Jami Roland’s Story

Before coming to Experience Church.tv, our lives were stressful, lacking a clear path, and just missing something. COVID created a deeper feeling of isolation. We did attend a large local church for years but could not get connected, no matter how hard we tried. We tried to serve but it was without family. We tried to get pastoral care during a crisis, and no one was there for us. I could not even find a small group to attend, so a neighbor and I created one. We attended another large church a few times but then COVID shutdowns occurred and when we watched that pastor streaming service, we knew that we could not attend that church. The teaching was secular and against the bible. This was a frustrating time, we felt isolated and like the world had gone crazy and taken all the churches with it. The bible was not being honored and God’s teaching followed.

At the suggestion of Mike Mason, I watched Experience Church.tv, and the very first message, Pastor Dennis spoke to my heart and immediately thought “My husband Craig will love this!” It was hope that my husband and I were not the only ones to share the mindset and morals of Pastor Dennis.

We were so excited to attend Experience Church.tv, to be a part of it. I knew my husband Craig and I would also be able to grow, and the messages resonated with Craig deeply. Before, it felt like we were a small minority of believers that saw and followed biblical truth. I was scratching my head constantly at what was being taught in churches and coming from believers’ mouths and actions. We began online streaming and after a few services, Craig began listening to all the old sermons backwards in podcasts. It was not too long after that we decided to come and when we did, it was just this overwhelming joy! 

Our first Sunday, people were genuinely happy to see us and wanted to know us. Because of that, we were connected on day one. When we walked into the church, Kelly Smith and Amanda Kirk insisted on getting to know us. Not the standard, “I want to greet you..” instead an “I want to know you” frame of mind. They spent a lot of time just chatting with us, and they were not looking at their watches or trying to move on to the next task, the interaction was true and genuine. That was powerful.

Then of course Pastor Dennis’ messages…there was the way the congregation had agreement and unity as he preached. They were not cliquish at all; you can see people swim from group to group talking to each other like family. So, we stayed, and started Growth Track quickly; it was great to learn the Pastor’s heart. After those classes, neither of us could wait to serve in church. Growth Track was also great because, my teenage son, Frankie, did not grow up with a strongly rooted Christian household, we were baby Christians for a long while. We were learning too, so teaching seemed out of reach, Frankie did not have a lot of biblical teaching influence, so when we started attending as a family and he started to grow on his own, it was an extra gift from finding this church, home, and family.

Our life after staying at Experience Church.tv is extremely full. It sounds cheesy, but we look forward to Sundays, and do not want to leave the engaging atmosphere. It’s like when Pastor talks about when everyone came back to church after the shutdown, he had to kick them out because they wanted to stay and have fellowship. I can relate to that feeling now.

Also on Wednesdays, we really try to come for prayer, and Frankie makes it a priority to attend youth. Experience Church.tv has helped Frankie grow more confident, engaged, and focused on God. I could not imagine wanting to leave something like this. We feel informed but also fortified by our new church family.