Jubilee Worship Center sits on the south edge of St. Cloud, Minnesota, at 3125 County Road 74, a single-story building that has been the home of a multicultural, contemporary Christian congregation since March of 1998. Pastors Mark and Becky Johnson planted the church, and they still lead it today, joined by a small staff and a circle of volunteer ministry leaders. Jubilee is affiliated with the Global Apostolic Alliance, and its services, classes and small groups all orbit a single three-part motto: Experiencing God, Loving Others, and Transforming Our World.
What first-time visitors tend to notice about Jubilee is how expressive its Sunday services are. The church describes its worship as "spirited, expressive and set to live, contemporary music" and invites guests to "brace yourself, because it may not be what you're used to." People stand, sing new songs, clap, lift their hands, shout, dance, wave banners and occasionally pray aloud in tongues with interpretation. A choir or worship team leads with sound, and the preaching comes from Pastor Mark Johnson or a visiting speaker. Each Sunday service runs from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the Jubilee Sanctuary, and the entire service is livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube and Rumble for those who want to participate from home.
Why We Worship the Way We Do
Jubilee takes the unusual step of walking visitors through the biblical basis for every expression they will encounter on a Sunday morning. Standing comes from Psalm 135:1-2. Singing comes from Psalm 47:6, and singing new songs from Psalm 149:1. Musical instruments, clapping, lifted hands, lifted voices and shouts of joy each have their own psalm attached, and the church also makes room for dance, banners, utterances in tongues and prophetic words, citing Mark 16:17 and 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Paul reminded that "all things be done decently and in order." For visitors who have never attended a charismatic or Pentecostal service, the explanation is a useful primer; for those who grew up in that stream, it confirms that Jubilee expects that kind of freedom in worship every week.
Jubilee Kids and the Nursery
Children are not an afterthought at Jubilee. The church runs three distinct programs for the youngest members of its families. On Sunday mornings the Nursery is fully staffed for children from birth through age two, running alongside the service from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Children ages three through twelve are dismissed partway through worship and head to Jubilee Kids Church, where they have their own time of singing, teaching and activities until 11:30 a.m. On Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., Stephanie Miller leads a Wednesday Night Kids Church for the same age range, with a shared meal served from 6:00 to 6:30 before the lesson begins. Parents are asked to keep children potty trained and out of diapers before they move up to Kids Church.
The Jubilee Kids team is explicit about its philosophy. "Children's Church for Jubilee Kids are not junior services, just as children do not receive a junior Holy Spirit." "We have fun, we get loud, we get messy, but the heart of the matter is that we get to know Jesus intimately and we learn to respond to the presence of the Holy Spirit." Kids are encouraged to help with skits, share their own talents and build friendships with each other, not just listen to a lesson.
Wildfire Youth Ministry
Teens in grades seven through twelve meet on Wednesday nights in the Jubilee Youth Room for Wildfire Youth Ministry. Director Ian Wesenberg leads the group, which gathers at 6:00 p.m. for a shared meal and then moves into lively worship, a Bible-based teaching time and games until 7:30 p.m. The group also runs monthly outings, and recent calendars have included bowling nights, Valley Fair trips, camping weekends, soccer, and pizza nights. During the warmer months, May through September, Wildfire joins the rest of the church on the last Wednesday of the month for Family Bonfire Nights on the Jubilee grounds.
A Wednesday Rhythm
Wednesdays are the busiest night of the week at Jubilee. The day begins early with Wednesday Morning Prayer at 6:30 a.m. in the Fireside Room, where Pastor Mark leads a half hour of prayer focused on the church, families, the community and the nation. People new to prayer are explicitly welcome; the listing says, "No previous experience necessary."
Evenings are structured around a 6:00 p.m. shared meal that anyone can join. After the meal, three programs run in parallel from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Wildfire Youth in the Jubilee Youth Room, Wednesday Night Kids Church in the main building, and Wednesday Night Adult Prayer in the Sanctuary. On the last Wednesday of the month from May through September the formal programs step aside and the church gathers on its own grounds for Family Bonfire Nights from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Jubilee provides hot dogs, brats, buns, s'mores and bottled water, and attendees bring a dish to share and their own non-alcoholic drinks. Because there is no seating, families are asked to bring lawn chairs.
