Helping People Encounter Jesus on Foster Avenue
Jubilee Bible Church gathers on Foster Avenue in Medinah, a small DuPage County suburb in the western Chicago suburbs. Its mission statement - "Helping people encounter Jesus and be radically changed by Him" - is the headline that greets visitors at the front door and across its online channels. The church frames everything from Sunday worship to midweek children's clubs around that single sentence, with a vision of becoming "loving believers who passionately reach others for Jesus."
A Sunday at JBC
Sunday worship begins at 10:30 AM and is offered both in person and as a livestream on YouTube. Lead Pastor Sam Eapen describes the gathering as a time of "vibrant singing, biblical preaching, prayer and fellowship." Visitors entering the main entrance will find the Worship Center to the right and the Nursery on the left. Past the nursery and up the ramp sits the newly renovated JBC Kids wing, where age-specific programming runs at the same 10:30 start.
First-time families can pre-register their children online to make Sunday morning smoother: one form for infants through preschoolers who are not yet potty trained, and another for children from age three through current sixth grade. Volunteers in matching orange JBC Kids t-shirts help direct families from check-in to the right room.
The church building is located right behind the Lake Park East Campus, making it easy to find from the surrounding neighborhoods. The office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM for anyone who wants to stop by during the week, and the phone line and email are available for questions and prayer requests.
What JBC Believes
Jubilee Bible Church holds an evangelical doctrinal statement organized around eleven core teachings. The church affirms one true God existing eternally in three co-equal persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - and proclaims that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as a sacrifice for sins, rose bodily, ascended to the Father's right hand, and will return to raise the dead and establish His kingdom.
The Holy Spirit, the statement teaches, convicts sinners, regenerates those who believe, and indwells, leads, and empowers believers for godly living and the Great Commission. Scripture is described as God's Word to all people, written by human authors under the Spirit's supernatural guidance, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and the final authority for faith and life.
Humanity was created in God's image but fell into sin through Adam's disobedience. Salvation is a gift from God, received only through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins. The church teaches eternal security for the believer, and presents baptism and the Lord's Supper as ordinances. Baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and is a public declaration of faith, though not required for salvation. Communion, celebrated with bread and wine or juice, is a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice and a symbol of the new covenant.
Eternity is taught as a literal division between heaven and hell, with the church universal defined as the spiritual body of all believers from every tribe, tongue, and race, indwelt by God through the Holy Spirit.
Jubilee Kids: Nursery through Fifth Grade
Jubilee Kids partners with parents in the discipleship of their children from infancy through fifth grade. The church uses "The Gospel Project," a chronological, Christ-centered curriculum that walks children from Genesis to Revelation over three years. The same passage of Scripture is taught to every age group at a level appropriate to their stage, allowing families to discuss one shared lesson at home during the week.
The nursery, available at 10:30 AM, is divided into rooms for infants and toddlers, each with developmentally appropriate toys. Volunteers pray for each child weekly and reinforce the same Bible stories, songs, and crafts that older groups are learning. Early Childhood programming, for three- through five-year-olds, includes singing, Bible stories with object lessons, games, prayer, and crafts.
Elementary children begin at 10:00 AM in age-specific small groups before joining together for chapel. First through sixth graders worship and receive teaching together, applying the truths through Bible memory, prayer, and relationships. All volunteers go through references, a background check, and annual training in safety policies, spiritual development, and teaching strategies.
Awana on Wednesday Nights
From September through April, Awana clubs meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 PM for children from age three through sixth grade. The program, one of the most prominent midweek offerings at JBC, focuses on Bible engagement, exciting games, friendship-building, and Scripture memorization. Clubs are divided into three groups by age: Cubbies (three- and four-year-olds), Sparks (kindergarten through second grade), and T&T (third through sixth grade). Each child is registered separately so contact and medical or allergy information is uploaded correctly.
Students and Young Adults
Students in sixth grade and older are invited to join the adults in Sunday worship, then return on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM for Jubilee Students. The youth ministry describes its gathering as a time to "worship together, hear God's Word, and share and pray with one another." The student ministry also hosts an annual summer retreat at Lake Geneva Youth Camp in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.
