On Sunday, May 3, 2026, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church reopened the Bryant M. Kirkland Chapel following a two-year renovation. 

After a single service of worship in the Sanctuary, the Rev. Dr. Scott Black Johnston, senior pastor, offered a blessing and stood alongside Chapel Renovation Commission chair Robert Henn and member Glenda Moreland. They cut a ceremonial red ribbon, and the congregation stepped inside for the first time since January of 2024.

Conversations bubbled up in every corner. Laughter and quiet exclamations filled the space. Fingers pointed upward toward the Christ child in the glittering Nativity mosaic on the chapel’s western wall. Crafted in Italy by artisans from the Miotto Mosaic Studio, the vibrant mosaic glowed beneath the chapel’s eight custom chandeliers.

Nearby, a large bronze cross, originally forged in Scotland, gleamed. Once dulled by decades of wear, the stone walls shone. The chapel’s historic paneling, restored by expert woodworkers, anchored the space.

Congregants stood at the edge of the new seven-circuit slate labyrinth, tracing its winding path with their eyes. Above, the ceiling, painted a soft blue, was studded with more than seventy restored bosses. The stained glass glimmered from the chancel and the 55th Street windows with renewed clarity. A sense of wonder permeated everywhere.

Members of the Renovation Commission and church staff stood throughout the chapel and lobby, eager to share details and answer questions.

“It has been an exciting and challenging journey,” says Henn. The Renovation Commission met more than one hundred times across the project. “The old adage that ‘half the fun is getting there’ is absolutely true.”

The journey to renewal

Behind Sunday’s celebration were years of painstaking work. From the earliest days of construction, the project revealed both the beauty and the complexity of this century-old space. Crews discovered asbestos behind walls. Engineers installed steel beams above the columbarium to bear the weight of the upcoming Eva and Jack Watson Memorial Organ, a new pipe organ from Glatter-Götz Organ Builders of Pfullendorf, Germany, which will arrive next year.

For lead architect Moira McClintock of Ford 3 Architects LLC, the project was both a professional challenge and a deeply significant collaboration.

“Being entrusted with the opportunity to both restore this remarkable space and thoughtfully adapt it for continued relevance has been incredibly meaningful,” she says.

Hundreds of skilled hands—including those of electricians, engineers, lighting technicians, HVAC professionals, artisans, stoneworkers, woodworkers, steelworkers, and plumbers—helped bring the chapel back to life.

Reflecting on the theology of renovation in his sermon on Sunday morning, Black Johnston gave thanks for the dedication of the skillful and the generous who brought about the chapel’s restoration.

“The faithful seek to create places where we can stand and sit and pray and sing and listen for the voice of the One who handcrafted the cosmos,” Black Johnston says. “We want to give future generations these holy places.”

Extraordinary generosity from hundreds of individuals and families made the renovation possible. Co-chaired by Kathy Henderson and Glenda Moreland, the fundraising campaign, Kirkland Chapel: The Next 100, garnered support from across the country. Members and friends old and new joined in to complete this vital project.

A new chapter

When the chapel first opened in 1925 as part of the church house on 55th Street, it was designed to draw people into a space of beauty and reverence. Over time, it became a place shaped by the lives within it.

Later named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Bryant Mays Kirkland, Fifth Avenue’s senior pastor from 1962 to 1987, Kirkland Chapel held the rhythms of the congregation’s life for generations. Weddings and memorial services marked the turning points of life. Music filled the space, and prayers rose in celebration and in sorrow. People came seeking comfort, connection, and, above all, God.

On Sunday, that long history began an exciting next chapter.

Amid the bustle of joy and awe-filled whispers, Elinor Kirkland Hite paused. She took a seat in one of the restored chancel chairs, where her father had sat.

Nearby, the Rev. Werner Ramirez’s young son toddled across the curve of the labyrinth.

“Every nook and cranny of this chapel holds memories from the faithful,” Black Johnston says. “And now, a century of new memories will fill this sacred space.”