HOT PURSUIT

Marc Jefferson has taken a church that was “almost dead” as he refers to it and revitalized it into something that he hopes will make a profound statement in Owatonna.

Jefferson is the pastor at Owatonna Christian Church, which worships in the former library of the Pillsbury campus. The church arose out of Destiny Church, which ran into some difficult times prior to Jefferson arriving in Owatonna about a year and a half ago.

He is African American and wants to provide the community with a diverse church of various nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. 

A few years ago, Jefferson was sent to plant a church in the urban area of northeast Minneapolis. During his 30 years of ministry, urban areas have been his specialty. Instead, he ended up in Owatonna, an area surrounded by farm fields, something he definitely wasn’t used to in his past. And he couldn’t be more pleased with what has transpired.

“I came down to help with Owatonna,” he explained. “God did something, and I moved to Owatonna.”

Jefferson brings a colorful past to leading the church. The self-proclaimed gang member admits that “sex, drugs and rock-and-roll” consumed his life at one time. Not any longer. About 30 years ago he traded that lifestyle to become a pastor and focus on God’s word.

“I had planned to move to Europe with a band when I went to a friend’s wedding and someone began to tell me about God,” Jefferson recalled. “He told me he saw a calling in my life,” he said, adding he was soon on his way to becoming a pastor.

He believes that many of the rough experiences he’s gone through in his former life have positioned him well with his role as pastor. For example, he went through a “horrible divorce,” and now can relate to people who face the same situation.

Jefferson encourages his members to love God and love people. “Do life with others through the ups and downs,” he says. “It’s the whole principle of grace.”

His efforts appear to be paying off as he has developed a church council of 13 people that meets once a month. In addition, Owatonna Christian offers four pastors, a worship leader, an elder in teaching and an elder in training as well as “a lot of volunteers.”

One of Jefferson’s main focuses is to make the church more inter-generational. “We have to make other disciples, and we need to prepare the younger people so that the church can continue even after we are gone,” he said.

What once was a church struggling to hang on is now in hot pursuit of blossoming into a diverse church to serve an ever changing community.