… We got sucked into something that on the surface seemed attractive, but under the surface was very toxic.”Īfter Secrest was dismissed, Harvest posted a statement on its website updating church members. “I told them this is just unconscionable, please don’t do this. “We didn’t sign up for all of this drama that has nothing to do with us,” Secrest said. Secrest, who described a scenario in which church leaders and ordinary members in Naples were kept in the dark regarding developments, said his requests and suggestions were rebuffed.Īfter Secrest outlined his concerns about the MacDonald situation in an emailed letter to his flock in Florida, he was fired for insubordination.
He even indicated that perhaps the best path forward was to sever the formal partnership between the Florida campus and the Illinois churches. John Secrest, whose church joined the MacDonald network of Harvest churches last summer, said he was stunned by the turn of events and the announcement that MacDonald would be stepping aside but perhaps still preaching at the Naples location.ĭuring a recent interview with the Tribune, Secrest said he did not think MacDonald should be able to work in Naples until the internal matters were cleared up. While MacDonald was not supposed to preach in Chicago during the sabbatical, the January announcement indicated he may work at Harvest’s newest location in Naples, Fla., where he had preached during the first two Sundays in January.īlindsided by the announcement, the campus pastor in Naples spoke out against the arrangement. 7 post on Harvest’s website from the Executive Committee of Elders. The church decided to drop the lawsuit after a judge ruled that church documents and messages were subject to discovery and could not be sealed from the public, according to a Jan. The church was embroiled in a lawsuit during the fall, when it sued two former church members, their wives and a journalist, alleging defamation and deceptive trade practices.
In the January message to church members announcing that MacDonald was temporarily stepping aside, the pastor himself described actions that “can only be called sin” as the primary reason why he was taking leave.
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