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HBCNL History

Praise God for His faithfulness and leading in our individual families as well as our church family! Harvest Bible Chapel New Lenox started out as a church plant of Village Evangelical Free Church in South Holland, IL.  Recognizing the opportunity for increased ministry opportunities through church planting in the booming LincolnWay area, Village EFC sent out a group of 45 people in January, 2003 to start "Cornerstone Church" in New Lenox, with Arvid Svendsen serving as pastor. After meeting at LincolnWay Central High School in New Lenox for about two years, the church had experienced some growth. However, the pastor and elders longed for more significant growth and outreach into the community. With the explosive growth of the LincolnWay Community, there was no doubt that God was calling us to believe Him for great things!

Pastor Arvid's brother, Mel Svendsen (pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel Lake Zurich), suggested exploring the possibility of becoming an HBC partner church. The support and resources offered by Harvest Bible Fellowship seemed to address many of the desires of the leadership for establishing a Bible-based church. That desire was fueled by subsequent attendance at Harvest University at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, in the spring of 2005.  Following a time of prayer and many fruitful conversations with Harvest Bible Fellowship's Directore of Development, Gordon Zwirkoski, Harvest Bible Chapel New Lenox was established on October 2, 2005.  

Since becoming a Harvest Bible Chapel, God has been blessing tremendously. Average attendance has grown from about 80 people to over 200 people in six short months. The reputation of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows/ Elgin as a place where the Word of God is powerfully preached has resulted in many families desiring to make Harvest New Lenox their home church. We praise God for the way in which He lead us to join with Harvest Bible Fellowship! We hope you will consider visiting us, and making Harvest Bible Fellowship your home church.