2018 Winter Issue of Making A Difference

MAKING A

DIFFERENCE A quarterly publication of Sardis Presbyterian Church · sardis.org

December 2018

Christmas Giving That Makes A Difference Are you struggling to find the perfect gift for a friend, a colleague, a loved one? How many times have you said "He has everything?" or "I don't know what she needs or wants?" Well, Sardis has the solution! It is our Alternative Gift Market. Up and running on December 1, the Alternative Gift Market is a place where you can do your Christmas shopping without worrying about size, color, duplication, returns or whether you have chosen a gift that will be remembered and treasured. All you need to do is make a donation to any of six ministries in the marketplace in honor of your friend or family member and we'll take it from there. You can purchase some homemade goodies at the Market and choose a small Christmas ornament to thank you for your generosity. Each donation is accompanied by a card that can be mailed or given to the individual or group you wish to honor with a message from the ministry acknowledging the gift.

You don't even have to leave home to do your Christmas shopping. The alternative gift form will be on-line by the end of November - just go to the Sardis website and click on Alternative Gift Market. Cards for donations made on-line can be picked up at the Church or, if requested, delivered to you. The Marketplace will be buzzing every Sunday in Advent from 9:45 until 11:00 in the Gathering Place. Those attending the Christmas dinner on December 12th will have all evening to purchase alternative gifts.

As you can see by the list of ministries offered this year, there is one for every person on your shopping list. No guessing, no receipt collection and NO RETURNS. Each gift is one that keeps on giving - it doesn't go out of style, is never the wrong size or color, will not end up in the Goodwill pile or be replaced with new technology. An alternative gift is thoughtful, meaningful and most important a reminder to us and to those who receive one that "Christ is why we celebrate Christmas".

Ministry Members Mission Interpretation Ed Shoaf……………...Chair Anne Hollowell…...Vice Chair Ron Abluton

Susan Aulebach

Agencies the 2018 Alternative Gift Market Will Support

Pat Campbell

Caroline Cunliffe

 Bayonnais Haiti - Donations to the Bayonnais School fund or the Medical Fund will help build better lives for our friends in Bayonnais Haiti.

Pressly Gilbert

Jon Hansen

Steve Hoots

Vic Lisciani

Brenda McKay

Kathy Nenninger

 Marion Medical Mission - Support for this mission helps provide sustainable sources of clean water to remote African villages.

Wells Tiedeman

Patsy Todd

Community Service

 Rama Road Backpack Ministry - Part of the Sardis partnership with Rama Road Elementary School, alternative gifts will fill backpacks of food for families with children at risk.

Sheri Bartel……………..Chair

Steve Benton

Mike Bowen

 Loaves and Fishes - The largest hunger relief agency in our area feeding those in our community who face economic hardship.

Christy Crowder

Otis Crowder

Christine Kinney

Anita Kirby

 Habitat For Humanity - Founded by local churches 25 years ago, Habitat Matthews seeks to put God's love into action by building homes, communities and hope.

Jennifer Meehan

Amy Read

Cynthia Perry

Marilyn Taylor

 The Children's Hope Alliance - A leader in child and family services for over 125 years, this NC ministry is a merger of the Barium Springs and Grandfather Homes.

Bobby Smith

Jane Tilley

Stacey Champion…….Vice Chair

David Templeman

Room In The Inn Room In The Inn is a partnership program with the Urban Ministry Center to provide overflow shelter and meals for Charlotte’s homeless during the winter. From December 1 through March 31, churches and colleges around the city provide a bed and three meals for folks who find themselves without a warm place to sleep. Every Sunday and Wednesday night for more than twenty years, Sardis has hosted thirteen neighbors. That adds up to about 10,000 “bed-nights,” meaning that our beds were occupied 10,000 times. Some neighbors come to Sardis more than once.

When we started hosting, thirteen cots were set up in one of the large Sunday School rooms upstairs in the Education Hall. A shower was available in the maintenance room across the hall. A television and some armchairs were in the classroom next door. Today, we have the Sardis House where neighbors can eat a meal on real dishes, sleep in smaller rooms with a bit of privacy, take a shower in a full-size bathroom and run a load of laundry if needed. Larger common areas offer space to watch television, use a computer or just sit and relax.

Sardis hosts about 450 neighbors (bed-nights) each season. We know that we make a difference in their lives, even if only for one night. We know that they touch our lives, as well. What makes serving at RITI special?           

Fixing a cup of tea for a neighbor who can’t sleep.

Watching the Super Bowl with a neighbor.

