Will’s Story

Before Experience Church, we [my wife, Heather, and our kids] were attending another church,   prior to the pandemic, and we were very devoted to our church. I served on the worship team there quite a bit and as our family began to grow it became a strain to go all the way to our old church, and with the pandemic happening, it was harder to get there. It was also hard for us to serve and fellowship there because it was so far away. We then had a feeling that we needed to go elsewhere. There was this play place in the South Hill Mall where we met Tessa Stutes, and she told us about Experience Church, so we came to check it out. 

When the peak of the pandemic happened, there were lots of churches that shut down, and we caught wind that Experience Church was one of the only churches who were still open. So we decided, “Hey let’s check it out again”, and that Sunday we were like, “This is where we need to serve”. 

The reason we stayed at Experience Church was because for me, I’m from the South, and one thing that’s really big in the South is fellowship before, during, and after church, and everyone being glad to see you. When we first came to see Experience Church, the amount of joy coming out of the doors, and people hugging us before they even knew us, that hospitality that I missed from  being in Southern churches, I found again in this one. There was just something special about coming here. I also love the professionalism; I have a background in television and I worked with a few big name ministries where excellence was high priority, and what also drew me here was the excellence, and how everything was done. From the door greeters, to the music, the preaching, to the lighting, the television production and audio. That’s just surface stuff, but I could definitely feel the Holy Spirit here, and I can see how they can help you win here, there was just growth here. I have served in a lot of churches where I had reached the top of what I was supposed to do, but here I feel like there is an abundance of growth consistently.

My life since joining the Dream Team, in one word, has been amazing. My life has been drastically different since becoming a Dream Team member. I’ve always served in churches my whole life, but this one has definitely brought me up to another level. I have a lot less time now after having three children, however, I want to serve here because on the Dream Team everybody is next level. They bring me up, they don’t allow you to slack off. They allow you to grow, and push you. It’s the people. The high quality people that encourage me to strive to be better.