A Letter From the Pastor: Worship Options Update

We Did it Backwards...
This past Sunday at 11:00 we had our last service at the Center Street Bar and we did the service from 9:00 at Pittsford in reverse order! We decided to arrange the service so that it built up to the act of worship and the Spirit was present and the voices beautiful in that place!

It was fresh and invigorating in the way that new things are, and it served as a test run for something exciting that we are doing starting this week!

Furnace Brook Wesleyan Church is all about making more and better disciples, and in our pursuit of that mission we’ve been blessed with a vibrant church, but there can be problems that come with growth. On recent Sundays at our Pittsford Campus we could have used more seats and parking spaces, and we believe that trend will continue as God uses us to make more and better disciples here.

Anticipating God’s continued work, we’re positioning ourselves for growth. Below are updates to our current worship times and locations, starting Sunday, March 17th.

New Worship Menu Options
1. Pittsford Service at 9am
9am Pittsford worship | 67 Gecha Lane, Pittsford

At Pittsford at 9:00 we will go on having the vibrant and compelling worship experience to which so many of you have become accustomed. Nothing will change.

2. Forest Dale gathering with Barry Tate at 9:30am
9:30am Forest Dale Gathering |1895 Forest Dale Rd., Forest Dale
At 9:30 Pastor Tate’s father, Barry Tate, will lead a gathering in our Forest Dale location. Designed primarily with the people of the Forest Dale Campus in mind, but open to anyone.This gathering will look to use a combination of Bible teaching, prayer, and simple, traditional worship to bring about healing and a deeper gospel experience. There will not be any children’s ministry or communion at this gathering. We have committed to taking this gathering through May (Barry Tate’s term of availability) and will make a decision about extending it through the summer by the first Sunday in May.
Note: the Forest Dale 10am Service will no longer occur.

3) Brandon Worship at the Town Hall, 11am
11am Brandon Worship | Brandon Town Hall, 1 Conant Sq., Brandon
And at 11:00 we will be offering a fresh and intimate worship experience at the Town Hall in Brandon. Building on the success of our once-a-month services at Center Street and employing an original order of service that makes our concluding time of acoustic worship the focal point, this service will include much of the same content as the 9:00 service but in a different format. There will be children’s church and weekly communion. This service is specifically geared towards those who are newer believers, unchurched, or may not be comfortable in any type of Church environment. Our goal is to make Jesus known, and we are specifically hoping to love our neighbors who are hurting, most in need of Jesus, and who reflect our prayer for a ‘messy Church’. We serve a powerful, chain-breaking, river splitting, mountain crumbling God, and we’re eager to see him move powerfully in our Church, and specifically in the Brandon community.
Note: the second sunday service at Center Street will no longer occur.

Brandon Worship Service: We Expect God to Work Powerfully!
We’re excited about the Brandon Town Hall service, and believe that it will become a very important part of how we accomplish our mission of making more and better disciples for Jesus at Furnace Brook. Not only does having a worship service at 11:00 in downtown Brandon significantly expand the scope of our ministry, but there are reasons to be intrigued and excited about this service in particular. Those of us who had the chance to worship at Center Street this past Sunday have an idea of what this could be and we’re thrilled about it.

But for this to happen we will need your help.

In order for Moses to part the Red Sea, God called him to take a step of faith, and put his staff in the water first. God foiled the Egyptians and liberated the Israelites, but Moses was faithful in trusting God and taking action in obedience (Exodus 14).
Pastoral intern, Abbey Elliott, and Pastor Tate will be recruiting people to commit to volunteer and attend the service through May. That means that you may get a call from one or the other of them, especially if you already live in Brandon or points north.

Here’s how to respond when they contact you:

• Don’t screen their calls!
• Don’t wait for their calls. If you know that God is calling you to be involved don’t let yourself get recruited for what you might have volunteered to do.
• Pray before answering, but don’t use the need to pray as a way to avoid answering.
• Keep in mind that you can commit to every Sunday through May or just some of them, and that nothing would prevent you from (at least occasionally) worshipping at either the 9:00 service in Pittsford or the 11:00 service in Brandon and serving at the other.
• Be grateful that participating in the life of a church on mission sometimes involves the sort of sacrifices that people at a languishing church could only dream of being able to make.

Not sure if you’ll be able to attend the Brandon service? Throw yourself into supporting it (and the other things your church is doing) through prayer.

• Please be praying for our church and church leadership. We are looking to glorify God, faithfully obey his leading, and make decisions with his wisdom and discernment. Lift up your leaders, Sunday services, and the church that he may be lifted high.
• Pray for the church leaders and volunteers who are laboring on Sundays. Ask God to strengthen them, encourage them, equip them, and help make him known.
• Be praying for the Brandon, Pittsford, and Forestdale (the communities where our meetings take place) that God would do a radical work of revival.

Questions about the service menu options? Email office@furnacebrook.org.

Prayerfully,
Pastor Joel

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