Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Parish Groups
Mondays - 7.30pm Youth Club
Tuesdays - 7.30pm House of Bread Prayer Group
Wednesdays Home Groups
Thursdays - 6pm Adoration
Thursdays - 7.30pm Healing Service (1st Thurs. of each month)
Fridays - 2.30pm Divine Mercy Devotions
Saturdays - 9.45am First Saturday Devotions (1st Sat. of the month)
Music - See what's happening
Liturgy Group - Discover how we plan it all
Alpha & CaFE - Part of our efforts to evangelise and grow in faith
Mondays at 7.30pm
This is for you if you have been confirmed and are not more than 16 years of age. The group is taking a breakover the summer but will start again in the new term. More information will be provided closer to the time.
Tuesdays 7.30pm
All are Welcome. We begin our evening with vibrant Praise and Worship in front of the Blessed Sacrament. 
We are blessed to have Shelagh Noden our talented pianist, Paul and Father Keith guitarists, as musical accompanists The evening has a teaching element each week and often testimonies are shared. A monthly Mass is also celebrated. A time of thanksgiving and Intercessory Prayers are brought before the Lord. The evening always closes with individual Prayer Ministry.
Our main purpose is to evangelise by sharing the Love of Christ Jesus. The Parish, Alpha and the Youth of the Parish are foremost in our prayers, but personal prayer requests for individuals, family members and friends are welcomed. This friendly, welcoming group, with its wide range of ages, cultures and backgrounds meet each week to give praise and thanks to the Lord.
History Alpha was first introduced into St Columba's Church in May 2006. The course was welcomed and the fruits were abundant. Some 'Café' courses followed and Life In the Spirit Seminars were embraced in January 2007, from this the Prayer Group was formed and we believe wholeheartedly it is an inspiration from The Holy Spirit.
Wednesdays
We are going to be moving away from having formal meetings in the parish on Wednesday evenings to having informal meetings in people's homes. These meetings will be in smaller groups of up to 12 people per group. More information will be published concerning these groups. If you wish to get involved please contact Elida Brooks.
ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Thursdays 6pm
Each Thursday we expose the Blessed Sacrament for an hour to all all who wish to be still in his presence and pray.
BENEDICTION AND HEALING SERVICE
Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest ..... (Matt 11:28)
First Thursday of every month at 7.30 pm
Many blessings and healings have been reported from these evenings! ALL ARE WELCOME. Come and experience the Lord at work! Jesus is The Divine Healer – the Divine Physician
Fridays 2.30pm
You expired, Jesus but the source of life gushed forth for souls and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I Trust in You.
1st Saturdays at 9.45am
Devotions to Our Lady of Fatima, who said, 
"I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who on the first Saturday of 5 consecutive months confess thier sins, receive Holy Communion, recite 5 decades of the Rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary - all with the intention of making reparation to Me." (Our Lady to Lucia, Dec. 1925)
We begin by spending 15 minutes in the company of Our Lady before the 10am Mass.
Our choir and instrumentalists always take part in the Sunday Mass at 9.45am. We are lucky to have three organists, who take turns to use our recently acquired clavinova, and we also have a guitarist ‑ two, if Fr Keith takes part. Sadly the members of our long-standing instrumental trio of clarinet, flute and oboe have gone off to university, but we are encouraging younger players gradually to take part.
On a good day we might have about 10 singers, who provide a wide range of music, from Gregorian chant to songs by Graham Kendrick and others. The music leaders meet regularly with Fr Keith to keep up to date and share ideas.
Once a year we organise a popular ecumenical carol service, where we are joined by musicians from other local churches.
We are always on the lookout for new players and singers. If you are interested, please contact Shelagh Noden.
The Liturgy group includes Fr Keith, representatives from the choir and instrumentalists and the head teacher of the parish primary school. We meet at irregular intervals to plan out special services such as Confirmation , Holy Week etc and also to set the framework for the different seasons of the Church's year.
About Alpha
The Alpha Course has been running for over 26 years. It began at Holy Trinity Brompton, in central London, in the late 1970s, initially as a means of presenting the basic principles of the Christian faith to new Christians in a relaxed and informal setting. There are now over 33,500 courses worldwide in 163 countries and it is supported by all the major denominations
Alpha is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed setting over ten thought-provoking weekly sessions, with a day or weekend away. Evenings start with supper followed by a talk by Nicky Gumbel, one of the early founders of the Alpha Course.
The talks each week cover the following topics, which people are then free to discuss in the small groups afterwards:
Week 1 Who is Jesus?
Week 2 Why did Jesus Die?
Week 3 How can we have Faith?
Week 4 Why and how do I Pray?
Week 5 Why and how should I read the Bible?
Week 6 How does God Guide us?
Week 7 How can I Resist Evil?
Week 8 Why and how should I tell Others?
Week 9 Does God Heal Today?
Week 10 What about the Church?
History of Alpha & CaFE in St. Columba's
The first Alpha course held at St Columba's Church was in May 2006. This was a great success and the group so enjoyed meeting that they continued meeting, doing CaFE's (Catholic Faith Exploration) "Knowing God Better" course by David Payne. The group then moved to Tuesday nights to enable them to help run another Alpha Course on Wednesdays. During that time they did the "Drink from the Wells of the Church" course by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa and then a Life in the Spirit Seminar, before becoming a prayer group, providing prayer support to the 3rd Alpha course which started in January 2007. This Tuesday Group has now become the House of Bread Prayer Group (link).
After the Alpha Courses some members of the group continued to meet and a number of CaFE courses have been enjoyed, such as:
"Catholics Listening to God"
by Archbishop Mark Coleridge
as well as individual talks by Fr Stan Fortuna, Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio & others
Each new Alpha Course has drawn its Leaders and Helpers from the previous courses run at St Columba's.
