Neo-charismatic prophets network (Cindy Jacobs et al.)
Loose network of NAR prophets (Cindy Jacobs, Lou Engle, Lance Wallnau, Dutch Sheets) influential in US Christian Right politics. Prophetic-confirmation culture and Seven Mountain dominionism.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — New Apostolic Reformation prophets network; documented influence on US Christian Right politics.
Profile facts
In context
This entry is a composite covering a decentralised network of independent "apostles" and "prophets" rather than a single organisation with formal membership. The broader movement, generally termed the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), traces to the 1970s–90s work of the late Fuller Seminary professor C. Peter Wagner, who coined the term and called it "the most radical change in the way of doing church since the Protestant Reformation." NAR figures reject denominational hierarchy in favour of personal apostolic and prophetic authority, and increasingly organise around the Seven Mountain Mandate — the doctrine that Christians must seize dominion over the "mountains" of government, media, business, education, family, religion and the arts. Cindy Jacobs (co-founder of Generals International and a member of the self-styled Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders), Lou Engle (founder of the prayer-rally organisation TheCall), Lance Wallnau (a leading Seven Mountain popularizer who called Donald Trump's presidency a "spiritual warfare presidency") and Dutch Sheets (co-author of the 2022 "Watchman Decree," which asserts that "we, the Church, are God's governing Body on the earth") are among the network's most visible figures, alongside Bethel Church (Redding) and the International House of Prayer.
Academics Holly Pivec and Doug Geivett, journalist Frederick Clarkson, and the Southern Poverty Law Center — which has called NAR "the greatest threat to American democracy that most people have never heard of" — have documented the network's role in promoting the 2020 election-fraud narrative and its post-2016 growth in political influence; NAR-aligned figures gained a formal foothold in the second Trump administration through the White House Faith Office headed by Paula White-Cain. Internal governance runs on prophetic-confirmation culture: personal "prophetic words" from senior figures function as authoritative guidance that followers are discouraged from questioning, and the loose network structure makes the movement difficult to hold accountable as a single entity despite its shared theology and overlapping leadership circles.
Key control doctrines
- Seven Mountain dominionism
- Prophetic-declaration authority
- Apostolic-prophetic governance
Recovery resources
- Tears of Eden — Christian spiritual-abuse-survivor support and clinician referral.
- Recovering Grace — Originally IBLP-focused; archive includes broader fundamentalist Christian high-control material.
- Reclamation Collective — Religious-trauma-aware therapist network; relevant for post-exit identity-rebuilding.
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
- Seven Mountain dominionism
- Substantial political influence
- Cult-of-personality around individual prophets
- documented influence on US Christian Right politics
- Prophetic-declaration culture suppressing dissent
- Prophetic-declaration authority
- Apostolic-prophetic governance
Timeline
- 1980s+NAR network crystallises
- 2020+Major role in US election denial
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Holly Pivec & Doug Geivett academic work search ↗
- Frederick Clarkson investigations search ↗
- Wikipedia, "New Apostolic Reformation" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Apostolic_Reformation ↗ Wikipedia
- Vance appears at event hosted by hard-right Christian nationalist — https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/28/jd-vance-christian-nationalism-lance-wallnau/ open ↗
- The Genesis of Christian Nationalism — https://projects.propublica.org/christian-nationalism-origins/ open ↗
- US Christian right celebrates after prophecy of Trump win comes to pass — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/07/christian-right-trump-victory open ↗
- The Alabama Embryo Opinion Is About More Than Christian Nationalism — https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/alabama-embryo-parker-new-apos/677642/ open ↗
- From Christian Reconstruction to Christian Nationalism: What the Media Need to Know about the 75-Year Effort to Establish Theocracy in the U.S. — Journal of Media and Religion (2024) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F15348423.2024.2408124 open ↗
- Our man at the top: How the Seven Mountains Mandate and Paul Weyrich's Last Testament have shaped the presidency of Donald Trump — https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00084298251392087 open ↗
- The New Apostolic Reformation: The critical reflections of the ecclesiology of Charles Peter Wagner — https://doi.org/10.4102%2Fhts.v72i3.3240 open ↗
