In 2015, James MacDonald went on a worldwide missions trip that was so stressful, he needed a safari in South Africa to help him recover from it. At least, that’s what MacDonald, the recently-fired founder of Harvest Bible Chapel, claimed to justify the church paying for the safari for him and two others, according to his bodyguard at the time, Jacob Ross.
But that’s not all.
In a letter Ross submitted to Harvest leadership in late January and was recently leaked to me, Ross writes that MacDonald wasn’t satisfied with his initial budget of $5,000 for the safari. “James decided he wanted to shoot a high value animal,” Ross writes, “a sable to be specific, which cost $15,000 to $20,000.”
So, Ross writes that MacDonald called Fred Adams, former Harvest CFO, and got him to wire additional money from the church to the safari company, “citing his stress from the trip and need for a relaxing vacation doing something he enjoyed.”
[pullquote]“’James decided he wanted to shoot a high value animal . . . a sable to be specific, which cost $15,000 to $20,000.’ So, Ross writes that MacDonald called Fred Adams, former Harvest CFO, and got him to wire additional money from the church.”[/pullquote]Ross also writes that on the same missions trip, Harvest paid for a three- to four-day stay at a resort in the Dominican Republic for MacDonald, Ross, and Harvest Executive Pastor Jeff Donaldson. (Both Donaldson and Ross had also joined MacDonald on the safari.)Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation” by Christa Brown. To donate, click here.
Not only did Harvest pay for the three men, Ross wrote, the church also paid for their wives to fly out and join them. “Again, James justified this expense as the result of the extreme stress he was under on the trip.”
These are just two of numerous incidents in Ross’ letter, showing that MacDonald lived large on the church’s dime. Plus, Ross is not the only former Harvest employee alleging these things. A letter by another former employee alleges that while Harvest was imposing “austerity measures” like removing the coffee and water dispensers, MacDonald was remodeling his office for $150,000 and authorizing a $40,000 fence for a whitetail trophy deer herd at Camp Harvest.
These expenditures were in addition to MacDonald’s salary, which the church continues to keep private. However, Dave Corning, a founding elder who chaired the elder board for 21 years, told me that in 2009, MacDonald was making a combined $550,000 from both the church and Walk in the Word, MacDonald’s broadcast ministry.
Six Devastating Letters Sent to Elders, but Suppressed
Ross’ letter was one of six letters by former and present staff that were presented to Harvest elders about five weeks ago, according to Elder Dan George and former Elder Mike Dunwoody.
These letters are devastating, documenting scores of incidents where MacDonald mocked, threatened, and belittled staff, contractors, and other Christian leaders; lied and reneged on promises; raged at those around him; and prospered financially at the church’s expense. I reached out to the church and MacDonald for comment about these letters, but they did not respond.
[pullquote]”Dunwoody and George said when the elder board met on February 5th, Harvest Assistant Senior Pastor Rick Donald . . . adamantly opposed releasing the letters. So they were withheld.”[/pullquote]I have read all six of the letters, though only five were given to me to publish. I am releasing information today from two of them, which relate to finances—Ross’ letter and a letter by Dean Butters, former executive director of business operations at Harvest. Both Ross and Butters authenticated their letters with me but declined to comment due to non-disclosure agreements.Dunwoody and George said these six letters were key in the board’s decision to fire MacDonald. (The final straw was MacDonald’s vile recorded comments that were aired on Mancow Muller’s Chicago radio show.)
But Dunwoody and George added that the full board almost didn’t get to see the letters. They said most of the letters initially were sent to Campus Pastor Greg Bradshaw, who had been asked by the board to review the letters with three other elders. Dunwoody and George said when the elder board met on February 5th, Harvest Assistant Senior Pastor Rick Donald, who was on the board at the time but has since stepped down, adamantly opposed releasing the letters to the board. So they were withheld. I reached out to Donald for comment, but he did not respond.
However, George said he was able to obtain all the letters independently soon after that meeting. And on February 7th, George and several elders met with MacDonald at Harvest’s Elgin campus. And at that meeting, George said he presented the letters to the group, and MacDonald argued that the letters should not go to the elders. Instead, MacDonald said they should go to Crossroads Resolution Group, the company Harvest had hired to manage their “reconciliation process” with aggrieved parties.