Classes and Small Groups
Outside of Sundays and Wednesdays, Jubilee keeps a handful of small groups running through the year. Temple Restorers meets on Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom as a support group for health, wellness and weight loss. It is facilitated by Julie Goodner and is open to newcomers at any time. The 20s & 30s Bible Study Group meets every other Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Ruth's home; childcare is not provided, so parents will want to plan accordingly. The Women's Bible Study gathers every other Thursday from 1:15 to 3:30 p.m. at the Caribou Coffee outside Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud. The current series, facilitated by Sharyl Cilke, is titled "Do I REALLY Believe What I Say I Believe," and treats the gathering as an interactive, deep dive into God's Word. Participants buy their own beverage from 1:15 to 2:00 p.m. and then move into the Bible study itself.
Anyone interested in starting at Jubilee is pointed to the Discovery Course, a three-part introduction that walks new participants through discovering their church family, discovering their purpose, and discovering their serve. Each session includes a meal.
An Apostolic Statement of Faith
Jubilee Worship Center holds an unusually detailed statement of faith, organized as twenty numbered articles. The church teaches that the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God; that there is one true God revealed in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice, rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father and will return in power and glory.
The statement goes on to articulate a full Pentecostal worldview. Salvation is by grace through repentance and personal faith, and is evidenced by the inward witness of the Spirit and an outward life of righteousness. The church practices two ordinances, water baptism by immersion and holy communion, both understood as outward acts of obedience. Distinct from the new birth, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is available to all believers who ask in faith, with an initial physical evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. The gifts of the Spirit are to be earnestly sought and actively exercised in the body. Divine healing is described as an integral part of the gospel, available through the atonement and ministered through spiritual gifts.
Jubilee also affirms the fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-16) and teaches that the offices of apostle and prophet are being restored in fullness before the return of Christ. The church holds to the unity of the body of Christ, the resurrection of the saints, the millennial reign of Christ, the final judgment, and the promise of new heavens and a new earth. The twentieth article affirms local church autonomy, stating that each congregation should govern itself without interference from an outside institution, while still benefiting from spiritual, apostolic covering and networking with other churches. This autonomy, combined with affiliation to the Global Apostolic Alliance, shapes how Jubilee relates to the wider body of Christ in Central Minnesota and beyond.
Pastors Mark and Becky Johnson
Mark and Becky Johnson are the founding Lead Pastors of Jubilee Worship Center and remain its public face. They started the church in March of 1998, and their stated vision is to enable as many people as possible to experience God, love others, and transform their world. Both grew up in Christian homes and committed their lives to Christ at a young age. They were married in 1977 and have been lead pastors since 1982, before planting Jubilee in St. Cloud. They have three adult children and eight grandchildren. Becky oversees worship and arts at Jubilee as well as the Jubilee Kids ministry, which is why so much of the kids' programming carries the same expressive, Holy-Spirit-centered tone as the main service.
Visiting Jubilee
Jubilee Worship Center is at 3125 County Road 74, St. Cloud, Minnesota 56301, just south of the city. The phone line is (320) 202-0540. Sunday worship begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs ninety minutes, with children's programs running alongside it. Online visitors can watch the same service live on Facebook, YouTube and Rumble. Wednesday is a second front door for the church, with morning prayer at 6:30 a.m. and a full evening of family, youth and adult programming beginning at 6:00 p.m. Giving is available online through the church's Church Center platform, and newcomers who want a slower on-ramp can begin with the Discovery Course before stepping into a small group or ministry team. Jubilee Worship Center is affiliated with the Global Apostolic Alliance, and its building, its services and its calendar all aim at the same three-fold purpose the Johnsons have carried since 1998: to help the people of St. Cloud experience God, love others, and transform their world.