Disgraced Pastor James MacDonald Charged With Felony Assault After Allegedly Attacking Woman In Road Rage Incident
Disgraced former Harvest Church pastor James MacDonald was arrested and charged with felony battery and assault after allegedly attacking a woman in a road rage incident, beating her up so badly she had to be hospitalized. According to reports:
James MacDonald, who was fired from Harvest Bible Chapel in 2019, was arrested March 22 in Coronado, California, after he allegedly attacked a 59-year-old woman.
He was trying to parallel park his truck about 10:15 a.m. in the 900 block of Orange Avenue when he struck the woman’s car. The two exited their cars, and he “attacked” her, according to Coronado police.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for serious injuries, police said.
Macdonald, 62, is charged in San Diego County with one felony count each of battery causing serious bodily injury and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Michael Pancer, an attorney representing Macdonald, said in a statement to the Sun-Times that, “James MacDonald would never intentionally harm another human being.
“The charges as written are not accurate as to what took place. We believe the evidence will show Dr. MacDonald’s intent and conduct was neither malicious nor correctly assigned in the charges filed. We look to the legal process to establish what did happen and remedy the situation lawfully.”
Details of the incident originally appeared on the city of Coronado’s Police Facebook page, though the details about the stolen gun were later corrected to note the gun was NOT stolen.
MacDonald pled not guity and is scheduled to appear in court in June. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 7 years in prison.
Macdonald’s was officially terminated by the elder board of Harvest Bible Church in November of 2019 following a messy, public separation filled with lawsuits and name-calling. The elder board previously declared the money-grubbing guzzler to be so not above reproach, that they raked him over the coals sixty ways to Sunday and called him out for the abusive, greedy, two-fold son of hell that he is: explaining in an open letter all the ways MacDonald failed to be qualified for the pastorate.
- Above Reproach (Titus 1:6)–“To be above reproach is to have a reputation for being blameless and honorable.” The accusations against James are of great quantity and continue to be brought forward. His character should have been such that this magnitude of accusations would not have been believable. But sadly, James’ reputation does not defend his character. Instead, his reputation affirms many of the accusations against him as plausible.
- Respectable (1 Timothy 3:2)–The antithesis of being respectable is to be disruptive. We found that James had a pattern of being disruptive in public and private settings at the expense of other people’s well-being.
- Upright (Titus 1:8)–We found that James failed to meet the standard of dealing with others fairly and honorably. At times, he misrepresented gifts paid for by the church as gifts from him personally.
- Not Arrogant or Violent (Titus 1:7)–James’ behavior and language indicated that he thought of himself more highly than he should as evidenced by his pattern of insulting, belittling and verbally bullying others.
- Not Quick-Tempered or Quarrelsome (Titus 1:7; 1 Timothy 3:3)–We found James had a pattern of quickly becoming angry, manifesting itself in unmerited force and frequency. James’ behavior was of that of a combative person who insisted on his own ways and failed to cultivate peace.
- Not Domineering (1 Peter 5:3)–We found that James had a pattern of improperly exercising his positional and spiritual authority over others to his own advantage.
- Not Greedy for Gain or A Lover of Money (Titus 1:7; 1 Timothy 3:3)–We found that James made repeated efforts to profit himself beyond what was honorable. There was a pattern of extravagant spending utilizing church resources resulting in personal benefit.
- Disciplined (Titus 1:8)–James failed to keep his emotions under control. The failure is not in the dynamic range of his personality, but in the lack of self-discipline, which an Elder should display in a bridled tongue and sound speech.
- Self-Controlled and Sober-Minded (Titus 1:8; 1 Timothy 3:2)–We found that James had a pattern of acting on sudden impulses with insufficient deference to wise but differing views. In some of the most crucial moments where James needed to be calm and cautiously wise, he was hasty and reckless.
MacDonald was living the high life prior to being ousted, giving Brian and Bobbie Houston of Hillsong a run for their money. MacDonald was likely rolling around naked each night in his Scrooge McDuckian Money Bin, reveling in the filthy lucre he was amassing and spending as if it were candy.
Since leaving Harvest, MacDonald has been keeping busy as an itinerant preacher, running his Home Church Network, and appearing on TBN with Kirk Cameron.
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This altercation is but a summary of his disqualification from ANY office within the church.
May God have mercy on his soul
Imagine how different his life would be, and that church would be, and the lives of countless others would be, if he was an individual who fully and contritely confessed, repented, and accepted correction.
So obviously, his lawyer doesn’t REALLY know him. Anyway, many that KNOW him are not surprised by the story. My prayers go out to the victim. My prayers go out to all the victims of this deceiver. I would also ask that people will pray for me and my family, as he has not stopped attacking me for years. I went to the church to find out more about Jesus Christ instead we got his cult of personality. I also pray his acolytes wake up to the truth before more people are hurt.