​Our Brandon Campus is a ministry of Furnace Brook Wesleyan Church where the mission is to make more and better disciples. The Brandon Campus is a place for the unchurched and the dechurched where faithful informality and an unconventional approach to doing church might open the door through which unlikely people can make their way into the Kingdom.

We do this by:

• Emphasizing the sacredness of our gathering over the sacredness of our space. (Being more attached to each other and Jesus than we are to our location.)
• Emphasizing the healing, edifying, and sanctifying work of worship.
• Being creative, dynamic, and succinct in our ministry of the word.
• By eating together, both literally and sacramentally.
• Maintaining a relaxed and informal tone that allows for organic growth up to the point where we would launch another campus.

I would like to report to you that we are making progress on our Brandon campus.  As with
anything new it takes a couple times trying to find the right footing. After five Sundays at the Brandon Town hall, I think, we have hit a good stride.  

 Brandon Campus tutorial:

•  When you get there. Upon arrival, someone will be standing outside near the “Furnace Brook meeting here” sign to direct you around the construction zone.    
• Say Hello! There will be someone at the door to open it for you and hand you a bulletin.
• Continue through the foyer into the main meeting room where you will find coffee and pastries to enjoy prior to the service.
• Getting Started. The service will begin with a brief explanation of how the service will proceed, announcements and prayer.
• Worship. We sing an opening song in which we use our voices to sing a prayer to prepare ourselves for communion.
• Communion. Communion is taken by intinction which means that you’ll take a piece of bread to dip in the cup. And it’s “open” communion, meaning that regardless of what church you attend as long as you have made Jesus the Savior of your life we would love if you partake with us. Depending on how we are doing the service that day we will bring communion to you or you have the opportunity to come up and take it.
• Message. Biblical teaching is done in tandem by Pastor Joel Tate and intern, Abbey Elliott. We will read the Old Testament, New Testament, and sermon passage together and then Abbey will ask Pastor Tate questions about the texts. We present the content podcast/interview style.  To hear what this sounds like, follow this link: https://www.furnacebrook.org/sermons.html
• More Worship. Following the teaching session, we will enter into a time of worship. The whole service leads up to this time in the service. During worship we sing 3 songs that reflect what we just discussed. This is also a time for prayer and the giving of our tithe. If you would like to be prayed over there are team members available to pray over you on one of the wings of the room.  
• Snacks! Following the benediction, we encourage you to stay for coffee and to talk with people.

As someone who has experienced the uncomfortable feeling of attending a new church but not feeling like I fit in,  I have some insight into how to create an environment where people feel welcome but not called out for being the newcomer.  

This past Sunday we had a potluck following the service. The invitation was open to anyone with the intention of having everyone in one place to experience and catch the vision. As stated above, our intention for this service is designed for those who feel uncomfortable in formal church setting, those who have been hurt by the church or those who have never been to church. I have a desire for everyone to love Jesus as much as I do, so we want to make attending church as easy as possible.

If after reading this you are as excited about our vision as we are, please visit our Brandon campus or contact Abbey at abigail@furnacebrook.org.

Best,
Abbey

Yesterday we received tragic news regarding people in our fellowship, news we’re not ready to make public, but of which people are becoming aware. It’s asking a lot of you to ask you to curb your curiosity while stirring your concern, but that’s what we’re asking.

Biblical Response to Tragedy
In the meantime, we’d like to offer you this biblical approach to responding to tragedy.

1. Mourn. It’s a verb, something that you do, and not just a matter of feeling sad. Matthew 5:4, Ecclesiastes 7:2

2. Leave everything private that can safely remain that way. 1 Thessalonians 4:11

3. Say everything that you need to say and nothing that you don’t.
It is a great temptation in the face of tragedy to respond verbally, and some things need to be said. But even the best words do less good than ill-considered words do harm. James 1:19

4. Don’t look for or accept short cuts and easy answers. Nothing good comes of trying to make short what God left long, or easy what God has permitted to be hard. The valley of the shadow of death is, indeed, long and difficult to traverse, but we have a good traveling companion. Psalm 23

5. Your grief can rot into injury or ripen into resolve. Carefully manage your grief, exposing it to the light of the Lord, to see it mature into a greater resolve to bring about the Kingdom of God, the place where the “shalom,” the peaceful, right-ordering of things prevails under God’s lordship.

