Meeting at a small conference room in September 1988, eighteen men and women came together to form a different kind of church. By God's hand, Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois has now grown into a healthy, functioning Christian fellowship of over 12,000 individuals meeting in five Chicago area campuses. In 2000, Harvest Bible Chapel began a church planting initiative which has led to growing churches throughout the United States, Canada, and around the world.
In early 2000, a small gathering of people was meeting as a church in Barrie. With no pastor and no building of their own, the group faced the prospect of closing down the ministry. Instead, God birthed in them a vision for greater ministry that would impact not only Barrie, but the whole of Canada. Through a series of God-orchestrated events and meetings, Harvest Bible Chapel Barrie came into being in January of 2001. It was soon followed by Harvest Bible Chapels in Oakville (2004), London and York Region (2006), Muskoka and Cambridge (2008), and Brampton (2009).
In the Durham Region in 2005, a group of young men began to meet regularly to study God’s Word together. The group began to see significant growth as God transformed their lives through His Word. As a result of this season, God gave some of them a desire to be trained for ministry and to plant a church in Canada. In 2006, while some of the men were being trained at The Master’s Seminary in California, a relationship was formed with Harvest Bible Fellowship at a recruitment meeting. This relationship led to the prospect of another Harvest Bible Chapel in Ontario. At the same time, numerous believers from Durham Region – including many who were a part of that initial Bible Study - began to attend Harvest Bible Chapel York Region in Markham. In 2008, the leadership of Harvest York Region, aware of the large number of people attending from Durham Region and of HBF’s desire to plant in Durham, expressed their desire to play a significant role in this new church plant. In the fall of 2009, the planting of Harvest Bible Chapel Durham was announced and a Launch Team began to form and prepare. Meanwhile, God had been preparing many in the Durham Region to be involved in this work, and over the course of 2010 many dedicated followers of Jesus Christ made the decision to commit their time, money, energy, prayers, and families to this new work. By the grace of God, Harvest Bible Chapel Durham launched on September 19, 2010 at Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in Whitby. Our passion is to see “lost people saved, saved people matured, and mature people multiplied, all to the glory of God”.