George said Donald and Elder Steve Huston, who chaired the elder executive committee before it was dissolved, argued strongly in favor of MacDonald’s suggestion.
Despite their wishes, George distributed the letters to the other elders—the last of them going to the board on February 12th, the same day MacDonald was fired.
More Evidence MacDonald Spent Church’s Money for Lavish Lifestyle
Like Ross, Butters’ letter documents numerous incidents where MacDonald spent the church’s money to support his lavish lifestyle. And apparently, MacDonald’s African safari was not an isolated incident. Butters writes that MacDonald “led various hunting trips throughout the U.S. and Africa for his friends and couched them as a business expense.”
Butters also said that when MacDonald moved from his Inverness home to his Elgin home, the church paid $50,000 to move and store his personal possessions. Butters added that MacDonald also donated a broken hot tub to the church that cost more to fix than to replace. Yet according to Butters, MacDonald took an $8,000 tax write-off for the donation.
Butters letter also reveals that MacDonald and other executives at Harvest were given bonuses when the church hit certain “revenue target(s).” He adds that one year, someone manipulated the books, attributing income from Camp Harvest to the general fund so church executives would qualify for bonuses.
Butters also writes that MacDonald:
-
Bought more than $500 in cigars with church funds
-
Tipped a waitress $400 with church funds
-
Spent more than $50,000 of church money on his camp site the first year of “Act Like Men Palooza.”
-
Demanded that fiber optic cable be installed at Camp Harvest so the internet service would be faster, costing $20,000 per month on a three-year contract.
-
Demanded that the church pay to repair his truck after he scraped and dented it on one of the columns in the Elgin church parking garage, blaming security for “setting the cones up wrong.”
-
Demanded that his office be remodeled in 2013 for about $150,000, while all senior and middle management, and their direct reports, took a 10-percent pay cut. The church had also removed coffee/water for employees as “austerity measures” due to low giving. (Ross also writes about the remodel, noting that many expenses “exceeded reasonable,” including Ross’ “custom built in hardwood desk that cost several thousand dollars.”)
-
During the same time period, the church bought fencing for the new deer herd at Camp Harvest for over $40,000.
Harvest’s “Black Budget” & “Executive Checkbook”
It’s not clear how the church justified paying for MacDonald’s lavish personal expenses, or how these expenses were budgeted. I sent emails this week to the elder board, as well as Harvest CFO Jeff Sharda, but no one responded.
However, as I reported earlier in WORLD Magazine, two former Harvest executives said the church hid about 20-percent of its budget from all but top church staffers and the executive committee (EC). Both said this so-called “black budget” was controlled by Fred Adams.
Also, this week, Bill Sperling—a former member of the EC and a current elder and church treasurer—gave some insight to MacDonald’s spending at a question and answer meeting. According to Sperling, the church maintained an “executive checkbook” that amounted to one-percent of the annual income of the church—about $250,000. Sperling admitted that this “checkbook” was “too liberal” and “not dotting i’s and crossing t’s.” He added that members of the former executive committee knew about this checkbook, as well as the auditors. (Capin Crouse conducts annual audits of Harvest.)
[pullquote]”According to Sperling, the church maintained an ‘executive checkbook’ that amounted to one-percent of the annual income of the church—about $250,000. . . . He added that members of the former executive committee knew about this checkbook, as well as the auditors.”[/pullquote]Four of the five members of the former executive committee remain on Harvest’s elder board. They are Bill Sperling, Steve Huston, Jeff Smith, and Sam Booras. Former EC member Ron Duitsman resigned in February.Sperling’s account seems consistent with what Ross wrote in his letter. Ross said that MacDonald had a church credit card “that was given outside of normal church protocol—set up directly through Fred (Adams).” Ross said he and MacDonald’s former assistant, Chiquita Brown, were also issued credit cards tied to that account.
Ross said he was instructed to put “anything related to James on James’ card.” At the end of each month, Ross said he would give the card statements directly to Adams with descriptions of each charge. Ross said these monthly charges were “regularly in excess of $10,000,” and occasionally as high as “$20,000 to over $30,000.”
