Thread by @hlgriffin

Well, y'all- @IHOPKC is now not using regional law firm @StinsonLLP to conduct an investigation into Clergy Sexual Abuse allegations against @MikeBickle8 .

Instead, they are using a "local law firm," which they somehow forgot to name.

How is this better?

Here is the link to the announcement on
@IHOPKC's Instagram page : instagram.com/p/CzfVs4zCbgf/…

@ihopkc Well, where do we start? We are left, once again, with an unnamed law firm. Once again, we know nothing of their qualifications, of their methods, track record, scope of investigation, competence in Clergy Sexual Abuse cases, forensic interviewing credentials, etc.

@ihopkc All of the objections of a third party law firm conducting the investigation still apply. What's the improvement, @IHOPKC ?

Local vs. Regional?

How does that help?

Why should the Alleged Victims (most prefer the term "survivors, " btw) trust this new Unnamed Law Firm?

@ihopkc Even if we had reason to trust that the judgment of @IHOPC leaders magically improved this time & they picked a real winner, how will any other survivors who have not, for some reason, felt safe participating in this circus, come forward if we don't know the name of the firm?

@ihopkc @IHOPC Trusted @IHOPKC advisor @DrMichaelLBrown might say that there is no reason to do this.

Any survivors, or as @DrMichaelLBrown consistently prefers, "accusers" (sometimes wacky) can just contact the Third Parties That Claim To Represent Victims.

https://x.com/hlgriffin/status/1721509961090388219?s=20

@ihopkc @IHOPC @DrMichaelLBrown What should any new Accusers be doing, in your well-informed opinion, @DrMIChaelLBrown?

https://x.com/DrMichaelLBrown/status/1721402687625855218?s=20

Anyway, not to be one of those Accusers that Becomes an Accuser of the Brethren, as Bonnie Jones, the widow of Kansas City Prophet & professed Clergy Sexual Abuser Bob Jones tells us the Lord warned her about:

But I just struggle to trust that the leaders in @IHOPKC have in anyway thought this through.

But they do assure us that the Local Law Firm has already begun "outreach to the "FEW" (God loveth a cheerful adjective) "alleged victims whose identities are known."

We are seeing the emergence of a strategy that I like to call Good Survivors vs. Bad Survivors (& "advocates claiming to represent alleged victims).

To preserve their image as caring, the org will display Good Survivors who trust that the decisions of the org are trustworthy.

In contrast, Alleged Victims/Accusers/Jezebels who are Bad Survivors & their advocates Just Can't Be Pleased No Matter What.

No competent advocate or attorney would encourage a survivor of clergy sexual abuse to participate in a third party investigation with an unnamed firm of unknown qualifications that has no independence from their client, @IHOPKC, the interest of which the law firm will protect.

@ihopkc Note the constant rhetoric well beyond using the term "alleged" that minimizes the credibilty of anonymous survivors who have not made themselves known to the leadership of @IHOPKC.

@ihopkc .@StuartGreaves, in a ministry that had any integrity, they would have demanded your resignation or immediately put you under investigation after Gracia Nope shared her story of how you mishandled her allegations of sexual assault for years. @HeavenBentPod open.spotify.com/episode/3y65yj…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod Let us remember that @StuartGreaves, like @davidsliker (both senior @IHOPKC execs) were on staff during the 2018 @NetGrace_Org investigation, which happened to be going on when Gracia was still seeking justice with leaders privately. open.spotify.com/episode/2f737w…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org Recall that former staff member, Nancy Hester, was also seeking justice for Gracia & another alleged sexual assault survivor, and that Nancy was fired during the Summer of 2018. julieroys.com/ihop-kc-indepe…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org This was while the @NetGrace_org investigation into Brad Tebbutt was STILL ONGOING. @stuartgreaves & @davidsliker can't claim that no one has explained to them what a competent investigation looks like.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org They literally already worked with the firm that is the gold standard.

kansascity.com/news/local/art…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org Y'all, do you understand that @IHOPKC let Brad Tebbutt on staff? Do you understand what Brad Tebbutt did as a pastor to a vulnerable 14 year old under his care? kansascity.com/news/nation-wo…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org Do you not understand that there is no way that @NetGrace_org, when they gave @IHOPKC a final report with recommendations, would have said that it was a good idea to let Brad Tebbutt back on staff to work in a community with a vulnerable population of young adults?

