Your family is invited to come celebrate Christmas around the world on Wednesday, December 7 at 6:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall! Each table will be decorated with items from how different countries celebrate the holiday. We will have entrainment from Throne Together, and a musical performed by our children and youth, while enjoying a Christmas dinner together.

The last day to register for our annual Christmas dinner is this Friday, December 2. Click here to register your family.

The cost is $9 for adults, $6 for children ages 6 - 10, and free for children ages 5 and under.

Interested in becoming a member at Sardis or just want to know more about us? Join us for our "Membership Exploration" class! Come chat with Rev. Allysen Schaaf on Sunday, December 4 at 10:00 a.m. in the Dining Room. Find out how Sardis is committed to exploring faith and changing lives. RSVP or direct questions to Rev. Katie Harrington.  

There will be Sunday School classes for all ages at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall and Education Hall. Click below to explore more details on classes available: 

• Adult Classes
• Youth Classes
• Children's Classes

You are invited to join the Salty Fish Fellowship for our study of The Angels of Christmas by Susan Robb. We will consider the roles of angels in the Biblical stories of Advent and Christmas and the place of angels in our own worlds. All are welcome in room 210 or by Zoom at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. 

This Sunday we’ll gather together for an evening of games and conversation. Dinner is at 5:00 in the Dining Room - don’t forget $5! ALL Youth are invited, and feel free to bring a friend. Please send Betsy a text if you’re planning to be there (919.886.1202)! View the youth's weekly newsletter to see what is coming up next!

Our Angel Tree SignUpGenius has a few more angels on there we can still help! Please remember to return your angel tree gifts unwrapped in a clear bag (there are some available in the missions corner) labeled with the child's number and name to the Mission Corner in the Gathering Place by this Sunday, December 4. 

You can still help by making a donation to our Angel Tree fund. Everything collected is used to help the children and families at Rama Road Elementary School. Your support is appreciated. Thank you, Sardis!

Questions? Contact Molly Kennedy (704.560.0615).

The 2022 Alternative Gift Market will run through December 21. This year's Alternative Gift Market features eight designated ministries, and a unique opportunity to do all of your Christmas shopping in one place!

Visit our website for more information and to place your orders, or download the 2022 catalog and order form and order form. You may also pick-up a copy of the catalog and order form in the Gathering Place and Narthex on Sundays (through December 21).

Each winter season, Roof Above coordinates the Room in the Inn (RITI) program where area churches and organizations help house neighbors experiencing homelessness overnight. Sardis will host Room in the Inn guests 1-2 times a week in January-March. This year, our Reverse Advent Calendar will be collecting items for our RITI neighbors. 

Each day during Advent, purchase one of the items on the calendar or use the prayer or fact about homelessness for reflection. Drop-off donation items in the new Missions Corner blue donation shelves in the Gathering Place by January 8, 2023. Download the 2022 Reverse Advent Calendar here.

We are looking for volunteers to join the AV and tech team for our 9:00 Contemporary Worship service. We need one volunteer each Sunday to help advance slides and assist with other easy AV and tech support tasks. Our Technical Arts Coordinator, John Nipe, will provide instructions and training. Click here to sign-up for a Sunday (or two)! 

The nursery is open for both the 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. worship services and we need your help to keep it running smoothly! We're so excited about our new nursery location, the former Resource Room next to the Adult Library, and hope that you'll check it out! Sign up to volunteer here! Contact Sarah Dianne Jones with any questions. 

This week, you are encouraged to see the light as you pray and read through Luke 1:5-25;57-80, and reflect on those words with the reflection questions. View this week's devotional pages here. Engage with the first week of the Reverse Advent Calendar and listen to this week's Traditional and Contemporary songs.

Our Advent artwork this week is Terrifying, Joyous News by Lauren Wright Pittman | Sanctified Art.

Our Sympathy: to the family of John Williams.

We Remember in Prayer: Lee Byrd in the hospital out of town.

Your church family wants to pray for you. If you have a procedure or are in the hospital, please let the church office know so we can, as a church family, be praying your healing.

A Congregational Meeting will be held Sunday, December 11, 2022 at Noon in the Sanctuary and via Zoom. The purposes of this meeting are to (1) elect two Deacons to one year terms to fill two vacancies in the class of 2023 and, (2) approve a motion from Session that a request be sent to the Presbytery of Charlotte to dissolve the pastoral relationship between Rev. Katie Harrington and Sardis Presbyterian Church effective December 31, 2022 so that she may accept a call to St. Andrews-Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC.

Share your thanks and well wishes with the Harringtons at a reception in the Education Hall immediately following the meeting. 

Join via Zoom using this link or Meeting ID: 843 3472 0174 and Passcode: sardis

This service will be a time to remember and give thanks for the life of a loved one who has died; it will be a time to claim afresh the certain promises that are ours through our Savior, whose birth we celebrate. Join us on Wednesday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary and live on YouTube. 

Friendship Connection is our fellowship group for older adults and retirees. Come join us on Tuesday, December 20 at 11:00 a.m. in the Sardis House. We will enjoy a program of Christmas harmonizing by the barbershop quartet, Sage Advice. They will present both sacred and secular songs as well as some opportunities for sing-a-longs. Lunch, at noon, is $11.50. Register online or register through Sue Chowning (704.366.1854 ext 208) by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 15.

Invite your family and friends to join us in celebrating the birth of our Savior on Christmas Eve. We will have the following services:

• 5:00 p.m. Contemporary Family Service in the Fellowship Hall
• 7:00 p.m. Traditional Candlelight Service in the Sanctuary
• 9:00 p.m. Traditional Candlelight & Communion Service in the Sanctuary

On Sunday, December 25 we will have one worship service at 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary. There will be no Sunday School.

The 2023 Sardis Women's Retreat will be February 17 -19 at William Black Lodge in Montreat, NC. We will be led by Rev. Martha Kearse, Senior Pastor at Peakland Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Our Contemporary Worship Leader, Beth Williams, will be leading the music for the weekend. Registrations open December 10! Mark your calendars!   

This Sunday we will have our 10 Cents a Meal Collection during both worship services. When you give to Ten Cents a Meal, you are providing food security assistance to local organizations fighting hunger. You can contribute anytime online ›› (select Ten-Cents-A-Meal from the funds dropdown box), or by texting "Sardis Meal" + Amount to 73256. 

Support Sardis by starting your shopping for gifts or everyday household items at smile.amazon.com.

• Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to Sardis Presbyterian Church whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
• AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Use your existing Amazon account.
• When you enter Sardis Presbyterian Church on your first visit to smile.amazon.com, don’t let the incorporation year puzzle you! While Sardis was founded in 1790, we were incorporated in 1984, so you’ll see that date associated with AmazonSmile.