Ross said in 2015, MacDonald instructed him to book a vacation at a resort in Naples, Florida, for MacDonald and his wife, Kathy, and to charge it to his church-issued credit card. Ross said MacDonald authorized him to spend “whatever was necessary.” Ross added, “(MacDonald) told me he’d call Fred and his friends on the elder board to justify the expense as necessary due to the tough year he had and the toll it took on him.” Ross said the vacation cost more than $20,000.
According to Rusty Leonard of the watchdog group, Ministry Watch, using church funds for personal use normally qualifies as embezzlement. However, if MacDonald’s spending was approved by the executive committee, it’s not legally embezzlement because the board gave MacDonald the cover he needed to take the money.
However, Leonard said he suspects the IRS might view some of MacDonald’s expenditures as income. So, if MacDonald didn’t pay tax on that income, it could be considered tax evasion.
Ross & Butters Break Silence Due to Hope for Change
Ross said he left his position after continued berating by MacDonald, calling him “stupid,” “incompetent,” “worthless,” and “of no use to him,” proved too much. Ross said he remained silent until now because of a mixture of fear and a desire to not “harm my church.”
He said he finally broke his silence because he believed the vast majority of staff, elders, and members of Harvest are “not privy to many of the situations” he highlighted in his letter. Ross added, “Those who are seeking to make the correct decision regarding the future of Harvest Bible Chapel simply can’t without the correct information.”
Similarly, Butters writes that he left the church because his “ability to continue believing the best about (the leaders over him) diminished.” He added that the “things I was seeing with my eyes, hearing with my ears, and feeling in my soul became more convincing than the narrative that was continually being spun.”
Butters said he wrote his letter “with the hope that it will help to prevent others from being spiritually manipulated and brutalized by James MacDonald and others at Harvest Bible Chapel who carry out his commands.”
English 
Spanish 
139 Responses
This tweet put me over my ripping point!
Thank you, Julie, for every word, for all the hours, for all the intensity behind this work. I thank God that former employees and members of the flock trust you to get this out there.
Yes! Thank you Julie!! I’m sure you are getting all kinds of pressure to drop this, but please don’t until the whole truth is out. Painful as that might be, it’s the only way forward.
I really didn’t think I could feel any “sicker” about this than I already did and then I read this. I’m sooo disgusted!! And this is probably only a fraction of what went on…
There is no reason why the incompetent executive committee should last another week. How can you defend the great commission being the highest priority and then read this story? So sad to be reading this. “The love of money is root of all kinds of evil.”
I have been following your investigation and appreciate your careful reporting. My fascination lies in the area of how this started. What can we keep an eye out for? Of course there have been lots of scandals in lots of churches, but your careful reporting draws me in because I feel there may be more of a solution within your investigation than is provided in typical scandal news.
I suspect there must have been a point where things started to go wrong – surely it isn’t just a matter of a bad guy starting a church as a scam from the start? What was he like at first and what were the earliest signs of change? Is the solution as easy as keeping financial reports public (which all churches I’ve belonged to do), or is it more a matter of noticing when those financial reports start to sound more vague? I’ve never thought an overly large board (of elders or others) would be a problem, but maybe it results in more opportunity to head in a wrong direction?
Thank you and keep investigating.
These allegations are credible and are attributable to multiple sources. There certainly appears to be a conspiracy to commit multiple FELONIES by MacDonald and certain past and current members of the Elder Board. If this doesn’t get the attention of the FBI and IRS, nothing will!
Thank you for exposing James Mcdonald, his family and leaders of Harvest. I have been a member since 2005 and actually thought all of those extravagant trips were on his personal dime.
I am left speechless with all who were involved in allowing Mcdonald’s behavior to continue for years. I am so sad to the poing I refer to my ex-pastor now as merely Mcdonald. To use the term Pastor for Mcdonald is a disgrace to those who truely fear the Lord.
God have mercy on the Mcdoanld family, and shame on the wives. A wife always knows, and if not, they possibly chose to look the other way.