6. Pray to God and for God. No grief touches us but that it grieves him also. He does not need us and he does not suffer from lack of our prayer. But he loves us and when we pray about a tragedy we have the opportunity to acknowledge the way in which sin and its direct and indirect effects have touched his Father’s heart. This is the spirit in which many of the Psalms might be prayed.

7. Let grace prevail. Look for opportunities to extend and receive grace. The impulse to publicly demonstrate your concern can run contrary to the interests of grace.

If, as you become aware of more details, you need help processing this event please contact us in the office and let us walk through it with you. (Email pastor@furnacebrook.org, or call 483.2531)

Written by Joel Tate

Hey everyone!

We’re almost through week 2 of the step challenge. How is everyone doing? Has anyone done anything out of the ordinary just for the sake of the step challenge? I have been doing more snowshoeing! This is not a winter activity that I used to enjoy doing but for some reason this winter I’ve done it a bunch. It’s an activity that my grandfather loves doing as well so we’ve been out in the woods together and it has been such sweet fellowship.

When I was a freshman in college, I decided to become a plant-based vegan.  It was during the Lenten season that I prayed over my health and asked God to heal me and make me healthy again. Praise the Lord, I have come a long way in my health. God has given me a passion for helping people create healthy lifestyles. I hope you find some encouragement in this.

In this season of Lent, perhaps God is asking you to be more deliberate with your food consumption.

​Part of the motivation to stay active comes from feeding our bodies the proper nutrition to stay moving. With the winter months being cold and long, we tend to pack in the carbs and leave out the fruits and veggies.


Conveniently, this week is the beginning of Lent! I encourage you to evaluate what you’re consuming and see if there are some adjustments you can make.

Consider the following questions about your dietary habits:

1. Do you pray before you eat? If you aren’t praying over your meals already, I challenge you to make this a priority.
   
2. Are you eating foods that are wholesome and pleasing to the Lord? By that I mean, are you consuming foods that are produced by local farmers, Fair Trade, or support a good economy? John Wesley, the father of the Wesleyan denomination, had a wholistic natural view on diet. This is the link to his book on health; I encourage you to read it.
   

Bottom line, is what you’re consuming edifying to God? Lots of rhetorical questions here, but food for thought. Pun intended.

Here are some recipes that I have become staples in my diet for long days:

• These overnight oats are great for busy weeks and require an easy 5 minute prep before bed.
  
• These little nuggets have been a life saver for me! They are nut butter oatmeal energy balls. I eat them for a pre workout/post workout snack, as a dessert, or whenever I’m feeling calorie deprived.  The sweetness in them curbs the sweet craving I get and the salt provides natural electrolytes.
  
• Buddha bowls are my go to dinners. They are super easy to make, inexpensive, and can be catered to whatever you’re craving.
  

I love suggestions! What are your meal and snack staples? Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?

Eat well!
Abbey

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 John 1:2

The Step challenge starts today! I’m super pumped and I hope you are too. For more information about the Step Challenge, check it out my previous post.

For the next month we will walk/run/hike/ski (or whatever) to stay positive and finish this winter season out on a strong note! Tune into the blog for fun fitness ideas, and tag us on social media and use the hashtag #stepwithit to win weekly challenges.

Step With It challenge: Get Stepping!
1) Register directly on our website or follow the links on Facebook or Instagram.
2) Choose a weekly activity or challenge to push yourself! 
3) Submit your weekly step totals on Facebook, Instagram, or by email to abigail@furnacebrook.org. And or share with the #stepwithit.
4) Enjoy the benefits of fresh air, exercise, and community encouragement!

Join us each Wednesday and submit your weekly step totals on Facebook, Instagram, or by email to abigail@furnacebrook.org. The individual with the most steps will be announced on Thursday morning.  Don’t forget to tag Furnace Brook on social media with your pictures using the hashtag #stepwithit. Also, tune in to the blog as I’ll be posting words of encouragement, health tips, and recipes!

5 Reasons to Join the Step Challenge
As a scientist, I always ask the question, why? So why do the step challenge with Furnace Brook?

• Exercise is excellent for your physical and mental health by increasing your serotonin and norepinephrine hormone levels.
• The winter slump is a real thing. Individuals can experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in the wintertime because of the short, dark days which result in weight gain, depression, having trouble sleeping, and low energy levels.
• It’s a great excuse to hang out with friends.
• There’s a beautiful world out there to explore. If you live in Rutland, Pine Hill Park has a great trail network, Pittsford also has its own set of trails spread throughout the town, and the Chittenden Reservoir has fabulous trails and breathtaking views. All of these locations can be used year round.
• There’s a cup of coffee waiting at the end. I love the London Fog from Speak Easy, the Chai Latte from Ruff Life, and the Americano from Gourmet Provence.  

