusing her when she was 15 and he was a 20-year-old church intern in the mid-1970s.