Serving a special pancake breakfast on Christmas morning.

Having a chuckle with neighbors as they “toga up” in a blanket to wash their clothes.

Rushing out to buy a small gift for children who have arrived on Christmas Eve. Reading thoughtful notes from neighbors who are grateful for RITI and Sardis.

Listening to a heartfelt dinner blessing given by a neighbor.

Watching a host give his belt to a neighbor who is holding up his pants with shoestrings.

Watching eyes light up when it is fish fry night or when we serve a delicious home-cooked meal.

Hearing “Have a blessed day” and getting a hug from neighbors as they depart the bus for another day on the streets.

Helping a parent with a sick child in the middle of the night.

Most of all, we see that the people who come to us through RITI are people, not just “the homeless” of Charlotte. Our understanding and compassion grow through our interactions with these folks. We do not have to know the story of what led them to this place in life to know that they deserve our care and acceptance.

Yo-Yo Lessons By Mike D.

It takes around 200 volunteers to staff a season of RITI. There are so many ways to be a part of this community outreach.

Just take a look at our opportunities listed to the right. Christ tells us in Matthew 25 that when we care for others, we are caring for Him. You can make a difference in someone’s life on a cold winter night, and they can a make a difference in yours.

There is an opportunity for everyone It all begins on December 2 and lasts until March 31. Every Sunday and Wednesday night during that time, we pick-up 13 neighbors at Urban Ministries at 6:00 p.m., bring them to the Sardis House... and this is where we need YOUR help! Just one time…

Can you arrive at 5:00 and stay until 7:30, make a few beds, set the dinner table, and share a meal with our neighbors? If so, then we need you to be a Greeter!

Could you help our neighbors with the laundry process, watch TV with them, help them look up jobs on the computer, enjoy snacks or just have a chat? Then we need you at 7:30 - 10:45 p.m. as a Friend!

Are you able to arrive at 10:45 p.m., lights are already out, and neighbors are asleep. You might be needed to get some pain medicine for a neighbor, but mostly you can take a nap or read or enjoy a movie on your tablet. At 4:45 a.m., after you have made the morning coffee, you can go home and get a little more sleep.

You are called an Owl, and we really need you!

At 4:45 a.m., the Roosters arrive. Roosters prepare the breakfast, wake the neighbors, put out the sack lunches, move the bag of linens to the laundry room, spray the beds. At 6:30 you are ready to go home and prepare your own family for the day.

We need you to be a volunteer or provide a meal! Won’t you join us? Contact Stacey Champion at otchampion@gmail.com.

Sardis’ Angel Tree

A Glimpse at the Edge of the Pit

One of the greatest joys of Christmas is seeing the excitement on someone’s face when they receive a special gift. For ten years through the Angel Tree program, Sardis members have provided Christmas joy for many Rama Road Elementary School children and their families.

Michelle’s Story by Pressly Gilbert

Yet, your gifts have done even more. By providing the gifts for parents to give to their children, Sardis members have empowered these parents. Gifts have been given freely by Sardis members knowing the appreciation would go to others. Many of these parents do not have the funds to purchase the things they want to provide for their child. Each year, Sardis’ members have taken angels from the tree in the Gathering Area and expected nothing in return except the joy of knowing they made someone’s Christmas special through their kindness.

Thank you, Sardis, for loving our Rama neighbors.

Urban Ministry’s Soup Kitchen Urban Ministry Center in uptown Charlotte serves our homeless neighbors in many ways. The Soup Kitchen is just one of the many aspects of the organization. Every day, 365 days a year, volunteers prepare a hot lunch for anyone who needs a meal, no questions asked. Over 100,000 meals are served in a year.

Sardis Presbyterian supports Urban Ministry by staffing the Soup Kitchen on the last Saturday of each month. Volunteers spend the morning preparing a hot lunch. At noon, the neighbors arrive and volunteers serve the lunch and clean up the kitchen. Operation Sandwich is a part of the Soup Kitchen where groups bring prepared sandwiches to the center to be served with lunch. Sardis Youth as well as Sunday School classes and Mustard Seed groups prepare sandwiches to donate at different times during the year.

How can you make a difference? Contact Steve Benton to volunteer for a Saturday to work in the Soup Kitchen, or coordinate a group to make sandwiches for the center. Visit www.urbanministrycenter.org for specifics on sandwich preparation and volunteering beyond Sardis’ ongoing Saturday commitment!

Sometimes it just amazes me what people will tell you. I recently spent about 45 minutes with Michelle McCormick at the Charlotte YWCA where she is about to graduate from their Women In Transition program.

