Today, I want to introduce you to Dee Browers, the Team Leader for our Encourager Team at PCL. There are many reasons people can’t get to church. Illness is a big one! Check our Dee’s story and witness real community online.
Hello everyone! My name is Dee Browers & I want to share what online church has meant to me. I joined PCL church online December 2017 just a few months after it was created. Now several years later I can attest to loving the ability to practice my faith daily, not just on Sunday.
Let me tell you a bit of my background so you can understand my need & desire for online church & how you might think differently about those you can serve in your own community.
I spent decades working in large hospitals & reference laboratories that run 24/7. I hated missing church but my work required me on weekends. I was able to attend church on my weekends off about 1-2 times a month. Boy I could have used church online back then!!
We also moved often due to the military & again online church would have kept me connected to my faith.
In the last 18 years I have been disabled by numerous autoimmune diseases, namely Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn’s Disease, chronic pain & Lupus. I have no two days that are the same. I do not sleep or eat at the ‘normal’ times. Nothing about my life is consistent except the diseases progressing. 🤷🏻♀️
Until I found PCL online a few years ago I struggled finding anyone wanting to practice their faith consistently. I also would prepare to go to my home church only to miss due to my health.
I’m in a Small Group with my local church but I also am not consistently attending church or small group due to complications of my illnesses. I’m lucky if I attend my local church 4-8x a year, & less times to my small group.
It’s difficult being home most of the time except maybe 1-2 dozen times a year to go to doctor & specialists visits. I occasionally go on vacation if I’m having a good year. Again my days cannot be predicted.
I have learned to live with my new normal & am so thankful I am alive & have the ability to get out some.
I have a great life, I understand most do not know how I can enjoy long periods of home confinement. My answer is I could not without my relationship with Jesus Christ!
PCL being online has fulfilled the need of community for me! We all need communication with others & I am able to go online anytime day or night & not only make a connection-but make a connection with others who are Christians. It may seem easy yet all my Facebook friends do not utilize their faith so it’s more than just connecting online-it’s a true connection at PCL with someone of faith that sustains me. I can ask for prayer online 24/7 & that’s especially helpful on my difficult days. I can connect daily with Bible Study with Pastor Angela & others & have so enjoyed this opportunity!! I get to speak with Pastors & laypersons I have friendships with & have made true connections online. I was even well enough last fall to travel & be with Angela & others I’ve met on PCL. Yes it’s true you can make online friends that’s become friends in ‘real’ life! I even lead a group of Encouragers on PCL & what fun it’s been to be a gift to others! I feel alive again, I feel whole & needed-something that could have led to depression from isolation I have turned into a life of bringing others to know Jesus Feeling needed, wanted & loved is important to all of us. How can we do that-allow ‘all’ to participate in church, not just those who are able-bodied & can attend church in person.
My prayer is all churches can take this time to consider keeping church both in person & online for those who are housed in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, or confined to homes for any reason. Others may come because they are away on business, on vacation, or watch video of the sermon later due to children’s sports activities. The lists are endless as we as a nation & world change and move forward to a new normal.
My prayer is that everyone has a chance to practice their faith as often as they wish. I can attest my faith has been strengthened & renewed because of online church. And those around me see a difference as well. In Matthew 22 :37-39 (NIV) Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
I feel online church allows those of us informed to practice both loving God & our neighbor. What’s the most significant impact church online has had on my life? It’s not just what I’m mentioned to you-it’s that I have been called to serve & hope to continue to bring others know & love God as much as I do. 
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What do you think?