James MacDonald (born October 4, 1960) is a Canadian-born evangelical Christian pastor, television evangelist, and author. He was the senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel megachurch in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, United States and was the host for the church's former broadcast ministry, Walk in the Word. MacDonald was fired from Harvest Bible Chapel in 2019 after over 30 years as senior pastor following allegations that he had engaged in conduct "harmful to the best interests of the church." Harvest Bible Chapel Harvest Bible Chapel grew from eighteen people meeting in a local high school in 1988 to more than 13,000 in 2012, attending on seven campuses in the Chicago area. The congregation moved into a converted warehouse in Rolling Meadows, Illinois in 1995. Harvest added campuses in Elgin and Niles in 2004; Crystal Lake in 2007; the downtown Chicago in 2010 (the "Chicago Cathedral"); Aurora in 2011; and Deerfield Road in 2012. The church was included in Outreach Magazines "Top 100 Fastest Growing Churches in America" and "Top 100 Largest Churches in America." Walk in the Word Launched in 1997, Walk in the Word was Harvest's radio teaching ministry. By 2016 it was heard on more than 1,100 radio and television outlets across North America. In 2012, and again in 2016, the program received the "Billy Graham Award for Excellence in Christian Communication" from the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). In February 2019, MacDonald announced that Walk in the Word would no longer be broadcast on radio and television, but would be available in digital format, citing the financial strain stemming from the controversies surrounding him. Harvest announced on May 9, 2019 that "Walk in the Word is a ministry of Harvest Bible Chapel and as such, it is under the direction of Harvest's leadership," and "[at] this time, Harvest has decided to take down the Walk in the Word website until further notice." Harvest also decided to not launch digital content and revealed that it had been returning contributions to Walk in the Word since the beginning of March 2019. Vertical Worship Vertical Worship is Harvest's worship and songwriting ministry. Launched formally in 2012 as Vertical Church Band, their song "Open Up the Heavens", co-authored by MacDonald, was nominated in 2014 for Worship Song of the Year at the 45th GMA Dove Awards. Controversies and allegations 2013 excommunication of former elders In October 2013, World reported: "As MacDonald and Harvest