Our History

Sardis Baptist Church is a welcoming, ecumenical congregation that emphasizes relationships and the freedoms of our Baptist tradition. It held its first worship service on October 16, 1988. For 20 years Sardis has tried to live its mission to be: " a caring, inclusive, Christ-centered community of faith committed to spiritual growth by using its gifts for worship, Bible study, evangelism and compassionate ministry to human need." With that mission Sardis has become a model for small, progressive congregations.

• In the past ten years we have:
• Ordained four women into the Christian ministry; two of them - Rev. Tillie Duncan & Rev. Mandy England Cole - currently serve as pastors in the congregation.
• We were honored by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina for missions giving and commitment, when we were a part of that organization.
• We partnered with three other Baptist churches to build a Habitat for Humanity house, and have been a sponsoring congregation for the first two "clergy-built" Habitat houses in the country.
• We received a Lily Endowment funded grant from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship.
• We were recognized by Baptist Women in Ministry of North Carolina, receiving the "Church Award" for advancing the cause of women in ministry.
• We broke away from old Baptist partnerships that desired to tell us what we could and could not do and embraced the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists - groups that have encouraged our church to go where the Spirit leads.

Sardis has consistently been improving its facilities, since the days it met in the cafeteria at Providence Day School.

• In 1990 it purchased a three and a half acre property near Sardis and Rama Roads.
• Sardis Baptist Meetinghouse was dedicated on January 19, 1997.
• In November 1998 Sardis purchased the adjacent two-plus acre lot, giving the church nearly six acres of land on which to grow.
• On February 24, 2008 a new education building was dedicated.
• The Sardis Prayer Garden and Labyrinth was dedicated on September 27, 2009.

Sardis has been willing to explore unconventional ways of doing church because it is committed to the spiritual growth of its members instead of maintaining programs and traditions.

• This exploration leads us to creative liturgy in worship;
• And to examine ways we may use silence, Taize and ancient Christian liturgy for prayer, and in alternative services.
• It has inspired us to plan intergenerational events that bring senior adults, children and all those in between together to build community and strengthen our common faith.
• It motivated us to construct part of our new education building ourselves.
• Finally, we chartered new territory by allowing our pastor, Dr. Tim Moore, to transition from full-time to half-time in order to care for his children. The structure of having several part-time pastors has enhanced the pastoral leadership and care within the church and serves as an example for other congregations.