Our History

James Macdonald, Founder of Harvest Bible Chapel
Harvest Bible Chapel
In 1988 a group of eighteen people from across the northwest Chicago suburbs had a vision to start Harvest Bible Chapel. The church met in Rolling Meadows with James MacDonald as the Senior Pastor. Today, over 12,000 people call this church their home as they worship Christ together on six campuses.
The Harvest Network
In 2000 Harvest planted their first church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and announced the vision to start 10 churches in 10 years. Harvest Bible Fellowship was formed to edify, protect, encourage, and support these new churches. The Lord is blessing our movement with tremendous favor—as of March 2011, there are 70 Harvest Bible Chapel locations in North America and overseas, with 64 being independent church plants.
Harvest Gainesville
Harvest Gainesville is a church that has transitioned from Micanopy and launched on August 28th, 2011. We look forward to serving Gainesville with the Gospel and partnering with other Harvest Bible Chapels around the globe to serve God’s Kingdom.

