2020 Annual Report

2020 Annual Report

Exploring Faith. Changing Lives.

Exploring Faith.

Changing Lives.

Sardis Presbyterian Church is an inclusive congregation called to equip disciples of Jesus Christ to impact the world by: Praising God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer; Learning about God’s will for our lives; Loving one another unconditionally; Serving neighbors near and far; Sharing the gifts with which we have been blessed; and Witnessing to the Good News of Jesus Christ to provide hope for the world.

From Rev. Dr. Joe B. Martin Senior Pastor

Dear Sardis Family and Friends, This is our second year presenting our Annual Report in this manner. The plan was that this “yearbook” look would not only be more readable and interesting, but help us compare this year to last year in our efforts to work at the purpose God has for Sardis. Alas, 2019 and 2020 were pretty different years and some of the comparisons were not applicable. For example, our in-person worship attendance is difficult to gauge against online attendance.

However, as all of the information about what did get done this year came in from Ministries, it became clear that we accomplished an impressive amount of what we set out to do. You will notice boxes in each section for the things we did not get to do. I expected those to take up more space. You have done a great job!

The intent of this report is not to be comprehensive, but to give us a feel for what the year was like, so there are plenty of great things that are not included.

Because of the format around our six Core Discipleship Actions, there are a few things that don’t have a home page because they relate to our whole mission. One of those was the Personnel Ministry’s establishment of a Senior Pastor Advisory Committee to guide and evaluate my work. Their big project this year was designing a process for annual goal setting that included Ministries and church staff. I anticipate that process and its results to be a strong feature in the 2021 report. The Core Discipleship Action Challenge that started so strong in 2020 was pretty much scrapped by March.

You don’t need me to tell you about the contextual backdrop of the year, but during the pandemic I have wished I knew how Sardis got through the Spanish flu epidemic 100 years ago. So the rest of my letter is to whomever may be my successor a century from now.

Dear Future Sardis Pastor, 2020 was a really hard year. I will let you find accounts of the global coronavirus pandemic from other sources and keep my reflections to the community of Christians at Sardis Presbyterian. At the beginning of the pandemic, we had to find and agree upon new ways for Session to meet virtually and some new ways to make decisions faster than is typical of Presbyterians.

Elders decided early on to follow government health guidelines rather than use a religious exemption.

After a while, we started making some moderate exemptions for worship services, limiting the number of people we would have inside together or outside on the lawn and making sure we wore face masks and kept six feet from people with whom we did not live. For the most part, our worship services were pre-recorded on Thursdays and posted on the internet on Sundays. Moving my preaching day was very disorienting for me!

Members of the congregation did an amazing job adapting to new ways of doing old things and developing new things to do. They were impressive in learning new technology in order to stay connected.

Just like the population around us, there were differences of opinion as to how careful we needed to be regarding what we should do and what we should not do in-person together inside or outside.

There was a lot of disappointment. Many dear traditions were canceled and even our effort to worship outside on Christmas Eve was mostly rained out. While we lost a few members to COVID-19, as I write I am not aware of a single transmission of the virus from one person to another on our campus in 2020. May God so bless us in 2021.

If you are reading this hoping for advice from someone who had your job a century ago, it is this.

Stay focused on the purpose Christ has for Sardis and for you. Have a good staff around you like the ones with whom I work. No matter how fast things are changing and no matter how much pressure there is to make things happen, spend a lot of time listening. In retrospect, I wish I had done more of that at the beginning. People were going to disagree on things no matter what, but I could have done a better job of assuring them that they had been heard.

May God bless you in whatever year you are reading this; and in the midst of whatever caused you to look back to 2020, may God hear your prayers.

Peace, Health, Hope in Christ,

PRAISING

5 Most Attended Worship Services (Pre-COVID) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Attendance Averages

Average attendance at 9:00 a.m. worship was

125

Average attendance at 11:00 a.m. worship was

154

5 Most Viewed Online Worship Services

Total average worship attendance was

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

280

Easter (405) May 3 (332) May 17 (325) May 10 (320) September 12 (310)

Our Global Worship Community

5 Least Viewed Online Worship Services

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us into streaming our worship services online, but that also allowed us to grow our audience, enabling people from all over the globe to join us in worship.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Haiti Guinea Kenya Sweden

Communion Services 10 Holy 8 of which were virtual

Jane’s Retirement (534) Scout Sunday (489) Basketball Sunday (435) March 1 (430) Women’s Retreat Weekend (429)

Thirteen services to celebrate the holy sacrament were planned, three more than 2019.