She quickly opened up about her path to the YW. Before she fell through the trapdoor, she had two children in college, a responsible job at Carolinas Healthcare System and an apartment: an apparently stable life. Then she was struck with depression in her late 30s and it completely upended her life. She lost her job because of her depression and ultimately was forced to live at the Salvation Army women's shelter. After almost three years, she obtained disability income from social security which allowed her to enter Women In Transition at the YWCA. WIT is a program that helps women stabilize their lives and obtain permanent housing upon graduating.

Program services include affordable housing and utilities at below market rates, supportive case management and the development and achievement of housing, career, financial, health and personal goals. At WIT they have access to a resource center with computers, internet, email, fax, a library, educational and self-improvement workshops, tutoring sessions and social events facilitated by volunteers. Michelle's initial statement to me was “this place is truly a blessing”. She never had peace of mind until this point in her illness.

At WIT she learned about life enhancement and how to improve her situation.

Michelle had already been involved at InnerVision, Inc. for help with her depression. There she found peer support and has developed the skill to become a peer support provider herself. She is about to be certified by the state of North Carolina and will have a job in that field as a result. She says that the most important thing about the Women In Transition program at the YWCA is that she feels safe there and definitely loved.

Michelle’s life came dangerously close to falling over the edge. She is deeply grateful for the help she received.

Sardis is supporting WIT with a contribution of $5,000.

If you look in this woman's face and hear her pure delight at having had her life turned around you can see that you are indeed making a difference.

“Who Ya Gonna Call?” Sardis Missions in 2019 Who would you call if you wanted to know how Sardis spends its benevolence dollars? Who would you contact if you wanted to suggest a new agency or program for funding?

If you wanted to take part in a local mission activity, where would you turn? If distant missions are your interest, where can you plug in to those activities?

Starting in January 2019, the answer to those questions will be simple. After over a year of study, the Session has combined the Mission Interpretation Ministry and the Community Service Ministry into a new Missions Ministry in the Diaconate. Leading the new ministry will be co-chairs Sheri Bartel and Stacey Champion with Elder liaison Anne Hollowell as vice-chair.

The mission statement of the new ministry reads:

“The Missions Ministry promotes the congregation's calling to be engaged in service and mission work. The Ministry identifies service opportunities and equips members to serve in local, national and international settings. It seeks to educate our congregation about the outreach activities of the church and opportunities for participation. The Ministry evaluates and manages the benevolent spending by and for the Sardis Congregation.”

From those few words spring a host of activities, now combined in one place.

They involve local and international personal service as well as support of agencies and people from Charlotte to across the world. In the pages of this quarterly “Making a Difference” supplement we hope to bring you news of that good work.

We have an invitation for you. Please be in touch if you are interested in financial support of people or groups that serve our world and help to build God’s kingdom. Please be in touch if you want to be active in some service program. And above all, please be in touch with your ideas for how we can live out our mission. Sardis seeks to empower all of us to be apostles for Christ.

Allegro and Sardis - 18 Years of Helping Children With Disabilities For the past 18 years, Sardis Presbyterian Church has affected the lives of thousands of children with disabilities through your partnership with Allegro Foundation. We are so thankful for the continued support we have received financially, through the donation of space for our weekly community outreach class at Sardis Presbyterian Church and through volunteers! Allegro receives no support from the government or United Way, so partnerships like this one are vital for our success.

Our first program began in 2000, after relocating the organization from Los Angeles to Charlotte. We began with just 8 children, and we have grown to serving over 800 annually within the Charlotte and surrounding communities. Allegro currently teaches 35 classes within the public school system, and two community outreach locations, including Sardis.

It is through the support of dedicated individuals, donating their time and financial support that Allegro Foundation is able to make such a valuable difference in the lives of our students.

Throughout the years, many members of Sardis Presbyterian Church have been involved in Allegro in different ways. Reverend Alice Johnson served on our board of directors and many members volunteer in our program.

We are called upon as fellow Christians to come together to reach out to children with disabilities when no one else will. Jesus spent his life serving others. As the Bible mentions in Matthew 25:40 , “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” When we help others, we are serving the Lord.

Allegro is so blessed to find this kind of support and generosity from Sardis Presbyterian! Thank you again!

To volunteer please call 704-412-5229 or email us at pfallegro@aol.com. Visit www.allegrofoundation.net for more information.

6100 Sardis Road · Charlotte, NC · 28270 · 704.366.1854 · www.sardis.org