Jubilee's College and Career ministry extends the same discipleship focus to young adults navigating the transition from school to the working world, and small Community Groups gather college-age adults alongside the wider congregation.
Men's and Women's Ministry
Men's Ministry at JBC is organized through the church office, with Dean Scott fielding questions about upcoming gatherings. The women's ministry is led by Donna Vaporis, who can be reached for details on Bible studies, fellowship events, and service opportunities. Both ministries focus on Bible study, prayer, and fellowship in settings that change throughout the year.
Community Groups Around Medinah
Jubilee teaches that spiritually healthy disciples grow through relationships, and Community Groups are the primary small-group vehicle for that growth. Groups meet on the JBC campus some Sundays after the morning service and on other days of the week in homes or on Zoom. The church notes that groups are kept small enough, roughly the size of Jesus' twelve disciples, so that everyone can participate in conversation and pray for one another.
The Discipleship Path
Jubilee's core values spell out what a spiritually mature disciple looks like in five marks. A mature disciple draws others to Jesus, maintaining relationships with unchurched and unbelieving friends in order to bring them to the church. A mature disciple participates in community, attending worship regularly and joining a small group. A mature disciple lives to serve others, in the community, in the church, and in another culture or country. A mature disciple knows and obeys Scripture through disciplined, ongoing Bible study and can point to recent changes in thought, attitude, and behavior as a result. A mature disciple expresses a life of generosity, looking for opportunities to give time and money, giving sacrificially and systematically to God's work, and giving cheerfully.
Together, the mission, vision, and values form the rhythm of life at Jubilee Bible Church.
RightNow Media and the Sermon Archive
Jubilee makes RightNow Media available free to its members and regular attenders. The streaming library, accessible on computers, tablets, and phones, includes Bible study series, parenting resources, and content for kids, searchable by category, topic, or presenter, with many series linked to workbooks and leader guides.
Sermons are archived on the church's YouTube channel, where the Sunday service is livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person.
Serving at JBC
Visitors who want to jump in beyond Sunday morning can take a Serving Inventory online, and a leader will follow up to help match gifts and interests with open roles. Active areas include the nursery team for children from birth through age three, Sunday morning teachers for preschool through fifth grade, the Awana volunteer team, the media team (lights, sound, and slides), and the Welcome Team, which greets guests at the door, helps at the Welcome Desk, and assists with seating before and during the service.
Beyond Medinah: Retreats and Mission
Jubilee gathers annually at Cedar Lake Ministries in Cedar Lake, Indiana, for an all-church retreat, and it joins Samaritan's Purse each fall to pack Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. The church hosts a Packing Party on campus where members fill boxes and pray for the children who will receive them around the world. A spring Good Friday Stations of the Cross Walk-Through and Easter Sunday service bookend Holy Week, and a Christmas Eve service closes the calendar each year. Throughout the year, the church's calendar keeps an active listing of events for the whole family.
Giving to JBC
Jubilee offers several ways to give. Members and friends can give online by credit or debit card or through a bank ACH transaction, with the option to cover the small transaction fee. Text-to-give is available by texting an amount to (630) 949-3922. The church also accepts gifts through a bank's online bill-pay center, by mailing a check to the Finance Team at the Medinah post office box, and through PayPal by sending payment to finance@jubileebible.org. One-time and recurring gifts are both supported.
The Staff Team
Lead Pastor Sam Eapen was born and raised in India before pursuing his M.Div and Th.M at Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology in Seoul, Korea, where he also served at Jeil Sungdo English Ministry. He is an ordained minister with the Korean Association of Independent Churches and Mission and is passionate about preaching the love of Christ.
Dean Scott, the Executive Director of Ministries, came to faith at Easter 1996 after a church member shared the gospel with him in his home. He joined the JBC staff full time in September 2007.
Pastor Michael Chung, originally from the Chicago western suburbs, earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University before completing a Master of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He serves as Worship and Student Ministries Pastor and is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Church Alliance.
Alisha Henricksen, the Early Childhood Director, holds a bachelor's degree in Bible and Children's Ministry from Moody Bible Institute and oversees the nursery and early childhood programming for the church.