How to track your steps
Whether you have a step tracker or not, keeping track of steps is easy! Consider the following methods for step tracking.
 1. Use your fitbit, smartphone, or step tracker to keep track of steps.
2. Log your miles. 1 mile is approximately 2,000 steps.
3. Use the Health App on your phone. Its probably already keeping track of your steps for you!
4.  Use an app on your phone to log your steps. Here are some useful ones I have used in the past:

• StepsApp Pedometer
• Stepz
• Pacer Pedometer & Step Tracker
• My FitnessPal by UnderArmour
  All of these Apps are Android and iOS compatible

5. If none of these options sound appealing to you, take your car track a loop with your mileage on the dashboard.  
When I started running before Garmin watches and FitBits, I made my mom do this for me ;).

What fitness Apps do you use?
Have you ever done a step challenge before?
What keeps you motivated?
​
Written by Abigail Elliott

It’s mid February, who is feeling the winter blues? I love the wintertime, like love it, but some days the cold seeps into my bones and I can’t shake it. I’m convinced living in Vermont makes you a stronger person. We have to put on three layers top and bottom to make it through the work day, start our cars 20 minutes ahead anytime we want to go out, and wear boots everyday for 5 months.

The Secret to Living in Vermont
Vermont-living is not for the faint in heart, but some of us have the privilege to call the Green Mountains our home. Part of living in Vermont and surviving the winter months is finding activities outside that you love. Seriously, it is the secret to surviving. You’re cold? Go outside. It is counter intuitive, but it works. Try it. You’ll feel better because you took in the fresh air and doing a mental detox and you’re exercising rather than eating a pizza. My personal mantra is laps before lattes. I tell myself if I can do anything a with the forethought that the espresso machine is waiting on the other end.  

My core winter activities include Nordic skiing and hiking. I’m kind of a wimp about winter running and mostly stick to the treadmill in the wintertime. Lame, I know. What are some of your winter activities? I know the Brandon Free Library and Maclure Library have snowshoes available for community members to use.  

Join us for the Step With It Challenge
I’ve been blessed to be able to work at Furnace Brook this winter. Mary and I have been hiking local trails a couple times a week and it has helped remarkably with my mood! During one of our hikes we decided we wanted to encourage other people to get outside and enjoy all that God has blessed us with here in Vermont.  

So, we have created the Step with It step challenge beginning 2/20 and ending on the first day of spring, 3/20. We are asking you to join us in finishing the last leg of the winter season. The step challenge is an easy way to hold each other accountable to getting outside and staying active. We often forget how beautiful it is outside because we’re just trying to stay warm.

For the next month we will walk/run/hike/ski or whatever to stay positive and finish this winter season out on a strong note. There is a calendar available on the registration form available for printing off to log your steps and there are some creative activities to try if you’re looking for inspiration.

Join us each Wednesday and  submit your weekly step totals on Facebook, Instagram, or by email to abigail@furnacebrook.org. The individual with the most steps will be announced on Thursday morning. Log your steps however you choose. Note: 1 mile is approximately  2,000 steps.

Step With It challenge: Get Stepping!
1) Register directly on our website or follow the links on Facebook or Instagram.
2) Choose a weekly activity or challenge to push yourself! 
3) Submit your weekly step totals on Facebook, Instagram, or by email to abigail@furnacebrook.org. And or share with the #stepwithit.
4) Enjoy the benefits of fresh air, exercise, and community encouragement!

Don’t forget to tag Furnace Brook on social media with your pictures using the hashtag #stepwithit. Also, tune in to the blog as I’ll be posting words of encouragement, health tips, and recipes!


Be well,
Abbey

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 John 1:2

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.  - 1 John 5:1

Faith and love are two key components that make us people of God. They are such small words yet hold so much weight. Being born into the family of God means that we’ve entered into a larger family circle- a family of believers. It’s a big family composed of people from all over the world and possibly your next door neighbor.

Regardless where we came from or how God adopted us, we have one thing in common to unite us. And that is the love He lavished on us! Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that when it comes down to it, three things remain, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

At Christmas time, it’s easy to feel the warmth of the holiday and the love of friends and family. However, not everyone is as blessed as some. For some, it is difficult to fill the base of the tree with gifts let alone put food on the table. For others, it means remembering the loss of a loved one or those that can’t make it home for Christmas.