Funeral 21 Services

December 6 (152) December 20 (159) October 25 (189) October 11 (196) 4th of July Weekend (196)

*Number of views is calculated using comments, likes, and virtual connect cards

Planned, But Was Not Able to Happen 1. Trip to Carnegie Hall for Sanctuary Choir 2. Concert featuring the works to be performed at Carnegie Hall 3. Christmas Concert 4. Worshiping together in person

Children

GUEST PREACHERS

Started weekly Virtual Chapel for pre-school children

Rev. Dr. Alice Ridgill Associate General Presbyter

21 children in Virtual SMASH including one from Kansas!

Youth

Sara Martin Union Presbyterian Seminary Charlotte Seminary Student Sunday

41 Youth helped lead

Special Outdoor Youth Advent Worship Service

Youth Sunday Worship

15

CHILDREN & YOUTH

MORE THAN

212

Attended the virtual Montreat Worship & Music Conference where Kaitlyn Davros helped lead worship and handbell classes.

members helped lead worship through music, scripture reading, prayers, and offertory.

Virtual Choir Pieces

Sardis member, Jonathan Lee and staff member, Sarah Dianne Jones helped lead worship on Seminary Student Sunday

85

VIRTUAL

worship services

14

OUTDOOR

worship services

28

Worship Staff Changes

INDOOR worship services



John Nipe became a full-time administrative staff member



Kaitlyn Davros was made Interim Director of Traditional Music



Associate Pastor Nominating Committee formed for Contemporary Worship and Small Group Ministry

LEARNING Friendship Connection

Mid-Week Study Offerings





“Coming to the Table”: 5-week Lenten study led by Joe B. Martin and Katie Harrington “Ezekiel: Crisis and Hope”: 7-week study led

by Joe B. Martin



Helen Kimbrough, Charlotte Augustine Literacy Project



Jim Martin, Sardis member and kite enthusiast



Kathy Izard, author of The Hundred Story Home



Pat Millen, Founder and President of E2D

Adult Sunday School 

Sermon Talk-Back Sessions



Summer Topic Varieties



Feasting on the Word



Bible Study for Women



Psalms Bible Study led by Katie Harrington





“Apocalypse Endgame: Good News in the Book of Revelation”: 7-week study led by Joe B. Martin

Reading for Reformed Reflection



Salty Fish Fellowship



“Acts: The Church Figuring Out How to be the Church”: Led by Joe B. Martin

Race & Faith Related Studies & Discussions



“Letters from Paul “: A 3-week study led by Joe B. Martin





Writing Your Personal Statement of Purpose with Doug Powell

Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey: with Sarah Dianne Jones



So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo: with Katie Harrington



Sardis Talks: Faith & Race discussions led by Sardis members and staff



Equipped to Share: Stewardship Education with Kim Weber



Worship Music Study with Steven Pappas

58

Children in virtual VBS

Elementary children met via Zoom each Wednesday for Story Exploration, a new program started during the pandemic.

35

Families had a tangible way to celebrate the Advent season with Advent at Home Kits.

The Youth Ministry hosted a virtual parent seminar with Jonathan Hetterly, a licensed counselor specializing in teenage issues, to discuss the effects of the pandemic on teens.

15

Children (on average) and 4 adult shepherds enjoy virtual Sunday School each week.

The Confirmation class found ways to safely meet through 2020 via Zoom and outdoor class meetings.

21-Day Racial Equality Challenge Middle and High School Youth Sunday School moved to a virtual setting on Zoom during the pandemic. We are thankful for the time of Bible study and fellowship.

The Youth Ministry sponsored two different 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge groups: one during the summer and one in the fall. These groups spent 21 days exploring writings, poetry, music, videos, podcasts, and other media to further our understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity.

LOVING

Celebration of Life During the pandemic a variety of options were available for families to celebrate the life of someone they loved and lost and to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ :

52



Limited attendance in the Sanctuary or Chapel



Family in the Sanctuary and livestreamed or recorded for others



Full funeral service outside at the Columbarium



Graveside and Columbarium committal services



Entirely on Zoom

9

Sardis women and friends attended the 2020 Women’s Retreat. It was a meaningful weekend with keynote speaker, Jan Edmiston.