- The Rise of “Independent Network Charismatic” Christianity — The Rise of Network Christianity (2017) — https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facprof%3Aoso%2F9780190635671.003.0001 open ↗
- The militarization of prayer in America: White and Native American spiritual warfare — Journal of Religious and Political Practice (2016) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F20566093.2016.1085239 open ↗
- Charisma and Faith — To the Ends of the Earth (2013) — https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facprof%3Aoso%2F9780195386431.003.0008 open ↗
- God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement — https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2015/a-new-reformation open ↗
- Spirited Things: The Work of 'Possession' in Afro-Atlantic Religions — https://www.academia.edu/44631740 open ↗
- The eschatological worldview of C. Peter Wagner and the New Apostolic Reformation — https://www.academia.edu/104200600 open ↗
- A Leading Figure In The New Apostolic Reformation (Interview of C. Peter Wagner) — https://www.npr.org/2011/10/03/140946482/apostolic-leader-weighs-religions-role-in-politics open ↗
- The Product — The Rise of Network Christianity (2017) — https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facprof%3Aoso%2F9780190635671.003.0004 open ↗
- Meet the New Apostolic Reformation, cutting edge of the Christian right — https://www.salon.com/2024/01/02/meet-the-new-apostolic-reformation-cutting-edge-of-the-christian-right/ open ↗
- In existential midterm races, Christian prophets become GOP surrogates — https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/11/05/lance-wallnau-mastriano-christian-prophets/ open ↗
- Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country — https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-ziklag-secret-christian-charity-2024-election open ↗
- Speaker Johnson's close ties to Christian right — both mainstream and fringe — https://www.npr.org/2023/11/15/1211536399/speaker-johnson-christian-nationalism-evangelical open ↗
- The Radical Evangelicals Who Helped Push Jan. 6 to Wage War on "Demonic Influence — https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/january-6-insurrection-mike-johnson-evangelical-christian-apostolic-reformation.html open ↗
- Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home — https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/us/justice-alito-flag-appeal-to-heaven.html open ↗
- The Woman Who Bought a Mountain for God — https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/christian-movement-new-apostolic-reformation-politics-trump/674320/ open ↗
- The Problem of Marjorie Taylor Greene — https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/17/magazine/marjorie-taylor-greene.html open ↗
- Speaker Mike Johnson says separation of church and state is a 'misnomer — https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-mike-johnson-says-separation-church-state-misnomer-rcna125181 open ↗
- GOP Rep. Boebert: 'I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk — https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/28/lauren-boebert-church-state-colorado/ open ↗
- The Problem of the Christian Assassin — https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/opinion/minnesota-killings-boelter.html open ↗
- The Evangelicals Engaged In Spiritual Warfare (Interview of Rachel Tabachnick) — https://www.npr.org/transcripts/139781021 open ↗
- The Desecrations of Michael Flynn — https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/michael-flynn-maga-christian-trump/671852/ open ↗
- Mike Johnson Has Ties to a Christian Movement That Played a Key Role in Spreading Trump's Big Lie — https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2023/11/mike-johnson-big-lie-trump-election-denial-new-apostolic-reformation/ open ↗
- Breakaway believers warn PC party of 'Dominionist' religious movement — https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/dominionist-religious-movement-christian-conservatism-1.6916154 open ↗
- How a miracle-obsessed megachurch conquered a California city — https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/how-bethel-megachurch-conquered-redding-18170873.php open ↗
- The Rise of the New Apostolic Reformation and its Implication for Adventist Eschatology — https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/church-history-pubs/25/?utm_source=digitalcommons.andrews.edu/church-history-pubs/25&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages open ↗
- Chapter Five. The self-understanding of the spiritual mapping movement — Spiritual Mapping in the United States and Argentina, 1989-2005: A Geography of Fear (2009) — https://doi.org/10.1163%2Fej.9789004170469.i-370.38 open ↗
- Trump allies warn of 'demonic territory,' 'Satanic portal' over Biden WH — https://www.newsweek.com/trump-allies-warn-demonic-territory-satanic-portal-over-biden-wh-1706705 open ↗
