A Publication of Sardis Presbyterian Church April 2018 Building God’s Kingdom Through Worship ● Service ● Fellowship ● Evangelism ● Discipleship
Join Sardis on April 22 for an incredible day filled with serving others and fellowship.
Are you called to care? Get in on this opportunity to serve others for a few hours. We are going to be rising against hunger this year!
Sunday School at 9 A.M. One Worship Service at 10 A.M. Lunch at 11 A.M. in the Education Hall (Donations Accepted) Worship
Rise Against Hunger Project Schedule
(In the Fellowship Hall immediately following lunch)
This is an event for ALL ages! FAMILIES & INDIVIDUALS!
APRIL 22
Help us feed over 30,000 people! Sign-up at www.sardis.org or with your smart device now!
The Communicator ~ April 2018 Sardis Presbyterian Church · 6100 Sardis Road · Charlotte, NC 28270 · 704‐366‐1854 · www.sardis.org
Church Life
Ministry is about life in Christ which affects everything we do.
Welcome, New Sardis Members!
Special Concert Saturday, May 5 · 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Light Mass by Vytautas Miškinis, Lithuanian Composer
Sanctuary Choir, Jazz trio from University of Georgia, Kaitlyn Davros, piano, Jared Daugherty, conductor
Meg & John Calder
A free‐will offering will be collected.
Alice & Don Glefke
Find out the exciting details at sardis.org.
Martha & Phillip Jurney
Pat & Tom Kendall
Interested in becoming a member?
Join our Inquirer’s Class on Sunday, April 15 at 10 a.m. in the Dining Room. Find out more about Sara Martin
Sardis Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and
Katie McKee & Josh Alost
becoming a member of the Sardis Family.
We hope to see you there!
Help Support Our New Pastor!
Visit sardis.org/news to view the charge to the congregation to help support Joe B. May God Lo & Bill Simon
Ryan Thompson
bless Joe B. and his ministry at Sardis.
Sports & Recreation
Men’s Basketball is on Wednesday nights from 7‐9 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall! Join us any week! Pickleball is open to middle school students through adult! Play with us at 7 p.m. each Tuesday in the Fellowship Hall.
2 The Communicator ~ April 2018
Church Life
Ministry is about life in Christ which affects everything we do.
Friendship Connection · A fellowship group for retirees that meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
Tuesday, April 17 · 11:00 a.m. in the Sardis House A musical program led Janet Dyer, fiddle player for the Schiele Museum in Gastonia. $10 per person. Register and pay online at sardis.org or register and pay at the door by calling 704.926.1590.
Registration is open for our May 15 day trip to Lake Lure. Deadline to register is April 30. We will be enjoying a Boxed Lunch Boat Tour. We will leave the church at 8:30 a.m. and return at 3:30 p.m. Registration is $25 per person.
Save the Date: “An Evening with Actionnel”
May 9, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m Look for details in the May Communicator about a special gathering with the Rev. Actionnel Fluerisma, pastor of the church and founder of the school in Bayonnais, Haiti with which Sardis is in partnership.
Stewardship
Moby Moore
Christian Stewardship is a lifestyle which acknowledges accountability and responsibility before God. It is the “big picture” of our use of all gifts that have been entrusted to us during our time on earth and about the daily choices we make with the resources we have. As April 15 approaches, the time has come to evaluate how much we earned during the previous year, and how many charitable contributions we made. Might this also be the perfect time to figure out just how faithful and generous we really are?
Consider this... All that we have, and all that we are, comes from God. (Psalm 24) “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” We live out our faithfulness, not out of worry, but in trust. (Matthew 6:25‐30) “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body...” Acts of stewardship, of shared living, have long been a part of the Christian church. (Acts 4:32‐ 34) “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul... everything they owned was held in common.”
Your Stewardship Ministry invites you to consider the following questions. What percentage of your income, however you calculate it, do you offer in faith? How are you called to strengthen the Kingdom of God through faithful tithes and offerings? Whatever your answer, can you challenge yourself to do even more? As Sardis continues to Share the Love throughout our local community and across the globe, I hope you will give prayerful consideration to your Stewardship goals and to ways you are contributing to God’s word through your time, talent and gifts.
The Communicator ~ April 2018 3
Church Life
Ministry is about life in Christ which affects everything we do.
