2013 excommunication of former elders In October 2013,
World reported: "As MacDonald and Harvest celebrate 25 years of ministry, they face a barrage of criticism from former elders, pastors, and staff who say the church leadership has operated in recent years with too little transparency and accountability." After three elders resigned their positions, citing a "culture of fear and intimidation," Harvest publicly reprimanded two of them and removed them from church membership. The discipline was meted out soon after a group of former elders had laid out concerns about MacDonald's character in a letter to the remaining elders. In September 2014, Harvest and MacDonald apologized for their actions toward the two former elders and lifted the church discipline against them.
2018 defamation lawsuit In October 2018, MacDonald and Harvest filed a
libel lawsuit against ''The Elephant's Debt''
bloggers Ryan Mahoney and Scott Bryant, and against journalist Julie Roys. Mahoney, Bryant and Roys had reported that Harvest was in significant debt, that the church had previously been near
bankruptcy, and that MacDonald had
gambling problems. The suit was filed in
Cook County Circuit Court and used as its basis the
Illinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Harvest announced that it was dropping its lawsuit in early January 2019, "after a Cook County judge [...] ruled against the church's request to keep some documents private." Church elders said that the decision left them without any means of protecting third parties, saying, "In good conscience we cannot knowingly subject innocent people, in many instances against their will, to a full
subpoena process." On April 30, 2019, the outgoing elders of Harvest Bible Chapel issued an apology for having filed the 2018 lawsuit, and they paid Roys $50,000 as a settlement to cover her legal fees.
Accusations, sabbatical, and firing from Harvest Bible Chapel Over time, former Harvest members, elders, and staff have accused MacDonald of
bullying,
sexual harassment,
authoritarian behaviour and lack of
transparency in finances, as well as
misappropriation of church funds. In December 2018,
World published Roys' expose on MacDonald and Harvest, outlining an alleged history of financial mismanagement and abusive leadership by the pastor. The church disputed these claims. Outside groups also faced criticism for scheduling MacDonald for conferences and speaking events. In December 2018, it was announced that MacDonald had withdrawn from his speaking slot at the 2019
Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference. On January 16, 2019, MacDonald took an "indefinite sabbatical from all preaching and leadership," saying in a statement that he has "...battled cycles of injustice, hurt, anger, and fear which have wounded others without cause", and that as a result he has "...carried great shame about this pattern in certain relationships that can only be called sin." On January 25, Chicago radio
shock jock Mancow Muller, who described himself as a Harvest attendee and a friend of MacDonald, publicly criticized MacDonald's leadership, called for the elders of Harvest to be removed, urged church members to stop making financial contributions until needed changes were made, and asserted that an outside group should be brought in to lead the church. On February 13, MacDonald was fired from Harvest by the church's elders after alleged recordings of him making inappropriate comments. In the recordings, MacDonald joked about orchestrating a plot to
blackmail Harold Smith, the CEO of
Christianity Today magazine, by planting illegal
child pornography on Smith's computer.
Financial improprieties On April 17, 2019, after years of claims of financial mismanagement, Later reports indicated that MacDonald had used funds from the
Walk in the Word ministry to purchase a vintage 1971
Volkswagen Beetle (valued at approximately $13,000) for
Ed Stetzer, a contributing editor at
Christianity Today. Stetzer reimbursed the ministry in full after learning that ministry funds had been used for the gift. MacDonald also reportedly used church funds to purchase
Harley-Davidson motorcycles for "people inside and outside the church."
Alleged solicitation to commit murder In May 2019,
Mancow Muller claimed that MacDonald had, on two different occasions in 2018, asked Muller if he knew of a
hitman for hire. Similarly, former Harvest bodyguard Emmanuel Bucur stated that MacDonald had asked him in 2015 to kill MacDonald's former son-in-law. Bucur and Muller reported their allegations to the police of their respective Illinois towns of
Bartlett and
Wilmette on May 18, 2019, and an investigation was commenced.
2023 assault charge On March 22, 2023, MacDonald was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 59-year-old woman in a parking lot. == Personal life ==