In March of 1977, backyard neighbors Leon Gabriel and Fred Manley struck up a conversation over their split-rail fence about the need for a new Presbyterian Church in their rapidly growing community of Cary, North Carolina. (Read more about our founders here.)

After early exploratory meetings with Presbytery staff and interest meetings with the greater Cary community, an organizing group was formed (Read more about the organizing drive here.) The first worship service was on December 4, 1977. (Read more about the first service here.)  Nearly two years later, the Kirk of Kildaire charter was granted by the Orange Presbytery on Reformation Sunday, October 28, 1979. (Read more about the organizing worship service and congregational meeting here.)

The Kirk (an old Scottish word for church) would find its first home in the real estate office of the Kildaire Farms subdivision. Since then, our buildings and grounds have expanded to include a 600-seat sanctuary completed in 1999 and our classroom building, which opened in 2017. The Kirk has been served by five senior pastors and several associate pastors, having grown from 92 charter members to a church family of over 1200 people of all ages.