Former Harvest Bible Chapel pastor puts Elgin-area home on market for $2.5 million

The ousted founding pastor of the suburban megachurch Harvest Bible Chapel is selling his Elgin-area estate.

James MacDonald has listed the six-bedroom house on the 14N300 block of Highland Avenue for $2.5 million, according to the Coldwell Banker The McKay Group agency.

Kane County land records show the home, which sits on a nearly 5-acre lot, is owned by a trust. But Kane County court records indicate that the property is owned by the trust, MacDonald and Vanilla Bean LLC.

According to the listing, the house features 5½ bathrooms, a five-car garage, an in-ground pool, a sunroom, a theater room, and a full outdoor kitchen. There’s also a treehouse that can sleep nine people. Rutland Township assessment records say the house was built in 2016.

“The house is really, really cool,” agent Roger Erikson said.

MacDonald was the first pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, which he helped found in Rolling Meadows in 1988.

The church operated several campuses in the Chicago area and planted dozens of other churches around the nation. In addition to Rolling Meadows, the church currently has locations in Highland Park, Crystal Lake, Aurora and Elgin.

Harvest sold its Elgin location in April to another religious organization, Acts2Network. It then signed a lease to rent the space from the organization.

MacDonald also had a television show called “Walk In the Word” and a radio show on WMBI.

The church fired MacDonald in 2019.

After he was let go, MacDonald sued radio show host Mancow Muller for defamation. Muller was a member of Harvest and a friend of MacDonald’s, but broadcast criticism of MacDonald. He also sued the church and a financial firm it hired, saying they made false statements about him. He settled the lawsuits for a total of $10 million, according to a news release.

MacDonald now runs Act Like Men Ministries. It runs sober houses for men recovering from addiction, teaches about the Bible, offers devotionals, and provides training for pastors.

MacDonald has not responded to requests for comment.

A foreclosure suit on the mortgage for MacDonald’s home was filed in 2020, but the bank agreed to dismiss the suit a few months later.