Pastoral Care

23 34 Hospital Visits

Mustard Seed Groups were able to meet safely for study and fellowship. We also had 3 Circles and 1 book club that met safely.

417 23 Calls

2

Virtual game nights featuring Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud were played with our Sardis friends and family via Zoom.

Home Visits

Prayer Requests

27 172

Text Conversations

Emails

Children & Youth

Sarah Dianne Jones makes 4-5 visits a month with families to check in and spend time in fellowship .

26

In the Spring of 2020, 26 adult members exchanged letters with our 2nd and 3rd graders. Some have remained in touch! 

Virtual Service of Hope & Remembrance

   

2

Outdoor Family Movie Nights Drive-thru Back to School Blessing Drive-thru 2nd and 3rd grade Bible Blessing High School Extended Gathering Youth Sunday Night Fellowship

2 Candy Canes on the Lawn gatherings

Congregational Phone Calls

Officers and other volunteers made calls to every Sardis household to check in with members’ health and needs.

Staff Appreciation Lunch

“

The basketball program is always a huge success and a lot of fun for parents, youth, volunteers, and coaches. Everyone is there to enjoy the sport of basketball, but it also provided individuals an opportunity to exhibit sportsmanship and respect for one another. We might come from different backgrounds, but we are all a part of the body of Christ.

Steve Coleman Chair, Sports and Recreation Ministry

The Personnel Ministry recognized the staff in 2020: 

Staff highlights in The Communicator



Dr. Jane Fobel’s retirement recognition



Recognized staff birthdays and work anniversaries

Not Able to Happen:    

Easter Eggstravaganza Community Picnic Pumpkinpalooza Christmas Dinner

”

SERVING

Planting Seeds of Hope

Partnership with Rama Road Elementary School

In January, the ladies of Circle 8 made soup for Sardis' Soup for the Soul ministry.

30,000

dry meals packed for Rise Against Hunger by

150

multi-generational volunteers, were sent to

Nicaragua

550

food backpacks from Second Harvest Food Bank were delivered to Rama Road Elementary School students by Sardis volunteers.

80

pizzas were served by Sardis volunteers to Rama families (approximately 300 people) at Science and Math Night in January.

22

Sardis Homework Helpers volunteered with Rama Road students each week January - March.

200

masks were made by Sardis volunteers and donated to Rama Road families.

56

Rama Road families received Angel Tree gifts delivered by Sardis and Rama volunteers.

Sardis volunteers sorted through items donated for the spring Essential Baskets drive benefitting 29 families through Families Forward Charlotte.

Vacation Bible School

Compassion Camp

Preschool and elementary children were inspired to serve their neighbors with kind acts like watering their plants or leaving notes and snacks for delivery service men and women.

Youth At-Home Mission Adventure

During the summer, Adrian Martin developed the At-Home Mission Adventure to take the place of in-person youth mission trips. 13 middle and high school youth participated in different opportunities to give back to their community including: 

Holding their own neighborhood food collections for Loaves and Fishes



Writing notes to members of our congregation



Making door hangers for Ronald McDonald house



Learning to knit scarves for others

Planned, But Was Not Able to Happen 

Panama City Mission Trip



High School Mission Trip to Costa Rica



Middle School Charlotte Mission Adventure



Room In the Inn in December

High school youth, Kate Clarkson, organized two drives delivering 209 jars of peanut butter, 173 jars of jelly, and 341 pounds of canned food to Loaves & Fishes.

Sardis Youth and the Gilbert Mustard Seed Group joined forces to assemble 50 desks for children at Title I CharlotteMecklenburg Schools whose parents chose the remote learning option for the school year.

SHARING

Families Forward Charlotte 

7 Rama Road families were involved with the FFC program



Sardis has 2 units participating as Family Liaisons



Upon request from the Missions Ministry, the Gift Trust approved $12,000 in funding from the Reed Family Local Charities Fund to go to Families Forward Charlotte.

This helped support FFC through:

$1914 in financial

 

contributions and home supplies were collected to fill enough Essential Baskets for

 

29 families.

“

 

We are very grateful! Thank you so much for everything.