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org One of the reasons @MikeBickle8 & @stuartgreaves & @davidsliker will fight pressure to hire @NetGrace_org tooth & nail is that if people insist that the final report be made public (as it was not in the Brad Tebbutt case)...

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 .@netgrace_org will point out, as an INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY NOT HIRED TO PROTECT THE LEGAL INTERESTS OF THEIR CLIENT, every way that @IHOPKC failed to comply with the recommendations they made in the Brad Tebbutt investigation report.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 These are not people acting in good faith. Have you heard how Gracia describes @StuartGreaves treatment of her for years after she went to @IHOPKC leadership for help after she alleges she was sexually assaulted by a staff member in 2014?

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 In any remotely healthy church system, @StuartGreaves would have been either fired or put on leave of absence immediately after Gracia's allegations went public.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 But @StuartGreaves is still in charge of @IHOPKC. Please take a look at when the former leaders who signed the statements in support of survivors who allege Clergy Sexual Abuse against Mike Bickle left IHOPKC.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 Many of them left (Nancy Hester was *fired* in the Summer of 2019) immediately after Brad Tebbutt was allowed back on staff following the @netGrace_org investigation. This was the SAME time these staff members were working for reform on how @IHOPKC responds to abuse allegations.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 The reason is that you are not getting transparency from these leaders is that a lot of them are implicated in mishandling abuse allegations already, totally apart from how they have handled the allegations against @MikeBickle8 .

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 Why would they hire a third-party, INDEPENDENT investigation firm like @NetGrace_org that would expose them?

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 People who want to see justice & transparency at @IHOPKC need to demand the following:

1. @StuartGreaves should be put on immediate leave for the allegations that he mishandled Gracia's sexual assault allegations.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 2. Demand that @IHOPKC release the @NetGrace_org report from the Brad Tebbutt investigation. There is no reason why they cannot. If they refuse, demand to know why.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 3. Demand that @IHOPKC invite respected experts to pick a third party INDEPENDENT investigation. The best bets are @NetGrace_org or @GuidepostGlobal, but only if Guidepost is supervised by a trusted advocte & expert & works under comparable parameters to GRACE.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal 4. Demand that any other staff who has allegations of mishandling abuse be put on leave. All of these staff members should be included in the scope of the investigation.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal 5. Demand that the scope of the investigation include a cultural assessment of IHOPKC & include all allegations into abuse & abuse mishandling.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal 6. Demand that the scope of the investigation include the finances of @IHOPKC back to at least 2014, when it filed its very last IRS 990 form before resigning from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability in 2021. julieroys.com/house-of-praye…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal 7. Demand that the investigation look into the labor practices of @IHOPKC, where many ex students & staffers allege exploitive working conditions. straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/survi…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal 8. Demand that @IHOPKC bring in experts trusted in the survivor community to educate its members about different forms of abuse, including Clergy Sexual Abuse.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal All of the people who have been seeking justice for years for the serious ways that @IHOPKC has harmed them deserve for their stories to be heard by people who are qualified to investigate them.

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal Everyone in the wider charismatic community needs to insist on this.

Survivors in your community are watching.

Many of your leaders are watching to see what you will let them get away with.

May God bring justice to the scattered sheep.

Ezekiel 34: biblegateway.com/passage/?searc…

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal .@RNS @ReachJulieRoys @ChristianityToday @KathrynMaePost @sarahstankorb @bobsmietana @NewYorkTimes @washingtonpost @NPR @KansasCityStar

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal @RNS @reachjulieroys @kathrynmaepost @sarahstankorb @bobsmietana @newyorktimes @washingtonpost @NPR @KansasCityStar .@ACNAtoo @EpiscopalAcc @ChristaBrown777 @BozT @RCallahanWaco @wartwatch @MisconductAbuse @ladyjessicahaze @_ByTheirFruit @thehoodpress @NancyAFrench @allenshood

@ihopkc @stuartgreaves @HeavenBentPod @davidsliker @netgrace_org @MikeBickle8 @GuidepostGlobal @RNS @reachjulieroys @kathrynmaepost @sarahstankorb @bobsmietana @newyorktimes @washingtonpost @NPR @KansasCityStar @ACNAtoo @EpiscopalAcc @ChristaBrown777 @BozT @RCallahanWaco @wartwatch @MisconductAbuse @ladyjessicahaze @_bytheirfruit @thehoodpress @NancyAFrench @allenshood @threadreaderapp unroll