The night Mary gave birth to Jesus, the first Christmas, her situation was certainly not merry and bright. She gave birth to a baby without a midwife, in a barn, and put her newborn in a feeding trough. But in that moment, love was born. The greatest gift that God gave to his people and that we can share with our brothers and sisters is love. It says in 1 John, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” On the darkest of nights, in less than ideal circumstances, God lavished his love on us.  

Enjoy these easy Peanut butter no-bake cookies that look of beds of straw.

Ingredients
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup honey (or maple syrup for vegan)!
¼ cup coconut oil measured in the solid state.
2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup quick cooking oats
¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Instructions
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, set aside.
Combine peanut butter, honey salt and coconut oil in a saucepan and heat, stirring continuously, until melted and well-combined.
Stir in vanilla and cocoa powder.
Add quick-cooking oats and mix well.
Add coconut and stir until completely combined.
Drop 1 TBS portions of mixture onto your prepared baking sheet. Continue until you’ve used all your cookie mixture.
Let cool in the refrigerator or freezer until hardened.
Serve cold or frozen!
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!
Adapted from Joy Food Sunshine

Written by: Abigail Elliott

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  - Luke 2:11

When Christine and I were dating we decided one time to make popovers. I’d mentioned my love for them and she responded with a blank look. I was determined to make some for her. I was visiting her at college and we scrounged up the necessary utensils and ingredients and enjoyed our time together in the kitchen.

But when the time came to remove the popovers from the oven it was a disaster. Somehow I’d ended up with a dozen little pucks so inedible that not even the birds had any interest in them.

I could blame it on the use of a dorm kitchen and dorm tools. I was certainly a very inexperienced cook. Maybe the ingredients had been subpar.

I kept going over the recipe I’d been given, making sure that I’d used all the right ingredients in the right proportions.
​
I’ve been cooking long enough now that I think I know what happened. I think that the person who wrote down the recipe for me had thought about some step or other that it went without saying, forgetting that the recipe was being written down for me. “Surely I don’t need to tell Joel,” the thinking went, “to unwrap the stick of butter before adding it to the batter.”

That’s what happens when we’ve been doing something for a long time: things become old hat to us and they go from being something we delighted to say to be something that might go without saying.

Let me say it: you will never have a Christmas worth having if Jesus is not the first ingredient. If you get everyone the perfect gift, on time and under budget, but Jesus is not the first ingredient, it’s all for naught. If it snows on the way home from the Christmas Eve service and all the next day while you sip hot chocolate in your pajamas, but Jesus is not the first ingredient, it amounts to nothing.

Praise him today. Talk about him and talk to him, all day long. Make it all about Jesus or you’ll spend the next few days looking over your recipe, scratching your head, and wondering what you did wrong.

Here is a Popover recipe to try (hopefully successfully).

Merry Christmas!

Written by: Joel Tate

“...to shine on those living in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1:79

Christmas is a season of overabundance for many. We inundate ourselves with a warm fire, too much food, too much family, and too many presents. Like most things American- we like to go big!

I’m not saying big is not wrong, and I love Christmas heartily. But if we lose sight of Jesus, the joy of Christmas becomes temporal.

Surrounded by people, success, money (etc.) you can still feel alone, depressed, or hopeless. Without Jesus, humans are truly in a desperate state.
When Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist refers to Jesus’s coming in Luke, he highlights this truth. Without Jesus humanity was living in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Christmas is the coming of Jesus, our Savior who rescues us from this darkness, and brings us into the light! (Matthew 4:16) How amazing is that? Praise God!

Before Jesus, I turned to many different things to find meaning, and I did find happiness, but quickly found it to be fleeting. How desperate were you before you came to know Jesus? What things did you use to try and fill the God-shaped hole in you? Consider what Jesus liberated you from when you first asked him to come into your life. Praise him for it today!

While we are now Children of the Light, may we also not lose that hunger for Jesus. Would we be desperate for more of him daily (John 8:12). His Word, His presence, His will. Would we be desperate for those around us living in darkness (1 Peter 2:9).

Would we live each day with an understanding of the life we came from and the life we are headed to. Would we love those around us with an understanding that they are living in darkness, but we can call them to the light (John 1:5).

Break out a cardboard box and make a Shadow Puppet Theatre with your kids today. It’s a great activity if you’re stuck inside.

Written by: Mary Weinstein