Capital Campaign 2026

Watch this space for updates!

A Season of Preparation

The number forty holds deep significance throughout Scripture. Forty represents a season of searching, listening, and preparation—a holy pause before a faithful step forward. In Genesis, rain fell for forty days and forty nights during the great flood. In Exodus, the Hebrew people wandered the wilderness for forty years after their liberation from slavery. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai listening for God’s voice. And in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus entered the wilderness for forty days of prayer, fasting, and preparation before beginning his public ministry.

This year, Kirkwood Presbyterian Church reaches its own forty-year milestone.

Our Story

Forty years ago, in 1986, Kirkwood was chartered as a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and began building the physical home we still gather in today. Many among us were present that day and signed the charter that now hangs in the hallway just outside the sanctuary, a visible reminder of our shared faith and commitment.

For four decades, Kirkwood has faithfully proclaimed the gospel, loved our neighbors, and worshiped God together as the “church in the woods.” We have sought to follow Christ with integrity, generosity, and openness to the Spirit’s leading, grateful for the beauty of creation around us.

Today, however, we find ourselves in a familiar biblical place: the end of a season of preparation and the beginning of something new.

Who We Are

Kirkwood is an inclusive community of faith dedicated to extending the love and grace of Jesus Christ through thoughtful worship, intentional hospitality, and service to our neighbors. In recent years, we have experienced renewed vitality: growth in participation, expanded mission, and deeper community life. We have found our voice, calling for God’s justice to be made real in our world and for Christ’s love to be extended to all people. We give thanks to the Spirit for this flourishing.

Our mission is thriving, and our people are ready. Now we must ensure our physical home supports the work God is doing through us.

We believe God is calling us to be faithful stewards of the space entrusted to us, so that it better reflects the welcome and inclusive spirit we strive to embody. And yet, our forty-year-old building now presents real limitations:

→ No elevator prevents members and visitors with mobility needs from accessing all three floors and attending events or worship services.

→ The Fellowship Area is too small to host our growing congregation.

→ Parking & sidewalks are insufficient and pose safety concerns.

→ The Playground needs leveling, safer ground cover, and the structures need renovation or replacement.

→ Restrooms are too few and not ADA compliant.

→ The sanctuary limits flexibility for different worship services and community gatherings and is too small for our growing congregation.

These are barriers to the full welcome we believe God calls us to offer. We are good at welcoming, but our space is not hospitable. Accessibility is a theological commitment—one that calls us to invest in all of God's people. We understand that entering a capital campaign is new territory and a genuine leap of faith for Kirkwood. Yet we trust in God’s provision and in one another.

Where We Are Going

With the support of the Session, the Building Improvement Team has been working with an architect and contractors to prayerfully imagine how our building might be renewed for the next chapter of ministry. The proposed improvements focus on hospitality, accessibility, safety, flexibility, and care for future generations.

Key areas of focus include two phases:

PHASE 1 ($1,020,000):

Elevator Installation & Fellowship Hall Expansion (estimated cost: $600,000)

Installing a centrally located elevator near the existing stairwell, which necessitates expanding the lower fellowship hall.
Providing access to all three floors.
Expanding the lower fellowship hall to seat approximately 150 people for meals, a significant increase from our current capacity of 90.
Creating usable space for the church and community.

Parking Improvements (estimated cost: $400,000)

Expanding and renovating our parking lots and sidewalks for safety and accessibility.
Relocating and expanding our septic system. If deemed necessary, we will connect to city sewer line, which will add additional cost of $300,000.

Playground (estimated cost: $20,000)

Renovating the playground to better serve our children and the broader West Cobb community.

PHASE 2 ($810,000-$1,600,000):

Narthex (estimated cost: $800,000)

Building a narthex onto our existing building with both welcoming entry and gathering space and wheelchair-accessible restrooms.

Sanctuary (estimated cost: $10,000-$800,000)

Removing the interior portico, adding in seating, and relocating the A/V station for better use of the space.
A wish list item is to push out the back wall of the sanctuary to increase seating and ease current crowding. (Our average Sunday attendance of 110 exceeds 78 percent of our current 140-seat pew capacity; the general rule of thumb is to consider expansion when average attendance exceeds 80 percent.)

Pre-construction expenses— including civil engineering, land surveys, permitting, and rezoning — are estimated at $80,000. This brings the total estimated cost for all projects listed above to $2.7 million.

Our goal is to minimize disruption to worship services and programs while making decisions that will serve long-term goals, instead of short-term solutions.

There is current conversation about how much of the Promise House land we will assume in this project. Civil engineers are working with the country to guiding us in determining if removing the structure is necessary to achieve our parking goals, a decision the Session will approach with prayerful discernment and a creative eye toward our future needs and missional objectives.

What’s Next

There is still much that the Spirit is calling us to do here in West Cobb. Kirkwood is a wonderfully unique congregation, grounded in faith, rich in love, and committed to outreach. We believe that we do not exist for our own preservation, but for Jesus’ command to serve our neighbors.

This capital campaign is not about bricks and mortar alone, but about preparing space for God’s ongoing work among our local and broader communities. We believe it is time to step faithfully into the next chapter of our life together.

Your Session has contracted with Horizons Stewardship and its Strategist, the Rev. Steve Lindsley, to guide us in this feasibility work. As we continue to discern, plan, and listen for God’s guidance, we ask for your prayers, your questions, and your participation in this journey.

With gratitude for the past and hope for the future, we give thanks for forty years of ministry, and we look forward with faith to what God will do next.