I don’t know about the rest of you former attendees or members of HBC, but I would like to have my five years of 10% tithe given back to me… with interest. Then I would be able to give it with complete joy to where I currently worship the Lord! I am so sad but also angry, Lord forgive me, at what has gone on at what used to be my place of worship where God’s word was preached…. but what Julie has revealed to all of us, sadly, has not been lived out by the one behind the pulpit. Why doesn’t JMAC admit that he’s done something wrong – SIN?!!
Quite simply the most damning expose article that you’ve written to date regarding James MacDonald and those who not only knew, but enabled, his actions.
One caveat: I wish you’d identify the “worldwide missions trip.” Was it Vertical Church related? Churches Helping Churches? It’d be nice to have that clarification.
He went on the trip (with a few other leaders) in the name of touring the various HBF church plants in different locations. There was a stopover in Israel too. He recorded a sermon at (what is thought to be) Jesus’ tomb. I can’t recall who all was on that trip. Kirk VanMaanen for sure. During the trip, the Congregation saw various (well-produced) videos of the churches that we had helped fund through HBC/HBF. It was a questionable use of time and resources then. Now, it looks scandalous.
Okay – it is time to fire anyone who knew about this and said nothing. All former members of the EC should be immediately terminated, as well as anyone who took advantage of the treatment fully knowing that it was a misuse of church tithing.
Bill Sterling
Steve Huston
Jeff Smith
Mohan Zacaharia – he was on the EC, but resigned his position because he knows he’s guilty.
Jeff Donaldson
Rick Donald
Andi Rozier (possibly ALL of Vertical Church Band)
ALL campus pastors (don’t pretend you didn’t stand by and do nothing to protect your job)
John & Sherri Smith
Sharon Kostal
… just to name a few. These people need to GO.
Do NOT give another penny to Harvest until the CORRUPT leadership is GONE.
These people turned a blind eye to what was really going on.
The Elders are about as accountable as James ! Show some integrity and resign ( Steve Huston!!!) Talk about puppets!! This has to be the most abusive use I have seen in over 60 years of the Lords money. Bring on the IRS and put the guilty one in jail!! What an arrogant Jerk!
Thank you Julie Roy’s for exposing the actual truth and to those brave souls who wrote the letters Thank you.
FBI. IRS State and Federal Persecutors must be notified and brought on this scam by MacDonald, his family and his paid robbers aka “elders”.
I remember one of James’s teachings where he talked about seeing judgement issued to those who have done us special harm. He described it as a “get there early-front row seat-kind of day”. I thought NO-I wouldn’t actually want to be in that seat, lest my judgement appointment be next. After reading the information in today’s blog, I thought (for a moment) that maybe I wouldn’t mind a ticket for such an event after all.
I am more than sickened at the arrogant, thieving betrayal perpetrated by James and every single person on staff and/or in leadership who knowingly stood by while tithes to HBC were diverted from the Kingdom good for which they were intended. The vast majority of people who return a portion of their household income back to God have worked incredibly hard to earn their paychecks. Many have tithed dollar amounts that make no sense in an earthly economy, trusting fully in the Provider to meet their financial needs. The unmitigated gall of those who would abuse their sacrifice is nothing short of criminal.
With every tithe, I have always prayed that the funds would be stewarded properly. I would also remind myself that if, through any human failing, the money was not used in a God-honoring way, He would address that in His timing.
Today I pray that God will protect the hearts of His cheerful givers, that none would be deterred in their faithfulness. I pray that those entrusted with church resources will steward each dollar with fear and awe of our Holy God. And I thank Him, that through His overwhelming goodness, He has already redeemed each dime for His glory.
Julie,
1.) Where can we read these letters? Will you please release them?
2.) Mancow mentioned there is a “Nuclear Option”. Can you please convince him to release that? This is all dragging on long enough. The people of Harvest need to know what they’ve been supporting for years.
3.) Yes, James is gone, but this cancer runs deep in the organization. It’s going to take a lot to change course.
Get Rick Donald and Jeff Donaldson out of there immediately and start holding them accountable just as you are McDonald. They were in the inner circle and winked at the whole process.
