Our Story

Harvest Bible Chapel is one church on six campuses, with a rich history of God's blessing and provision.

Birth of Harvest Bible Chapel – September 18, 1988
A group of eighteen people from across the northwest suburbs joined together to form a new church. These people had a vision for proclaiming the authority of the Word of God without apology, for lifting high the name of Jesus through worship, for believing firmly in powerful prayer, and for sharing Jesus with boldness. Harvest Bible Chapel was born on this date with twenty-seven-year-old James MacDonald serving as the senior pastor.

Rolling Meadows Campus – September 10, 1995
After meeting in Rolling Meadows High School for a number of years, Roy Gromke, one of the founding members and Elders of Harvest who is now with the Lord, discovered the property for sale at 800 Rohlwing Road in Rolling Meadows. The building had previously been a furniture store, a wholesale club, and a home improvement warehouse. Harvest needed to raise $300,000 in six weeks from a church family of 500 people. Those people prayed, fasted, and gave so sacrificially that $392,000 came in within six weeks so that the congregation could purchase their first church building. It was a fantastic provision from the Lord. This property has come to be known as the Rolling Meadows Campus. More than 5,500 people attend this location.

Elgin Campus – March 2, 2003
As the Lord continued to bring many people to Harvest, and as many lives were being changed, the church began to outgrow the Rolling Meadows Campus. The Elders started to pray for a new location for the congregation, not knowing the miracle God would accomplish. Harvest Bible Chapel was given an 80-acre property in Elgin, Illinois with a 280,000-square-foot building (three times the size of the Rolling Meadows Campus) and a 900-car parking garage. The property was worth $53 million, and through the work of the Lord, Harvest obtained it for the cost of one dollar! Thanks be to God!

In September of 2007 a brand-new 2,200-seat worship center opened at the Elgin Campus, including a Children's Ministry area. The Worship Center will eventually be able to seat 6,000 and will include a bookstore and food court as the Lord provides. The Mitchell Swaback Athletic Center, which is adjacent to the new worship center, was dedicated in December 2007. More than 3,200 people call this campus their church home.

Harvest Christian Academy – August, 2004
We opened our doors as a ministry of Harvest Bible Chapel. Today there are 626 students and over 40 staff members who serve the Lord daily in our Christian school.  Harvest Christian Academy isn’t waiting to graduate students to change the world.  We are changing the world today as students actively work for Christ in the hallways, in our communities and around the world.