Welcome to ,
St. Columba s
This profile is an invitation to learn about us.
After reading it, we hope that you will consider
how God might be calling you
to lead and walk with us.
“We began in 1884 in a little
white frame chapel standing
approximately where our
fieldstone church stands
today. In fine weather the
congregation gathered
under the Columba oak,
which is still with us,
gnarled and showing its age
but a powerful symbol
of the life and growth of
our community…”
In the spring of 2014, nearly 200
parishioners came together during two
Community Gatherings on a quest to
imagine our future. In the process, we
reconnected with who we are. Utilizing
an Appreciative Inquiry process,
parishioners told their stories about
St. Columba’s. These stories revealed
what was unique about our parish. We
reconnected with the passion, opinions
and spirit that define us. We felt God’s
presence and began imagining a new
future. We experienced community in a
powerful and healing way.
The information we collected during
our Community Gatherings, along with
additional data gathered from staff,
neighbors and other parishioners in
individual and group interviews, was
used to prepare this document. Our
intent is to describe all that we are: our
strengths, achievements, mistakes and
challenges.
(Excerpted from the Rev. Dr.
Margaret Guenther’s “History of St.
Columba’s”). Margaret is a priest at
St. Columba’s.
This is the Soul of St. Columba’s.
2