Community Corner
Evangelical Group Suspends Accreditation for Harvest Bible Chapel
The Evangalical Council for Financial Accountability announced the church has been suspended last week.
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has suspended accreditation for Harvest Bible Chapel. The council made a site visit to the suburban church in December, and originally believed it to be in compliance, but after new information was made public, the ECFA re-opened an investigation into the church, according to a statement from the organization. Now the ECFA believes the church to be in violation of four standards, which have to do with governance, use of resources and compliance with laws, financial oversight and setting compensation and related party transactions.
Due to this, the ECFA has placed the church on an indefinite suspension and is continuing to investigation into the issues.
“During the indefinite suspension, the church may not represent that they are an ECFA member or display ECFA’s membership seal,” according to the statement. “The investigation has been and will remain ongoing during the suspension as we work to determine whether Harvest Bible Chapel should be terminated, advised of the steps necessary to come into full compliance or whether they are in fact in compliance with our standards and should, therefore, be restored to full membership.”
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The latest blow to Harvest Bible Chapel comes during a month full of change and controversy. The church reduced the members on its elder board from over 30 to nine members and fired its founding pastor James MacDonald. In addition, MacDonald’s two sons announced their resignation.
The changes come after Harvest Bible Church publicly announced last week a report of an alleged inappropriate incident between MacDonald and Anne Green, which took place on a private flight in 2005.
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"The Elders took the matter seriously and began investigating immediately," according to a statement posted on the church’s website on Feb. 18. "After hearing of the accusation, the Human Resources department of Harvest Bible Chapel proactively reached out to Mrs. Green on September 30, 2018, via email and text."
Church officials added, "With no complaint filed by Mrs. Green, no report to the police and the testimony of three witnesses on the flight, Harvest Bible Chapel closed the investigation with the elders considering the case appropriately vetted and no further action required."
Harvest Bible Chapel has churches in Aurora, Elgin, Niles, Crystal Lake, Rolling Meadows, Chicago and Highland Park.
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