part 2 of HBC

A Roll of the Dice -LINK

While there was a need to retrofit the existing structure for church use, James MacDonald decided to double down. In addition to revamping the current structure for use by the church and the newly-planned school, a massive addition containing a gymnasium, an auditorium, and other ancillary ministry space was added to the property.  This structure is so large, that to this day, approximately 40% of it is still undeveloped raw space that goes largely unused.  This raises the question as to why Harvest would build such a massive facility, particularly when they lacked the congregational size to require such a building.

What is known at this time is that when Harvest embarked on this journey, three groups were charged with overseeing the project.  In addition to the elder board, the services of an architectural firm were engaged.  Additionally, a Construction Oversight Group (COG) was established, with members of the HBC staff and building contractors serving alongside one another.  Early in the process, against the counsel of the COG, James MacDonald elected to forgo the services of a general contractor, apparently believing that he could manage the project himself, with the assistance of technical advisers.  Unfortunately for the members of HBC, many of the COG’s predictions of disaster (due to proceeding without a general contractor) came true.

Nevertheless, from that point forward, the significant players included: the COG, the architecture group and the elder board, with James MacDonald acting as the go-between for all three groups.  It should be noted that during this season, there was rarely, if ever,  any direct communication between the COG, the architects, and the elders.

As the building continued forward, it was discovered that the steel for the Elgin facility was faulty.   Ordinarily, when one has utilized the services of a building contractor, issues such as these become the financial problem of the contractor.  In this, since James MacDonald had decided to proceed without an independent general contractor, the financial problems now threatened the financial stability of Harvest Bible Chapel.   At one point, the construction ground to an absolute halt, as it was determined that the structure was not even safe for the workers to continue.  Making matters even worse, James MacDonald continued to press for Harvest to occupy the building by the date of the planned unveiling; and in his zeal to meet this goal, he may have incurred upwards of $2 million more in additional costs.  For example, drywall was hung and carpet was laid before the windows were installed, leaving the facility exposed to rain and weather.

Lastly, Pastor Joel Anderson and the elders of Harvest Bible Chapel – Crystal Lake, formerly an autonomous church, led that congregation to the brink of bankruptcy in an attempt to build their own facility.  As Harvest Bible Chapel – Rolling Meadows was effectively on the line as a co-signer, they were forced to bail the church out as they made it a satellite campus.   In the end, Harvest was forced to take on approximately $6 million of debt above and beyond that which they already accumulated to this point.   This additional debt was necessary to purchase the Crystal Lake property and build it out for use as a church.

At the outset of this endeavor, the leadership of Harvest Bible Chapel never wanted to be a multi-site church.  But following the financial crisis that arose through the ill-advised build out of the Elgin campus and the absorption of the Crystal Lake campus, the staggering debt load forced them to adopt a multi-site ministry model.  Thus, campuses such as Niles, Aurora, Chicago Cathedral, and Winnetka were added over time to the fold as a means of expanding the ministry of James MacDonald and as a means of expanding the tithing base.

During this season, sources recall James MacDonald openly lamenting the fact that he had planted autonomous churches in the greater Chicagoland area, preferring instead that these plants would have been satellites of the main church.   Therefore, in our opinion, it should come as no surprise to the reader if, in the future, currently autonomous HBF churches are re-grafted back into the fold as satellite extensions of MacDonald’s ministry.

Regardless, one has to wonder, if the debt load is normal for a mega-church of this size.