Church Staff Changes
Congratulations to Ricardo Mendoza, who has accepted a position in sales with Red Ventures. Ricardo has been a valuable part of our facility team for five years and we will miss his terrific personality, attentiveness to detail, and diligent work ethic that are sure to make him successful in his future endeavors.
With regret, we say goodbye to Sylvia Zwick. Due to budget constraints, the very difficult decision of eliminating the position of Financial Administrator had to be made. Sylvia served Sardis capably for 17 years and we will miss her dearly. Her responsibilities have been absorbed by existing staff. Please contact Jennifer Childers, Director of Administration, for any assistance needed.
Contemporary Worship Leader, Jacob Hare, has announced that his final Sunday at Sardis will be Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018. We give thanks to God for his time with us and wish him well in his new opportunity.
Keeping Up with Our Mission Co‐Workers
Jodi and Jim McGill serve as mission co‐workers in Niger and South Sudan. They moved there from Malawi last July. Jim’s focus is water, sanitation and hygiene programs working with the Evangelical Church of the Republic of Niger (EERN) and the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. Jodi is a nurse educator at a nursing school established by the EERN. Their primary challenge initially was language skills. Jodi needs to be fluent in French to teach the nursing students. Jim’s work with the rural churches requires learning the Hausa language which involves learning new sounds produced by the sinuses and tongue and new meanings for words he was familiar with in other Sub‐Saharan Africa languages. In addition, Jim and Jodi have the experience of being Christians within a Muslim culture. Please keep the McGills in your prayers as they make a difference in Niger and South Su‐ dan.
Session Highlights can be found at www.sardis.org under the News & Events tab.
Financial Highlights
February
February expected
This year so far This year so far expected
Pledges, gifts, and other revenue
$164,914.54
$165,377.57
$383,318.47
$353,255.14
Expenses
$158,616.29
$150,733.67
$299,297.30
$298,342.34
Net Total
$6,298.25
$14,643.90
$84,021.17
$54,912.80
Annual Budget: $1,983,000
Our Church Family Congratulations to: Rhonda and Bill York upon the birth of their granddaughter, Georgia Collin York; parents are Caroline and Chad York; and to Sallie and Glenn Crossley upon the birth of their grandson, Mateo Rafael Almeida Crossley. Our Christian Sympathy: to Kyle Bartel upon the death of his uncle, Ron Toppe.
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Lay Ministry
The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.
Don’t miss the American
Bayonnais Trip
Red Cross Blood Drive on
Planned!
Sunday, April 29 from
8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the
The next Sardis trip to Bayonnais,
Education Hall. One pint of blood can help to save
Haiti will be the week of
three lives! We hope to see you there!
November 7‐14, 2018. Join fellow church members as we share God’s love with our brothers and sisters in Bayonnais. Come and meet the students
Bayonnais Blankets and Baths
Sardis sponsors, visit the clinic, attend class, hike to one of
Brenda
McKay
and
Glenna
Cook
(First
Presbyterian Uptown) were in Bayonnais, Haiti from January 15‐February 6. The goal of their trip was to respond to God’s call, visit pregnant women in Haiti who were not receiving prenatal
the satellite schools, and so much more.
If you have questions please contact Pressly Gilbert (presslygilbert@gmail.com)
or
Brenda
McKay
(brendamckay58@yahoo.com).
care, and to encourage these women to come to the
PDA Shower
clinic.
Buildings Deployed
The maternal and infant death rates are 10 times higher in Haiti than the US due to lack of medical
care. During their three‐week stay, they were able
Last year the Sardis Mission Ministry heard from
to get about 60 pregnant women, who would have
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) regarding a desire
otherwise not had prenatal care, to see Dr. Dupiton,
for two shower buildings to be used by volunteers
the current medical director of the Bethesda Health
assisting in areas hit by a natural disaster, such as the
Center. The project, Bethesda Manmans (Kreyol
hurricanes experienced in Texas and Florida recently. Led
word for mothers), plans to supply a hooded towel
by Glenn Crossley and Jim Calhoun, several Sardis
and receiving blanket to every new mother who
members responded to the need and provided their time
comes to the clinic for care.
and talents in the building of the units. As of mid‐
February both units will be going to churches leveraged as
Your help is needed to make this happen! On June
host sites by the PDA
10 and June 17 there will be large blue plastic
volunteers. One unit was
barrels in the Narthex and Gathering Place to
delivered to a church in
collect hooded towels and receiving blankets to be
Beaumont, Texas and the
sent to Bayonnais. Bodye beni ou (God Bless You)
other will go to a church
for helping to make a new life a little more special.
outside
of
Tampa,
Florida in April. Thanks
to
all
that
volunteered to make this project a reality!