Again Jeff Donaldson. Living high on the churches tithes that the congregation sacrificially gave. So that he could join MacDonald on a safari and the Dominican Republic. Showing zero wisdom with respect to the church’s finances. When will he be fired????
I find it interesting that people are lining up to apologize for their misdeeds only after they get caught. And I am also surprised that some people who worked for JM and experienced his disgraceful, reprehensible, and shameful behavior would continue to attend a church under his leadership. Everyone, and I mean everyone, who knew about this lunacy should have left and/or should leave now. While forgiveness is appropriate, allowing these people to continue to lead HBC is unsafe, unsound, and irresponsible.
THIS would be a great article for the Daily Herald or Chicago Tribune. It seems that’s the only way that HBC members pull their head out of the sand and actually acknowledge reality.
Oh, YES!!
Wakeup Harvest!!! This is how your Harvest Leadership spends your sacrificial gifts to spread the Gospel. I would not give a dime to this abomination.
There has to be legal ramifications/accountability for this.
What’s worse are those still living the lie of deception remaining in positions of authority at Harvest.
Every staff member saw the entitlement, every staff member saw the unbiblical behavior. How can Harvest continue with any of the current pastoral/elder staff? It cannot.
It’s incomprehensible that a man who claims to love God would do the things MacDonald has done. It’s equally incomprehensible that so many others who claim to love God would facilitate his sin. Thanks very much, Julie. Remarkable reporting on a remarkable story.
So much of what I’ve heard through the various venues where James MacDonald has been recently exposed has made me think, “Yep, that sounds consistent with the James I knew years ago.” But this report (as did the Anne Green interview) has turned my stomach.
Deep and wide is the egregiousness of what has gone on at Harvest through James MacDonald and those who have helped and benefitted from it all. Lord, please protect the fragile sheep who might quit on church–and even on You–because of all of this.
Julie, I pray for strength and protection for you. I believe this is the Lord’s work you are doing. Other people should have done this work long ago, but they were too busy being complicit in it. Praise the Lord that He is bigger than any of this. If the gates of hell cannot prevail against His Church, then neither can the shenanigans of James MacDonald et al, no matter how public they become.
Power money & Ego. plus surround yourself with enablers (yes men) and this is what you end up with.
seriously , how does this guy sleep at night ?
Past high time for Federal Government and its agencies to get involved the financial scams run by McDonald, his family but also by other scam artists like Rick Donakd, Jeff Smith or Steve Houston and others. This is racketeering.
As a member at Harvest for 20 years, this news is the final breaking point for me. The amount of corruption and dirty secrets at Harvest goes farther and deeper than I ever thought possible with people I put A LOT of trust in. I would always try to justify something good about Harvest whenever bad news would come out of the church. However, I’ve finally reached the point of “enough is enough.” Feeling so hurt, betrayed, angry, shocked… I know James and his family personally which makes this sting even more. I really see this as a slow death for Harvest. Giving is going to dry up and the church will no longer be able to meet its obligations over time. Heartbreaking.
I read on a twitter feed (so don’t know the true veracity of that information) that there is a rabbi trust worth $12 million that could become irrevocable for MacDonald (? others; my limited understanding is that the rabbi trust is a tax sheltered means of growing retirement monies). In trying to find information re: rabbi trusts, it looks like they can be used for the debts of the company unless greater than 50% of the board changes. Unfortunately, the article that is providing this information was 20 years old. Does anyone know if the calls for all of the EC to resign would trigger this sort of thing? This is when I think law enforcement needs to get involved; I do not know if that would freeze assets but the living large on the backs of good Christians…..HBC (the church) deserves some of MacDonald’s assets to unwind the debt he left them holding.
No, it is likely not $12 million, but between $2.5 mil and $3 million. The first mention of the Rabbi Trust in the church’s EOY statements from Capin Crouse (available online on the church website) is 2015. In the 2016 statement notes, the Rabbi Trust is mentioned again, but this time is characterized as “revocable.” Says the same thing for 2017. So, going off the public info we have, assume that the RT was set-up in 2015, it’s unlikely that the trust would have grown to $12 mil. The statement notes also imply that there is more than one beneficiary of the RT.