150th Anniversary

2009-04-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, 3rd April, 1859, the congregation of St. Columba's Free Church of Scotland, which had been formed as a Mission Station in 1850, celebrated the opening of their newly built Church in St Helier, Jersey.
An advertisment, shown below, for the opening of the new Church, appeared in the local "British Press and Jersey Times" on 29th March 1859.

The church as it looked when it was built. Unfortunately the spire had to be removed in 1986 due to a structural defect which was too costly to repair.

The Minister of the Church, when it opened, was the Rev Alexander John Murray, M.A.

This report of the opening day appeared in the "British Press and Jersey Times" of 5th April 1859.

After starting life as a Free Church, due to the difficulties of distance from Scotland, St Columba's joined the Presbyterian Church of England in 1868. However, at the union with the Congregational Church to form the United Reformed Church in 1972, St Columba's (along with St. Andrews in Guernsey) successfuly petitioned the Church of Scotland to become a member church.

The Church, as it is today, without the spire.

The entrance to the Church.

The inside of the Church.
To mark this event of continuous worship, which includes the years of German occupation from 1940-1945, a special Communion Service was held in the Church on 5th April 2009 at which over 100 people attended. At the conclusion of the Service, members of the Congregation walked, in glorious sunshine, to a nearby hotel for lunch. (see below)

We would like to remind all people, who might be coming to Jersey for a holiday this summer, that we do exist and would be delighted to welcome you to our Sunday service, which is at 11am.
If you have a computer, you can find a map of our location in St. Helier on our church “blog”. Just type in St. Columba’s Church Jersey and up it comes.
We look forward to seeing you.