(ChurchLeaders) Although former megachurch pastor James MacDonald reached a settlement with Harvest Bible Chapel (HBC) in August, he’s heading back to court. MacDonald, who was fired from the Chicago-area church in February 2019, is now suing HBC and the attorney and accountants it hired to review church finances and MacDonald’s use of them.
On November 4, MacDonald filed a lawsuit against HBC, attorney Sally Wagenmaker, her Chicago-based firm (Wagenmaker and Oberly), and the Minnesota accounting firm that Wagenmaker hired. The pastor, who founded and served at HBC for 31 years before elders disqualified him from public ministry, claims that defendants intended to harm his reputation as well as his eventual arbitration efforts.