History of Jubilee

On December 16, 1985, a group of 13 people met to discuss the possibility of starting a fourth Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines.  The idea was to join together people who were eager for close fellowship, semi-informal worship and evangelistic outreach.   The wheels were set in motion to gain support and approval from the three existing Christian Reformed churches.

Our first general membership meeting was held on May 15, 1986, at which time 53 families/singles had indicated their willingness to start a new church.  By December 29, 1986, our group had grown large enough (70 families/singles) that we could ask Classis Niagara to allow us to start a new church, which they approved at their next meeting of January 28, 1987.

At 7:00 pm on April 5, 1987, we held an organizational meeting, elected office bearers and chose the name “Jubilee CRC” (Fellowship was added later that year).  After much voting that evening, we held our first worship service, which was led by Rev. Henry Jonker, then pastor of Trinity CRC in St. Catharines.  The next Sunday, we held our first morning service in the gymnasium of Beacon Christian High school. 

Our first pastor, Rev. Peter Slofstra, came a year later.  Little did we know that this beloved pastor and his wife, Marja, would serve us for 15 years.  We rented the Beacon Christian High school facilities for five wonderful years – years which shaped us especially in our worship style.  In these years we completed our Concept of Ministry.  A new church facility, designed by member Henry Swinkels, was officially opened and dedicated on Sunday, September 13, 1992.

Since that time, our church community has grown steadily and we have developed and implemented many programs.  Our church building is a multi-purpose facility that has served Jubilee well.  The emphasis has been on celebrating God’s faithfulness through his acts of re-creation.  In 1997, we restructured our leadership so that women could be commissioned as Pastoral Care Givers.  When Synod opened the office of elder to women, these women were ordained and women now serve in all offices at Jubilee.

 In 2001 we embarked on a re-visioning process called the “ABC process” through Home Missions, and developed a Five-Year Strategic Plan for Ministry.  One of the most significant aspects of this plan was the hiring of our Director of Ministries in February of 2002.