- The ReAwaken America Tour unites conservative Christians and conspiracy theorists — https://www.npr.org/2022/11/02/1133477897/reawaken-america-brings-together-some-of-the-u-s-most-prolific-conspiracy-theori open ↗
- Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies 'distorting Christianity — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/14/roger-stone-michael-flynn-distorting-christianity-reawaken-america open ↗
- Vance Appears at Event of Evangelical Leader Who Spoke of Harris's 'Witchcraft — https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/28/us/politics/vance-lance-wallnau-witchcraft.html open ↗
- Inside the Christian TV show rallying Trump superfans with apocalyptic warnings — https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/flashpoint-trump-republican-christian-tv-show-rcna150303 open ↗
- Christian Demonology in Contemporary American Popular Culture — Social Research: An International Quarterly (2014) — https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fsor.2014.0054 open ↗
- From Republican Party to Republican Religion: The New Political Evangelists of the Right — Political Theology (2012) — https://doi.org/10.1558%2Fpoth.v13i5.634 open ↗
- America's Own Taliban — http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117259426336524.html open ↗
- She's a Prophet. She's a Theocrat. She's the Most Powerful Lobbyist You've Never Heard Of — https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/08/abby-abildness-lobbyist/ open ↗
- Pentecostal leaders slam Christian nationalism, NAR beliefs — https://www.newsweek.com/pentecostal-leaders-disavow-christian-nationalism-stark-statement-1753287 open ↗
- One Man's Foray Into the Heartland of the Far Right — https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/books/review/the-undertow-jeff-sharlet.html open ↗
- Michael Flynn's ReAwaken roadshow recruits 'Army of God — https://apnews.com/article/reawaken-america-tour-michael-flynn-910e83b515185751be82868b227ca22e open ↗
- Full-Time Faculty - Mark Clatterbuck — https://www.montclair.edu/religion/faculty-and-staff/#:~:text=Mark%20Clatterbuck%2C%20associate%20professor%2C%20received,of%20religion%20and%20environmental%20justice open ↗
- American Evangelicals for Trump (2023) — https://doi.org/10.4324%2F9781003358718 open ↗
- The Evangelicals Engaged In Spiritual Warfare — https://www.npr.org/2011/08/24/139781021/the-evangelicals-engaged-in-spiritual-warfare open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-08-31Body expanded from stub (thin-content programme)
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Christian high-control.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: academic sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
You may also want to explore
Frequently asked questions
Q.Is Neo-charismatic prophets network a cult?
CLCI Hub deliberately avoids the binary label "cult." Instead it places groups on a transparent 0–40 spectrum of documented control using Steven Hassan's BITE model (Behaviour, Information, Thought, Emotional). Neo-charismatic prophets network scores 21 out of 40 — "High Control", at medium confidence. The score describes documented control patterns, not a judgement of members' sincerity or beliefs; many members do not personally experience the patterns listed.
Q.What is Neo-charismatic prophets network's CLCI score?
Neo-charismatic prophets network scores 21 out of 40 on the Cult-Like Control Index, which falls in the "High" band. That total is the sum of four BITE axes — Behaviour 5, Information 5, Thought 6, Emotional 5 — plus a signed modifier of +0 for aggravating or mitigating factors.
Q.Why does Neo-charismatic prophets network score 21 on the CLCI?
The score reflects publicly documented patterns including: Prophetic-declaration culture suppressing dissent; Seven Mountain dominionism; Substantial political influence; Cult-of-personality around individual prophets. These map onto the BITE axes of behaviour, information, thought, and emotional control, and a signed modifier of +0 is applied for factors such as financial demands, leadership accountability, and exit costs. Every claim is backed by the citations in the Sources section on this page.
Q.How reliable is the Neo-charismatic prophets network rating?
This profile is rated Medium confidence. Medium confidence means the score rests on reputable journalism plus consistent ex-member testimony. CLCI scores are not fixed — they are revised whenever new public evidence appears, and groups that reform can score lower over time.
Q.Where can I get help regarding Neo-charismatic prophets network?
If you or someone you care about is affected by Neo-charismatic prophets network, start with the Recovery resources listed on this page. General cult-aware support is available from the International Cultic Studies Association (icsahome.com) and the Freedom of Mind Resource Center (freedomofmind.com). CLCI Hub is an educational resource, not a crisis service — if anyone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services.
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.