The International House of Prayer (IHOP or IHOPKC) is a charismatic Christian movement and missions organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, and the nearby suburb of Grandview that focuses on prayer and worship.
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. Doctrinally, IHOPKC is charismatic, post-tribulational, and affirms historic premillennialism. IHOPKC places great importance on the practices of prayer, worship, fasting, and works of justice.
IHOPKC runs a training facility which houses a Bible school, music academy, and media institute, collectively known as the International House of Prayer University (IHOPU) in nearby Grandview, Missouri.
The annual Onething conference has been hosted by IHOPKC since 2002 in the Kansas City Convention Center.
Overview
The International House of Prayer of Kansas City (IHOPKC) was founded by Mike Bickle. 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.
IHOPKC is best known for its daily prayer meetings based on its "harp and bowl" worship model that are held 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since September 19, 1999. While the prayer meeting is the primary ministry of IHOPKC, the missions organization has also established many different ministries that serve its community. These prayer meetings, which are streamed live on the internet and through GOD TV, alternate regularly between music and prayer through all hours of the day and night.
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, and various other charismatic themes.
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.
The program has included ministry training programs, a music academy, a media school, missionary training, and others.
The program was founded in 2000 as the Forerunner School of Prayer. In 2008 the institution was renamed International House of Prayer University after the school was certified by the state to receive international students. However, it is still unaccredited.
In 2010 the school invested $6 million to renovate part of a strip mall in Grandview for use as a new campus.
The president of the school was Allen Hood, followed by Wes Hall, who followed a call to the Gospel Forum Academy in Stuttgart, Germany in 2016.
Expansion
The IHOPKC Project plans to build a new $150 million facility in Grandview. There are several apartment complexes in Grandview, Missouri that are inhabited primarily by members of IHOPKC.
In late 2009 and early 2010, reports of revival at the IHOPKC center led to increased attendance at their prayer services and conferences. Their current facility was built in 2012.
Controversy
Mike Bickle has previously been involved in what was called by others as "the Kansas City prophets movement," and which was criticized by Ernie Gruen in a well-known controversy after which John Wimber, the leader of the Vineyard Church extended oversight to Mike Bickle and his church (Kansas City Fellowship) which then jointed the AVC and changed its name to Metro Vineyard Fellowsip. Two men who were said to be a part of the "Kansas City Prophets," Bob Jones and Paul Cain, left the ministry due to professional and sexual scandal.
IHOPKC has repeatedly been accused of being a cult by Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry and other apologetics groups as well as many former members of the organization.
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. IHOPKC has stated that it was not connected to the bill and is opposed to the legislation.
When IHOPKC moved to a new location in an old shopping center in the Terrace Lake neighborhood of Kansas City in 2002, many members of the local community voiced suspicions about the ministry. IHOPKC attempted to allay their fears in a series of community meetings. IHOPKC has been credited, however, with helping the local economy by bringing large numbers of visitors to the area.
On September 14, 2010, IHOP (International House of Pancakes) announced that they were suing the International House of Prayer for trademark dilution and infringement. The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court.
On October 30, 2012, former IHOPKC intern Bethany Deaton was found dead in an apparent suicide. Days later, IHOPU student Micah Moore came forward to Grandview police and was subsequently charged with Bethany Deaton's murder. In statements to police, Moore stated that he was part of a religious group with Bethany and her husband, Tyler Deaton. Moore said that group leader and IHOPU graduate Tyler Deaton ordered his wife's murder to prevent her from revealing sexual assaults within the group. 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 Deaton's group was not connected to IHOPKC. 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". On Oct 31, 2014, the Jackson County, Missouri prosecutor dismissed murder charges against Micah Moore.
See also
- Justice House of Prayer
- The Call
- Youth with a Mission
References
External links
- Official Site
- How American Evangelicals may be responsible for Uganda's Anti-gay Law