There's so much love and appreciation we feel for you all! Thank you so so much! ~From a Rama Road family~

”

  

Liaison Training Educational Workshops Meals Transportation Individual family needs Certification Bus passes Housing/hotel costs Other overhead costs also benefitted from this funding

Planting Seeds of Hope: Partnership with Rama Road Elementary      

$230 for additional food for the backpack program 80 dozen eggs from Simpson Farms for Rama Families 150 books sent home to students 500 postage stamps to Rama teachers for letters to their students 26 buckets of cleaning supplies for classrooms 94 gift cards to Rama staff in appreciation of their dedication

Angel Tree

109 Angels 56 Families 11 Gift Cards 71 Sardis members and groups participated

981 bag lunches provided to Roof Above (formerly

Urban Ministry) through 2 drives.

83

units of blood collected at three blood drives for American Red Cross

5,176 lbs

of canned food was donated to

Loaves & Fishes

through 4 food drives, including the ones organized by Sardis youth, Kate Clarkson and

2,249 lbs from the Reverse Advent Calendar

Special Offerings

$18,279.24

Ten Cents A Meal Collection

$7,140

One Great Hour of Sharing

$3,092.85

Souper Bowl of Caring

$3,585.00 Christmas Joy

$2,163.00 Christmas Eve

(split between Crisis Assistance Ministry and Matthews Help Center)

Alternative Gift Market $314.29

$369.29

Care Ring

Haiti School Fund

$1,309.28

$369.29

Families Forward

Haiti Hunger Fund

$429.28

$3,469.28

Haiti Medical Fund

$7,360

Loaves & Fishes

$1,099.29 Rama Road

Your Support of Bayonnais, Haiti Your support of the people of Bayonnais is a double blessing - one for them and one for you. By supporting the ICB School and the Bethesda Clinic, you provide hope and share God’s love. Through student sponsorship, you tell a child that you care about them and their education.

It has been a difficult year in Bayonnais. Political unrest, unsafe travel conditions on the roads from the airport, and COVID-19 have made it impossible for anyone from the US to visit. The value of the gourde (the Haitian unit of money) has been fluctuating erratically, causing additional financial hardships for the people. The cost of food has skyrocketed and become financially out of reach for some.

Thanks to support from Sardis and other US churches, rice and bread from a local bakery were bought in bulk and distributed through the school and church.

These are words from Actionnel to summarize the year in Bayonnais. “Corona has not destroyed lives in our community even though so many caught it. The Church keeps doing its job, encouraging people to become stronger in their faith. School did an excellent job through national exams with 149 out of 149 passing the 9th grade exam and 64 of 72 in the 13th grade. Nearly 2,400 students are in our school system. Due to lack of funds and the number of mouths and bellies to feed, food has been served three days a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The clinic staff has never showed a sign of discouragement. They are a very strong and wonderful staff.” Our financial support of Bayonnais makes a difference and changing lives!

$21,598 From the Fobel Haiti Scholarship and $30,075

additional funds for other work in Haiti

Not Able to Happen:     

Youth Silent Auction Clothing Drive Treble Trot Youth Bake Sale Poinsettia Sale

WITNESSING

3

10

Infant Baptisms

Session established an Anti-Racism Task Force to guide the congregation though discussions on the topic. The

32

Task Force consists of 10 members of the congregation. In the fall, the task force provided a 4-week workshop called “Sardis Talks: Race and Faith.”

New Members Including 11 from a Confirmation Class of 13 confirmed students

The Gilbert Mustard Seed Group

organized a sidewalk Stand Against Racism event sponsored by the YWCA.

14% INCREASE

IN WEEKLY EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS

50%

AVERAGE

EMAIL OPEN RATE

OVER 82,000 EMAIL OPENS

COMPARED TO THE INDUSTRY STANDARD of 27.73%

346

New Followers

356

111

New Subscribers

Members of our new Facebook Group

NEW

website

“

2020 forced so many of us out of our comfort zones and erased the time it sometimes takes to adjust to changes. Thank you all for your patience as we adapted to being the church outside of the church walls. Thank you for adjusting, learning, and growing with us. I am so proud of all the members who quickly adapted to receiving all communications through email and social media. Seeing such an incredible growth in our online community gave me so much hope!

