Will the NAR Churches Survive?

Will Sexual and Spiritual Abuse Allegations Cause NAR Churches To Implode?

We live in an era of moral and doctrinal collapse. Recent activities and past events bear witness to this collapse. Bethel Church in Redding, California, The International House of Prayer (IHOP), and Shawn Bolz, an itinerant gospel minister, have gained notoriety.

The above-referenced churches and individuals that have engaged in publicly disclosed misconduct are apparently affiliated with New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) churches, ministries, or doctrine. Because the alleged misconduct includes deception, prophetic manipulation, and sexual abuse, a justifiable reconsideration of the theological foundations of NAR churches and ministries is now underway.

The growing demand for reconsideration of NAR churches, prophets, and apostles gained takeoff momentum with the well-known failings of IHOP in Kansas City, Missouri. The alleged misconduct by various apostles, leaders, and prophets throughout the NAR universe provokes two questions: (1) Can NAR churches survive? And (2) Should such churches survive?

While NAR churches have achieved worldwide notoriety because their alleged moral failings implicate sexual misconduct, it is important to consider whether the source of the alleged moral failings proceeds from something else: the quintessential NAR demand (A) that parishioners and leaders must align with or submit unconditionally to apostolic leaders and (B) the outsize role of prophets in modern churches. This formula, coined by C. Peter Wagner, who passed away in 2016, can lead to spiritual abuse and controlling behavior that appears to stem from the NAR's basic contention: that certain select modern apostles possess elevated supernatural authority. This contention is grounded in the controversial belief that certain individuals have had supernatural experiences, even though some of those experiences may appear to contradict biblical doctrine.

NAR adherents champion a return to the church’s roots with a modern twist, which advocates the re-establishment of apostles and prophets in church leadership. This view is grounded in the belief that NAR leaders are receiving new, ongoing revelation.

However strong such beliefs may be, NAR leaders must deal with fresh revelations of sexual and ministerial impropriety virtually every week. Recent weeks have been no different.

The Christian Post reports that Bethel Church, on Monday, February 16, 2026, announced that they have placed Ben Armstrong, one of their prophetic leaders, on administrative leave in the wake of the public disclosure that he is the subject of claims of sexual abuse. As alleged, the newly discovered “incident occurred prior to what Bethel described [as another] moral failure in 2009, for which Ben publicly repented, was removed from ministry, and walked through a multi-year healing and restoration process.”

This pattern mirrors sexual abuse allegations at IHOP in which Mike Bickle, founder and former leader, was identified as a decades-long sexual predator and groomer. Missing from news reports alleging Bickle's sexual abuse is the fact that IHOP's prayer ministry commenced after another alleged sexual predator, Bob Jones, prophesied that Bickle would start a 24/7 prayer ministry led by young adults that would lead to a worldwide revival and unfold God’s end-time plans.

This grandiose pattern suggests that world history and spiritual revival depend essentially on human effort led by privileged apostolic leaders equipped with supernatural revelation. Consistent with such Gnostic and theologically suspect claims, writer Holly Pivec notes, Mike Bickle was purportedly taken to the courtroom of heaven where God told him he was part of an elite group of 35 end-time apostles and he would receive special divine revelation.

Pivec argues that this claim essentially unleashed Bickle and IHOP to emphasize “prayer declarations” that “release” God’s power to change circumstances rather than petitionary prayers that humbly request God’s intervention. Despite Mike Bickle’s resignation, IHOP continues its doctrinally questionable practice of declarative prayers.

Pivec’s contentions raise the question of (1) whether Mike Bickle and other NAR leaders have been unleashed to seduce a generation of people spiritually and (2) whether the alleged sexual abuse was a by-product of a suspect theology that went off the rails ever since its inception. This analysis raises the question of whether the NAR represents a counterfeit kingdom, riven with victims of spiritual and sexual abuse, on a road that inevitably leads to a painful implosion.

Plausible answers to such questions surface in theologian Michael Easley’s InContext Podcast and in Michael Glenn’s work establishing the Engage Church Network. Additional answers can be found by studying the Bible.