SUMMARY

This is a fundraiser to help offset the prohibitive costs of counseling for Jane Doe and her immediate family as they attempt to navigate the devastation and loss associated with clergy sexual abuse—and the additional trauma associated with speaking out as whistleblowers. This initiative was not something requested by Jane Doe or her family, but rather, something the community came forward with in support!

IHOPKC CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE SCANDAL

It’s hard to quantify the fallout, the sheer magnitude of the collective trauma that has emerged since allegations of clergy sexual abuse against IHOPKC’s founder, Mike Bickle, became public in late October 2023. Each week has brought new revelations of abuse—accompanied by lies, attempted cover-ups, and callous, purposeful disregard for the wellbeing of victims. Many of us are reeling under the weight of it: reliving past traumas we suffered as part of the community, reevaluating years of our lives through a terrifying new lens, and waking up to painful realizations regarding our own contributions to IHOPKC’s culture of dysfunction and abuse. It is crushing, disorienting, and all-consuming.

Perhaps the main silver lining during this time has been watching thousands of current and former community members rally in support of survivors with courage, strength, humor, intelligence, and tenacity. The response has been admirable and, at moments, awe-inspiring. Advocates. Armchair investigators. Support and recovery groups. Trauma-informed teachers and educators. If the goal was to silence us, they have failed spectacularly.

At the epicenter of this seismic earthquake is Jane Doe #1 and her family. She is not the first or the only victim to come forward. But her story has led to unprecedented revelations concerning the IHOPKC community, and as a result, she has been targeted with ongoing threats and intimidation. She has lost friends, community, and livelihood. She has been doxxed. She has been slandered with false prophecy and maligned with malicious jokes. And all this has occurred while she attempts to wade through the disorienting morass of the abuse and trauma that led her to this point of public disclosure in the first place.

One of the most insidious ways in which abusers silence victims is by convincing them that they are alone, that they need the support of the perpetrator (and the abusive system), and that they will not be able to survive without them. We see this tactic employed by Mike Bickle in his publicly released email, where he threatens Jane Doe and her husband with financial and reputational loss, as well as various other forms of reprisal, if Jane Doe comes forward with her story.

As a community, we have the opportunity to neutralize this threat by rallying in support behind Jane Doe and her family—and hopefully signaling to other victims, who are currently too afraid to come forward, that abuse will not go uncontested, that survivors are safe in our midst, that we stand with victims, and that every story matters.

THE NEED

This is a fundraiser to help offset the prohibitive costs of counseling for Jane Doe and her immediate family, as they attempt to navigate the devastation and loss associated with clergy sexual abuse—and the additional trauma associated with speaking out as whistleblowers.

Currently, the cost of trauma-informed counseling with a licensed psychologist is prohibitively high (between $100–150 per hour). Our goal is to raise $15,000, which will provide Jane Doe and her immediate family (husband and children) approximately 100 to 150 hours of counseling as a family unit over the next year. (For context, this is enough money for two people to go to counseling once-a-week for a year, or for four people to go to counseling once-a-week for six months, etc.)

WHAT WILL FUNDS BE USED FOR?

All donations will be disbursed directly to Jane Doe. The funds will go (first) toward providing trauma-informed counseling for Jane Doe and her family over the next year. If there is leftover money, after counseling costs, excess donations will go toward helping Jane Doe and her family move forward with planning for the future as they cover the costs of lost income and legal bills associated with speaking out as whistleblowers.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

If you want to contribute financially to Jane Doe and her family, please know that every amount, even $10–$20, helps them tangibly and directly. If you are unable to contribute financially but are willing and able to post this fundraiser on social media, please pass the word along by sharing the link. This drives visibility and engagement—and is an equally valuable way to support the Doe family.

Every story matters. Every small act of love and support matters.