Since its dedication and completion in 1871, St. Columba’s Parish has served the people of the Lincoln Park/South Broad Street area in Newark, NJ. The first parishioners of  the new church were Irish immigrants. Today, St. Columba is a culturally diversified parish that still serves the new immigrant population of the area. The small, original building of the church was replaced in 1899 with the beautiful building standing today on Thomas Street, Newark.   When the children of the parish needed education, the sisters of Charity came to the parish in 1880. There was no convent at the time, so the sisters traveled by horse and buggy each day from St. Patrick's on Bleeker Street. In 1908 both school and the convent were completed. The school continued to educate the parish and the neighborhood children until 2000, when unfortunatly the school closed.  The priest of the Archdiocese have served the parish faithfully through the years. From the first pastor, Father Reilly, to the later diocesan missionary priest Father Andres Codoner-Contell.All the volunteer teachers in the Religious Education Program, the choir members, lectors, the advisory board, and many people give their time and talent to keep St. Columba's Church, a strong symbol of the beautiful people it serves.We are a community that celebrates and serves as a testimony of the event of Pentecost. We pray, celebrate, work and suffer together. Within our diversity, we serve Christ and we live according to the Gospel in unity and tolerance.    May God’s work continue to be carried on as faithfully in the future as it has been in the past and present.