St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock, Belfast
SUMMER CONCERT
Saint Columba’s Cantors & Soloists
Guest Instrumentalists
Tristan Russcher Organ
Joe McKee Choral Director
Saturday 28th June 2025 at 7.00pm
Retiring collection for Parish Music Fund
There will be light refreshments after the concert.
“St Philip and St James’ has an annual pilgrimage led by the Vicar, Revd Robin Pye together with his wife Marion. The group had a busy schedule which included church services and exploring local historical sites with a particular focus on St Patrick.
“Their pilgrimage began with a Service of Holy Communion on the Friday evening which was followed by refreshments. This gave us all a lovely opportunity to meet with one another informally. There was plenty of laughter and conversation as we all quickly made new friends. It was lovely that a number of parishioners were able to attend. Dr Joe McKee played some inspirational organ voluntaries and there was such powerful singing of the hymns!
“The group had a busy day on the Saturday which began with an informative tour of Down Cathedral followed by a service which I conducted. They then explored Saul, Strangford and Portaferry in glorious sunshine before returning back to St Columba’s late that evening.
“Robin preached a most engaging sermon at our All-Age Worship service on Sunday 4 May, and all the pilgrims were complimentary about the participation of our young people throughout the service.
“Some of the group climbed Slemish in the afternoon while others visited Nendrum Monastic site, returning to the church hall for a delicious meal kindly provided by our Catering Committee.
“The Revd Professor Loveday Alexander, on behalf of the pilgrims, presented a beautiful piece of crafted artwork of Alderley Edge Parish Church as a gift to St Columba’s, which was made by their Art and Craft Group.
“Along with all of the pilgrims, she thanked St Columba’s most sincerely for a very enjoyable visit, and we wished them safe travels on their return to England.
‘What a wonderful experience enjoyed by all involved!”
A total of thirty scouts and six leaders took part on a thankfully dry but chilly weekend in Saintfield Demesne from 12-14 April. Scouts set off from St Columba’s with maps in hand and fares for the Glider and the 515 Ulsterbus.
Older scouts were designated as navigators and ‘comms men’ (enabling the Scoutmaster to know when they had reached checkpoints) while others tried not to lose equipment along the way or eat the entire sweet ration before camp really commenced.
All arrived safely on site for a weekend of traditional scouting activities and skills with some labouring included to assist the landowner with clearing storm debris from fields he hoped to use for silage. There were 5 patrols designated over the weekend with scouts, led by patrol leaders required to be self sufficient in gathering wood for the fires and cooking all their own meals.
Please see The Columban magazine for the reports from a few of the Scouts who enjoyed their camping trip!
We are grateful to the Canon for his visit to our campsite and thankfully he has survived a mug of tea made on site with no serious repercussions.
SCOUTS
A busy spring term for Scouts at St Columba’s saw the investing of 12 new Scouts into the troop in a time-honoured investing ceremony. The new scouts are put through the Scout Promise and Law in the presence of all the other scouts as well as ’emotional’ parents and siblings with the Scoutmaster seeking to ensure that all assembled are well versed with their new responsibilities. We were delighted to have Canon Auchmuty in attendance to keep and eye on proceedings and welcome the new scouts to the troop and to the Parish.
On a lighter note, 46 Scouts and 4 leaders enjoyed a night at the Belfast Giants ice hockey match at the SSE Arena against the Cardiff Devils. The Giants ran out eventual 4-1 winners on the night although it was tight until the very end. Huge buckets of popcorn and trays of cheesy nachos were consumed by Scouts seemingly in an effort to display an ability eat their own body weight to disgust of the hungry leaders who forgot to bring pocket money.
Our Scouts have been delighted to assist the Church with parking duties guiding parishioners to the newly acquired facilities at Bloomfield Collegiate School car park off Knockhill Park. It is a lesson for the Scouts to appreciate their own input in assisting the Parish for so willingly hosting us during the building programme at Knock Presbyterian Church. Scouts were also pleased to provide waiter service for those attending the Parish ‘Lent Lunch’ and after a briefing from Emma which was something akin to organising the ‘D’ Day landings, the Scouts set about their tasks with rigour and keen spirit. As Scoutmaster, I was delighted to hear the feedback from those attending at how well mannered and helpful the scouts had been throughout the lunch and how careful they had been during service.
We are currently preparing for the East Belfast District Centenary Parade from Stormont to Campbell College School on 23rd March where two of our Scouts will play a prominent role in reading the scripture lesson and renewing the Scout Law to the assembled congregation. Thereafter we have camp over the weekend before Easter in Saintfield, a Centenary camp at Crawfordsburn in May and the summer camp trip to North Wales.
Iain
Scoutmaster 4th and 24th Belfast Scouts
It was a wonderful privilege to host the Order of St John Service, Investiture and Awards Service in St Columba’s on Sunday 26th January.
Here are some photos of the event!
We are delighted to welcome the 4th Belfast Cubs to St. Columba’s on Wednesday 15th January 2025 and hope they will settle quickly into their new surroundings.
The Rector warmly greeted their Akela, Gareth McAuley along with the Scout Leader, Iain Hall. It is a great delight that we now have both Cubs and Scouts availing of our Halls.
The Cubs Scouts meet on Wednesday evenings, 6.45pm – 8.15pm in the church hall, led by their Akela, Gareth McAuley ( 07884 411354 )
Scouts meet on Thursday evenings, 7.30pm – 9.30pm in the church hall, led by Scout Leader Iain Hall (07799 474111)
New members always welcome!
January
5th ALL AGE WORSHIP
12th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
19th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
26th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
February
2nd ALL AGE WORSHIP
9th NO SUNDAY SCHOOL – HALF TERM
16th NO SUNDAY SCHOOL – HALF TERM
23rd SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
March
2nd ALL AGE WORSHIP
9th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
16th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
23rd SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
30th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
April
6th ALL AGE WORSHIP
13th SUNDAY SCHOOL & CRECHE
20th NO SUNDAY SCHOOL – EASTER SUNDAY
27th NO SUNDAY SCHOOL – EASTER BREAK
The Ladies Guild have provided packets of 5 notelets for sale.
They are a series of beautiful photos taken around the church, and would make an excellent gift!
Limited stocks, so get them while you can!
Packets of 5 notelets for £5
It is always a wonderful privilege for the Rector to visit parishioners when they are in hospital. This is only made possible by keeping the Rector or the Parish Administrator informed of when people are admitted, which ward they are in, and when they are discharged.
PLEASE HELP US TO HELP YOU by keeping us up to date. While we appreciate that this can sometimes slip parishioner’s minds in the stress of hospital life and illness, it is important that we are kept up to date so we can schedule visits. St Columba’s has a wonderful church family which we always want to help, and this is only made possible when we are kept informed of changing circumstances.
Contact:
The Rector: Tel 02890 471517 or email rector.knock@down.anglican.org
or
Karen Patterson: Tel 02890 656891 Mon- Fri, 9am-1pm or email office.knock@down.anglican.org
Thank you.
