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Sardis Baptist Church to hold homecoming services Sunday Historical Sardis Baptist Church, Rayle, will have homecoming services Sunday, May 4. Several special guests and events have been planned and everybody is invited to attend. Sunday School will begin at 10 a.m. with services following at 11 a.m. Dr. Bryan Edwards, a former pastor of Sardis, will be the guest speaker. Dr. Edwards was pastor from 1957 to 1962. Tom Wells will be leading the congregational singing and providing special music during the service. Jo Randall will be the guest pianist for the day. After the morning services everyone is invited to attend a covered dish dinner in the annex. "New Apostles," a singing group from Crawfordville, will be singing in the sanctuary following the dinner. Sardis Baptist Church, first known as Hutton's Fork Baptist Church, was established in 1788. The church was organized by Rev. Silas Mercer when members began meeting in the home of Jesse Spratlin. In 1789 the church called the now famous Jesse Mercer to serve as pastor. Sardis Baptist Church was his first church and he was Sardis' first pastor. Jesse Mercer served as pastor from 1789 to 1817. He was later instrumental in establishing Mercer University in Macon. The church annex was added in 1959. The building that serves as the annex was once the Rayle School. The school was being consolidated with the Washington school so the church decided to ask the Wilkes County Board of Education if it would be willing to sell the building. The church purchased the building for $250.00. The building was moved to the church by Fred Prater of Lincolnton at a cost of $300.00. The building is used for a dining hall and also a number of Sunday School classrooms. In early church records, baptisms were sometimes held daily, particularly during revival. In the early days, baptisms took place in the creek behind the church. In 1858 the church records show that the church voted to select a suitable place and sink a pool. This pool, after many repairs was replaced with a new pool and dressing room in 1872 In 1924, a new concrete pool was constructed a few feet from the spring and in 1937 a new dressing house was added behind the pool. To fillthe pool, water had to be carried one bucket at a time from the spring to the pool. The church installed a baptistry inside the church sanctuary in 1970. Even though the outdoor pool and dressing room are no longer used they are both still in their original spots and bring back fond memories for many who remember how cold the water was the day they were baptized in it.
Rev. Jim Newsome, current pastor of Sardis Baptist Church, and the congregation extend an invitation to everyone to join them for this homecoming event. For more information, call Rev. Newsome at 706-274-3720.
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