Nikki Bolton Director of Communications

Sardis Weekday School

2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR AT A GLANCE

90

Number of Students

16

Number of Teachers

Enrollment In January 2020 the Weekday School was off to a strong enrollment with steady numbers. Fall 2020, we had 60 students slated to begin but only 50 showed up, as families had a change of heart due to the pandemic. Many of the families have multiple children with the program, so it felt as if we lost more families, than students. Thankfully within the first month back, we were able to recoup those 10 students and had 61 enrolled by October. Currently, we have returned to pre-pandemic level for enrollment of all the age groups (in addition to adding our new Young 2s class). Many families are checking in to see how we are doing, talking with friends who have students currently enrolled with us and are registering.

Other factors that have helped grow our enrollment is our new school banner, our updated website and social media postings.

TK 6.6%

TK 11.1%

Four’s 16.7%

90

Toddler 16.7%

Enrolled Spring 2020 Three’s 33.3%

Two’s 22.2%

Four’s 36.1%

61

Enrolled Fall 2020 Three’s 26.2%

Two’s 31.1%

5

Class Options

Virtual Learning

PPP Loan for Staff

COVID-19 Modifications



Delayed the start to 2020-2021 school year to October 1



Fewer students per class



No Toddler class



Shortened school day by 30 minutes for extra cleaning



No visitors, special guests, or extra ‘footprints,’ in the school



Virtual chapel weekly



All students arrive and dismiss through our carline and go straight to their ‘classroom bubble.’



No class mixing or interacting



Staff and student temperature checks daily



Daily health questionnaire for us to record

Staff Due to the pandemic, the school closed for in-person learning in March. While our families stayed connected to the teachers through virtual learning, families did not pay tuition from April to June 2020. We were able to keep the staff paid during this time through the PPP loan. Some staff did not return in the fall of 2020 due to health concerns. We hired 5 new teachers.

Looking Ahead We are looking forward to a strong January 2021 with our Toddler class returning and a new Young 2s Tuesday/ Thursday class. The Young 2s class, helps us forecast our future Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students, as they turned 2 September - December 2020. We also have many families interested in registering in January for our other ages– specifically our 3s; these families wanted to wait out the holidays before starting the school year. Currently, returning from Christmas break, our enrollment increased with new families and families that were holding off for the first half of the school year to monitor COVID metrics. We are currently at Pre-Pandemic level for student enrollment (in addition to adding our new Young 2s class).

FINANCIAL REPORT

Income

2020 YEAR-END RESULTS

Pledges & Offerings Expenses All Missions & Presbytery

Budget

Actual

$2,026,250 Budget

$1,971,406 Actual

Variance

$218,831

($581)

Faith Formation

$35,250

$16,298

$18,952

Worship & Music

$17,750

$11,194

$6,556

Life & Care

$8,000

$5,073

$2,927

Fellowship

$13,000

$2,054

$10,946

$2,500

$8

$2,492

$40,700

$40,677

$23

Administration & Finance

$144,800

$125,473

$19,327

Property

$257,000

$257,000

$0

Personnel

$1,289,000

$1,216,962

$72,038

Total

$2,026,250

$1,893,572

$132,678

Membership Debt Reduction

$1,892,050 2021 APPROVED BUDGET

($54,844)

$218,250

DEBT UPDATE BEGINNING OF 2020: $492,573

Variance

Ministry Area All Missions & Presbytery

7% Budget $194,250

Faith Formation

$33,450

Worship & Music

$16,850

Life & Care

$7,600

Fellowship

$12,000

Membership Debt Reduction

$1,750 $40,700

Administration & Finance

$137,750

Property

$257,000

Personnel

$1,190,700

Total

$1,892,050

END OF 2020: $388,415

DECREASE FROM 2020 to 2021

STATISTICAL REPORT

SARDIS STAFF

Elizabeth Angerson Director of Sardis Weekday School

Nikki Bolton Director of Communications

Jennifer Childers Director of Administration

Sue Chowning Parish Aide

Kaitlyn Davros Interim Director of Traditional Music

Sarah Dianne Jones Director of Children’s Ministry

Danelle Kime Administration & Membership Assistant

Sam Johnson Rev. Katie Harrington Dennis Easter Facilities Team Member Associate Pastor Facilities Team Member

Adrian Martin Director of Youth Ministry

Dr. Rev. Joe B. Martin Senior Pastor

Alfredo Mendoza Facilities Team Member

Robin Medlock Executive Assistant to the Senior Pastor

Steven Pappas Contemporary Worship Leader

Mark Slimer Director of Facilities

Jenny Walker Nursery Coordinator

John Nipe Technical Arts Coordinator