The Communicator ~ April 2018 5
Youth ministry
“…set an example for the believers…” 1 Timothy 4:12
Sardis Soup Ministry
The High School Youth Ministry actively supports the Sardis Soup Ministry. On Sunday, February 18, youth and adults baked cookies for members of the congregation who might need something homemade during the cold season. The following week on Sunday, February 25, the youth delivered cookies and homemade soup, made by the Sardis Soup Ministry, to 12 homes of members of the congregation and enjoyed an evening of fellowship with them. The conversations between the generations was as wonderful as the soup and cookies!
Youth Sunday
QPR Training
On March 4, the youth led both the 9:00 and 11:00 a.m.
Plan on joining the Youth Ministry on Sunday, April
worship services. If you were not in attendance (or
29 from 2:00‐4:00 p.m. for QPR training. QPR
would like to hear the sermons again), you may listen
(question, persuade, refer) is a program designed to
to the 9:00 a.m. sermons and watch and listen to the
reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing
11:00 a.m. sermons on our website, www.sardis.org. If
innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention
you would like a DVD of the 11:00 service or an audio
training.
of the 9:00 service, please let Adrian know.
Kevin Markle is a ParentVOICE Youth Engagement
Thank you to all of the youth who participated in
Specialist working for Mental Health America of
leading worship. All told, 41 different youth helped at
Central Carolinas and will lead the seminar. This is a
both worship services.
free seminar and is open to everyone in 8th grade and up. Friends and neighbors are encouraged to
Parent/Youth Basketball
Beginning on Monday, April 9, the Youth Ministry will
participate as the Youth Ministry seeks to empower our community with strategies to reduce suicidal behaviors.
sponsor parent/youth basketball in the Fellowship Hall
For more information, please contact Adrian Martin at
from 7:00‐9:00 p.m. each Monday until May 14. Grab
704.366.1854.
your parent (or your youth) and join us for some quality parent/child bonding on the basketball court! This is a causal time with friends and parents. Please contact Adrian Martin at adrian.martin@sardis.org if would you like more information.
6 The Communicator ~ April 2018
“Let the little children come unto me.” It Takes a Village – Nursery Villagers Needed!
There are many exciting things happening in the nursery on Sunday mornings, and you can be a part of it! We made the decision to transition away from using an agency to supply our childcare workers on Sundays. We want to engage our own members to create memories both for the children and the adults looking after them. Yes, it takes a village – and in this case, it is going to take 100 villagers each year to staff the nursery appropriately for our little ones and their parents.
If you are willing to give four hours a year of your time to our children during the 9:00 or 11:00 worship, or Sunday School hour, please email Steve Carpenter at stevecarpenter@carolina.rr.com. Volunteers must be least 21 years old and have the ability to nurture.
Sardis Weekday School Happenings! Preschool Summer Camp at Sardis Weekday School
Available for children ages 2 ‐ 5 · 9 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m. · Monday‐Friday
The Sardis Weekday School family is excited to offer you six separate fun‐filled weeks of camp, five days a week. And it’s flexible ‐ choose just a few weeks that fit your schedule or enroll your camper in all six.
June 18 – 22 Storyteller June 25 – 29 Art Camp
· July 23 – 27 Soccer Shots · July 30 – August 3 Atomz Lab
July 16 – 20 Amazing Athletes
· August 6 – 10
Music & Movement
Registration is now open, but we have limited spaces available. Cost: $140/week for the first child and $120/week for each additional child. Contact Elizabeth Angerson at elizabeth.angerson@sardis.org or 704.366.9681 to get your spot!
Join us! There are still openings for the 2018 ‐ 2019 school year. All classes have a five‐ day option! For more information, contact Elizabeth Angerson at 704.366.9681.
The Communicator ~ April 2018 7
The Communicator
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Women of Sardis
Spring Social
“Clutter Chaos in Your Home & Life”
Saturday, April 21 11:00 a.m. Sardis House
Anne Steppe
Light Lunch & Guest Speaker
$8 per person
Register at www.sardis.org
8 The Communicator ~ April 2018